Letter to the Hon. Sonny Perdue, Secretary of Agriculture and the Hon. Pam Miller, Administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service - Reps. Pressley and McGovern, Senators Markey and Warren lead Mass. Delegation in Calling on Trump Admin. to Bring More Retailers into SNAP Online Ordering Program

Letter

Dear Secretary Purdue and Administrator Miller:
As Massachusetts implements the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) online
electronic benefit transfer (EBT) purchasing pilot program, we write to request that the United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) expand
their efforts to bring more food retailers onboard. Doing so will improve the pilot program,
expand food access for beneficiaries, and directly support local economies.
1 FNS approved
Massachusetts to provide online purchasing to SNAP recipients in May,
2 but we are concerned
that Massachusetts SNAP beneficiaries do not have access to a wide variety of retailers within
the online purchasing program.
SNAP is an indispensable part of America's food system and provides nutritious meals to about
45 million people across the United States, including 785,000 people in Massachusetts.3
Authorized as part of the 2014 farm bill, the SNAP online purchasing pilot program provides a
convenient way for SNAP beneficiaries to shop for groceries online and, for many, to have these
items delivered to their homes. This capability is especially important during the current
pandemic; SNAP beneficiaries, many of whom are elderly or severely disabled4
and are therefore
at higher risk of hospitalization if infected with the novel coronavirus, need flexible access to healthy food. Further, SNAP benefits provide critical economic stimulus to local communities,
especially during recessionary times.5
FNS must do more to ensure that the online purchasing program meets the needs of
Massachusetts residents. Currently, FNS has approved the participation of only five EBT
retailers in the online purchasing program and only two larger retailers for Massachusetts:
Amazon and Walmart.
6 Yet more than 260,000 retailers participate in SNAP across the nation,
7
and over 5,000 retailers participate in Massachusetts.
8 Lack of a wider range of approved
retailers leaves Massachusetts SNAP beneficiaries with extremely limited options, especially for
fruits, vegetables, and other perishable food.
If the online purchasing pilot is to succeed in expanding access for SNAP beneficiaries in
Massachusetts, and as the pandemic drives up increased demand for these services, USDA must
take aggressive steps to enroll a variety of retailers in the program. USDA has noted that online
payment presents "technical and security" challenges for the SNAP online purchasing program,9
but has not provided sufficient guidance or technical assistance on how interested retailers can
best address the IT and security requirements.10 We call on USDA to provide clearer guidance
for SNAP retailers interested in participating in the SNAP online purchasing program and to
consider providing technical assistance and support to further increase the participation of
community retailers in this innovative approach to food access.
To that end, we ask you to respond to the following questions by June 24, 2020:
1. Please describe the steps USDA has taken to expand the number of SNAP retailers
participating in the SNAP online delivery pilot program and USDA's plans to directly
assist interested retailers in meeting the multiple requirements that FNS has implemented
for participating in the online program.
2. Please describe the steps USDA has taken to address the "technical and security"
challenges faced by interested retailers, and any plans USDA has to issue additional
guidance for retailers to address these challenges.3. Please describe any other challenges USDA has come across that are preventing more
retailers from participating in the SNAP online purchasing pilot program and any steps
USDA is taking to help interested retailers address these additional challenges.
4. Please provide a comprehensive list of retailers that submitted an application to USDA to
participate in the SNAP online purchasing program, but were denied participation in the
current rollout, including why each application was denied.
Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter. If you have any questions about these
requests, please contact Brianna Battle of Senator Markey's staff at
brianna_battle@markey.senate.gov.