ALERT: US House Farm Bill attacking certain sex offenders

6-19-2013 Washington DC:

The US House Farm Bill HR 1947 was all but done and ready for a floor vote, with no affect on sex offenders. Then on 6-17-2013 TWO lawmakers went before the House Rules Committee asking to ADD Amendments to the House Farm Bill, both were permitted to add the amendments. See them below.

The Food Stamp portion IS NOT supposed to be retroactive!
I strongly suggest that BOTH amendments (46 and 131) be OPPOSED as I am sure there are former/ex sex offenders that may have a drug history too. We need to contact our Washington DC Representatives ASAP as the House will be voting on their Farm Bill soon.

Please remember this is the HOUSE version of the Farm Bill, and not the Senate version (which has its' own problems). This post will be updated as needed, when we hear more, so bookmark it and come back often.

For now have a great day and a better tomorrow.
eAdvocate (Hat Tip to FedCURE)

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AMENDMENT 131 TO
RULES COMMITTEE PRINT 113-14, H.R. 1947
FEDERAL AGRICULTURE REFORM AND RISK
MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2013
OFFERED BY MR. AUSTIN SCOTT OF GEORGIA
At the end of subtitle A of title IV, add the following:

SEC. 4033. NO OPT-OUT REGARDING INELIGIBILITY OF FELONS CONVICTED OF CERTAIN DRUG-RELATED OFFENSES.

Section 115(d)(1)(A) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (21 U.S.C. 862a(d)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘with respect to assistance provided under paragraph (1)’’ before the period at the end.

SEC. 4034. FIVE-YEAR MINIMUM INELIGIBILITY OF FELONS CONVICTED OF CERTAIN DRUG-RELATED OFFENSES.

Section 115(d)(1)(B) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (21 U.S.C. 862a(d)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, except that such period may not be less than 5 years after release from confinement with respect to benefits described in subsection (a)(1)’’ before the period.

SEC. 4035. PERMANENT INELIGIBILITY OF OFFENDERS CONVICTED OF CERTAIN CRIMES.

(a) AMENDMENT.—Section 6 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015) is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(r) PERMANENT INELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN OF OFFENDERS.—No member of a household who is otherwise eligible to participate in the supplemental nutrition assistance program shall be eligible to participate in the program as a member of that or any other household if such member is convicted of rape, robbery, murder, or treason.’’.

(b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENT.—The amendment made by subsection (a) shall not apply to a conviction for conduct occurring on or before the date of the enactment of this Act.

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AMENDMENT 46 TO THE RULES COMMITTEE PRINT
OF H.R. 1947
OFFERED BY MR. HUDSON OF NORTH CAROLINA
At the end of subtitle A of title IV (page 346, after line 17), insert the following new section:

SEC. 4033. TESTING APPLICANTS FOR UNLAWFUL USE OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES.

Section 6 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015), as amended by section 4009. is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(s) TESTING APPLICANTS FOR UNLAWFUL USE OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES.—

‘‘(1) Nothing in this Act, or in any other Federal law, shall be considered to prevent a State, at the full cost to such State, from—

‘‘(A) enacting legislation to provide for testing any individual who is a member of a household applying for supplemental nutrition assistance benefits, for the unlawful use of controlled substances as a condition for receiving such benefits; and

‘‘(B) finding an individual ineligible to participate in the supplemental nutrition assistance program on the basis of the positive result of the testing conducted by the State under such legislation.

‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, term ‘controlled substance’ has the meaning given such term in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act ((21U.S.C. 802).’’.

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