Yesterday the Democrats passed a bill out of the Assembly Human Services committee that would allow felons convicted of selling illegal drugs to get food stamps (AB 508, authored by Assemblyman Sandre Swanson).
A little background: Currently, federal law imposes a lifetime ban on food stamps and other welfare-related benefits for people with felony drug convictions. However, federal law allows states to opt out of this provision. In 1997, California declined to opt out when we passed our welfare reform package. According to the legislative analysis of AB 508, a 2005 report of the Sentencing Project reports that 11 states, plus the District of Columbia, have entirely opted out of the ban. An additional 14 states have partially opted out of the ban, either by limiting the ban to certain offenses (such as sale or trafficking) or establishing qualifying conditions which relate to participation in or completion of drug treatment programs.
Governor Gray Davis vetoed several attempts to overturn the lifetime ban during his tenure. Three attempts were made to run bills that would have softened, but not have completely lifted, the ban. He vetoed all three bills.
It took a Republican governor to sign the first bill which allowed a partial opt-out of the federal bill. AB 1796, legislation authored by SF Assemblyman Mark Leno in 2004, allows felons convicted of use or possession crimes who can provide proof of treatment or cessation of use to be eligible for food stamps.
Now the City of Oakland is sponsoring a bill carried by Oakland’s new Assemblyman Sandre Swanson (a former Rep. Barbara Lee and Ron Dellums staffer) to remove the ban altogether and allow those felons convicted of dealing drugs to gain access to food stamps.
As a resident of Oakland, I had no hopes that Oakland’s new mayor, Ron Dellums, would truly bring change to our community. He is a true believer in "progressive" politics and will do a lot of hand-holding and hugging (his mayoralship started with a giant hand-holding ceremony around Lake Merritt) but I don’t have much faith that crime will go down.
No, drug-dealing criminals in Oakland won’t see any tough love coming from the Oakland Mayor’s office. Apparently though, they (and other drug dealers around the state) will be able to thank the mayor for helping them dip into the taxpayer’s pockets once again, this time for food stamps.
This bill needs to go on the FlashReport’s end-of-session "bills to watch" list.