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Senate bill would create 'Empower Louisiana' charity food card to expand grocery access
Summary
Sen. Abraham's SB 415 would create an 'Empower Louisiana' food‑purchase card that charities could buy and distribute to allow donors to purchase cards redeemable only for groceries; LDH told the committee the vendor anticipates the cards can be accepted at all 4,400 SNAP‑authorized outlets in the state; the committee reported the bill favorable with technical amendments.
Senate Bill 415, introduced by Senator Abraham and taken up May 12, would create an "Empower Louisiana" charitable food‑purchase program administered by the Louisiana Department of Health. The sponsor described a privately funded card charities could purchase and distribute so donors could buy grocery‑only cards that recipients could redeem at participating retailers.
Senator Abraham described the concept as "citizens helping citizens" and said the program would be a no‑government‑funding pilot, with LDH setting rules and overseeing a test year. "If the charity has these cards at their facility...then citizens like all of us in this room, if we wanted to go purchase a food card, we could," he said, explaining charities could choose whether to sell or distribute the cards to people in need.
Camille Conaway of LDH told the committee she and LDH staff had been speaking with the state's SNAP EBT vendor and determined the program could be used at all SNAP‑authorized retailers. "So in the state of Louisiana, that's 4,400 outlets," Conaway said, noting that includes large chains and many smaller stores. She also said the vendor initially discussed a secondary retailer list but later indicated the primary retailer list could be used and that specific retailers could be added.
Members asked practical questions about reloading cards, targeting (for example, giving cards to single parents or homeless individuals) and whether prepared foods could be purchased. Conaway said prepared‑food exceptions (a so‑called hot foods waiver) have been sought from USDA Food and Nutrition Service in other contexts and remain an open, federal waiver question; she said if the initiative is 100% privately funded it would be a functional question for the vendor and LDH rule‑making.
After considering technical amendments the committee reported SB 415 favorable with amendments and without recorded objection. A green card of institutional support (Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops) was noted in the record.
