Tell lawmakers to include the RESTORE Act in the Farm Bill, ending the drug felony ban on SNAP.

A family grocery shopping.

About the RESTORE Act

The RESTORE Act of 2023 is the first bipartisan bill that ends a federal lifetime ban imposed on people with drug felonies from receiving Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, also known as “food stamps.” This means that people will no longer be denied SNAP because of a drug felony conviction. It will allow people to focus on getting jobs, housing, and other resources during their re-entry rather than having to worry about how and when they’ll get their next meal.

No one should be banned from food for the rest of their life because of a past drug felony conviction.

21 states still enforce the SNAP drug felony ban to some degree. One state, South Carolina, still enforces a lifetime ban.

Source: Collateral Consequences Resource Center

91% of individuals suffer from food insecurity upon release from jails and prisons.

Source: AIDS Educ Prev.

Evidence suggests that the SNAP drug felony ban increases the likelihood that people are rearrested and reincarcerated.

Source: American Journal of Sociology

This cruel ban on food stamps must end.

While 28 states no longer enforce a drug felony ban on SNAP, almost half of states still impose what is known as a modified ban. Examples of modified bans include limiting what convictions may be eligible coupled with mandatory program participation, waiting periods, and random drug testing. South Carolina is the only state that still imposes a lifetime ban on SNAP for people with drug felonies. Because this is an issue that started in Congress, Congress should end the SNAP drug felony ban once and for all.

Including the RESTORE Act in the Farm Bill will end this cruel ban. The Farm Bill is an enormous package of policies and programs that is passed by Congress every five years and sets the nation’s agriculture and food policies. It provides nutrition assistance to millions of Americans by funding programs like SNAP. However, Congress missed their 2023 deadline and is delayed in passing a new Farm Bill that promises that people, families and those with drug felony convictions don’t go hungry.

While there is momentum across the aisle to end the SNAP drug felony ban once and for all, our elected officials must pass a Farm Bill that means everyone, including people with drug felony convictions, can put enough food on the table for themselves and their loved ones.

Including the RESTORE Act in the Farm Bill will end the SNAP drug felony ban once and for all.

The Drug Policy Alliance supports including the RESTORE Act in the Farm Bill. The RESTORE Act will:

  • End the lifetime ban on food stamps for people with drug felony convictions.
  • Give states the option to have people apply for SNAP 30 days prior to their release from prison.
  • National Organizations that Endorse the RESTORE Act
    • A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing)
    • Advancement Project
    • AIDS United
    • Alliance To End Hunger
    • Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
    • America Forward
    • American Bar Association
    • American Friends Service Committee
    • American Osteopathic Academy of Addiction Medicine
    • American Public Health Association
    • American Society of Addiction Medicine
    • Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
    • Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
    • Better Organizing to Win Legalization
    • Bread for the World
    • CAN-DO Foundation
    • Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition
    • Center for Justice and Human Dignity
    • Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
    • Center for Popular Democracy
    • Center for Science in the Public Interest
    • Church of Scientology National Affairs Office
    • Coalition on Human Needs
    • Color Of Change
    • Community Partnership Group
    • Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
    • CURE (Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants)
    • Drug Policy Alliance
    • Doctors for Cannabis Regulation
    • Faces and Voices of Recovery
    • Farmers Market Coalition
    • Feeding America
    • Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
    • Friends Committee on National Legislation
    • ICNA Council for Social Justice
    • Jewish Council for Public Affairs
    • JustLeadershipUSA
    • Hunger Free America
    • Last Prisoner Project
    • LatinoJustice PRLDEF
    • Law Enforcement Action Partnership
    • Law Enforcement Leaders
    • The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
    • Legal Action Center
    • MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger
    • Moms United to End the War on Drugs
    • NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF)
    • NASTAD
    • National Action Network
    • National Alliance to End Homelessness
    • National Alliance on Mental Illness
    • National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers
    • National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
    • National Council of Churches
    • National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
    • National Education Association
    • National Employment Law Project
    • National Health Care for the Homeless Council
    • National Homelessness Law Center
    • National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)
    • National Organization for Women
    • NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
    • Opportunity Youth United
    • Parabola Center for Law and Policy
    • Partnership to End Addiction
    • People’s Action
    • REDF
    • Reframe Health and Justice
    • Responsible Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ)
    • RESULTS
    • R Street Institute
    • Share Our Strength
    • Shriver Center on Poverty Law
    • Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team
    • SMART Recovery
    • Sojourners
    • Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund
    • Strategies for Justice
    • Students for Sensible Drug Policy
    • The Center for Employment Opportunities
    • The Community Based Public Safety Collective
    • The Education Trust
    • The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention
    • The JustUS Coordinating Council
    • The Multifaith Initiative to End Mass Incarceration
    • The Sentencing Project
    • Treatment Communities of America
    • Union for Reform Judaism
    • United Church of Christ, Justice and Local Church Ministries
    • UpTogether
    • Vera Institute of Justice
    • Veterans Cannabis Coalition
    • Voices for Progress
    • Who Speaks For Me
  • State Organizations that Endorse the RESTORE Act
    • Acterra: Action for a Healthy Planet (California)
    • AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) (Illinois)
    • Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition (Washington)
    • Arizona Food Bank Network (Arizona)
    • Atlanta Community Food Bank (Georgia)
    • Audubon Park Church (Florida)
    • California Association of Food Banks (California)
    • Catholic Charities Terre Haute (Indiana)
    • Center for Housing & Health (Illinois)
    • Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (California)
    • Chicago Food Policy Action Council (Illinois)
    • Chrysalis (California)
    • Coalition for Food and Health Equity (New Jersey)
    • Colorado-CURE (Colorado)
    • Community Action Partnership of Orange County (Los Angeles)
    • Community Initiatives Inc (Colorado)
    • Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania)
    • Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (Conneticut)
    • D.C. Hunger Solutions (Washington, D.C.)
    • El Pasoans Fighting Hunger (Texas)
    • Equality California (California)
    • Every Texan (Texas)
    • Feeding Indiana’s Hungry (Indiana)
    • Feeding San Diego (California)
    • Feeding Texas (Texas)
    • FIND Food Bank (California)
    • Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County (California)
    • Food Bank of Northern Nevada (Nevada)
    • Food for People (California)
    • Food Share Ventura County (California)
    • FoodShare South Carolina (South Carolina)
    • Foothills Family Resources (South Carolina)
    • Forward Justice (North Carolina)
    • FPWA (Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies) (New York)
    • Fresh Approach (California)
    • Freshque Nonprofit (Texas)
    • Georgia Budget and Policy Priorities (Georgia)
    • Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana (Indiana)
    • GLIDE (California)
    • Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger (Pennsylvania)
    • Grow Montana Food Policy Coalition (Montana)
    • Heart Ministry Center (Nebraska)
    • Hunger Free Vermont (Vermont)
    • Indiana Public Health Association (Indiana)
    • Indy Hunger Network (Indiana)
    • James’ Place Inc. (Maryland)
    • Juma Ventures (California/Washington)
    • Just Harvest (Pennsylvania)
    • Kansas Action for Children (Kansas)
    • Ladies Empowerment & Action Program (Florida)
    • Landforce (Pennsylvania)
    • Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender (Illinois)
    • Livewell Greenville (South Carolina)
    • Loaves & Fishes (Pennsylvania)
    • Long Island Recovery Association (New York)
    • Los Angeles LGBT Center (California)
    • Los Angeles Regional Food Bank (California)
    • Lowcountry Food Bank (South Carolina)
    • Maryland Hunger Solutions (Maryland)
    • Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (Massachusetts)
    • Michigan League for Public Policy (Michigan)
    • Middle Ground Prison Reform (Arizona)
    • Montana Food Bank Network (Montana)
    • Montana Women Vote (Montana)
    • National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Maryland Chapter (Maryland)
    • NC Justice Center (North Carolina)
    • Nebraska Appleseed (Nebraska)
    • Newark Community Street Team (New Jersey)
    • No More Empty Pots (Nebraska)
    • Northwest Harvest (Washington)
    • NYATEP (New York)
    • Ohio Association of Foodbanks (Ohio)
    • OMI Cultural Participation Project (California)
    • Oregon CURE (Oregon)
    • Pack Away Hunger (Indiana)
    • Pisgah Legal Services (North Carolina)
    • Project Bread (Massachusetts)
    • Recovery Community Network (Minnesota)
    • Reentry Alliance of Nebraska Racial Justice Policy Group (Nebraska)
    • RISE (Nebraska)
    • River Valley Organizing (Ohio)
    • Root & Rebound (California/South Carolina)
    • Salvation and Social Justice (New Jersey)
    • San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project (California)
    • Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County (California)
    • Second Harvest of Silicon Valley (California)
    • Second Helpings (New York)
    • SFDPH (San Francisco)
    • South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center (South Carolina)
    • Southern Ohio Premier Recovery (Ohio)
    • St. Vincent de Paul Indianapolis (Indiana)
    • Stand In For Nebraska (Nebraska)
    • Sustaining Way (South Carolina)
    • TASC, Inc. (Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities) (Illinois)
    • The Cook’s Nook (Texas)
    • The Festival Center (District of Columbia)
    • The Gubbio Project (California)
    • The Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership (California)
    • Together Omaha (Nebraska)
    • Treatment on Demand Coalition SF (California)
    • Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hidalgo County Texas (Texas)
    • Virginia Hunger Solutions (Virginia)
    • VOICES FOR A SECOND CHANCE (Washington, D.C.)
    • Voices of Hope, Inc. (Maryland)
    • Washington Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Coalition (Washington)
    • West Virginia Hepatitis Academic Mentoring Partnership (West Virginia)
    • William E. Morris Institute for Justice (Arizona)

Tell House and Senate Agriculture Committee Leadership to include the RESTORE Act and repeal the SNAP drug felony ban in the Farm Bill.

Email Agriculture Committee Leadership
A young woman holds a sign that says "End the Drug War."

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