Booker And Warnock Want SNAP For Convicted Drug Felons, Fetterman Uses Issue To Bash Silicon Valley Bank Execs

Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA), both members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, along with U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), introduced the bicameral Re-Entry Support Through Opportunities for Resources and Essentials (RESTORE) Act, legislation that would repeal the lifetime ban on individuals convicted of drug felonies from accessing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.

The federal SNAP ban, enacted in 1996 by Congress and signed by President Clinton, increased barriers to reentry for people who had already served their prison time.  

Booker pointed out that hunger and poverty are significant challenges for the formerly incarcerated and often increase recidivism. 

“Restoring SNAP eligibility will reduce recidivism by ensuring that individuals who have already repaid their debt to society do not face food insecurity as an additional obstacle to reentry,” Booker said, pointing out that people with prior drug convictions often struggle with substance abuse disorders. 

Meanwhile, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) took executives of failed Silicon Valley Bank & Signature Bank (SVP) to task over the issue at Tuesday's Senate banking hearing where he asked why Republicans were more preoccupied with establishing work requirements for SNAP recipients than keeping banks accountable.

When Clinton's 1996 reform ended welfare, including food stamps, as an entitlement program, it required recipients to begin working after two years of receiving benefits. 

“Republicans want to give a work requirement for SNAP, you know, for a hungry family to have these kinds of penalties or some kinds of working requirements. Shouldn’t you have a working requirement after we bail out your bank?” Fetterman asked SVB president Greg Becker.“Because [Republicans] seem to be more preoccupied [with] SNAP requirements for hungry people, but not about protecting the taxpayers that will bail [out the banks].”

Fetterman asked Becker if it was a running joke in banking circles that the government will always bail them out no matter how badly they behave or how huge executive raises and bonuses are. 

“I don’t believe that’s the case,” Becker responded.

Fetterman's Questions Didn't Go Down Well With GOP Colleagues

Indeed, many Republican members and the press, with Fox leading the charge, questioned whether Fetterman was losing his marbles and was fit to serve in Congress. Fetterman recently returned to the Senate after being away for more than a month to receive inpatient care for clinical depression. 

The RESTORE bill was cosponsored by Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Tina Smith (D-MN) as well as over 150 organizations that have endorsed it, including the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Drug Policy Alliance, the Alliance To End Hunger and the American Public Health Association.

Photo: John Fetterman Senate page