House advances bill increasing verification for immigrants on SNAP, Medicaid

By Sophia Gromowsky, Missouri News Network
JEFFERSON CITY — A bill seeking to eliminate fraud within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid, and prohibit the use of benefits to purchase certain types of junk food, was given initial approval by the House on Tuesday.
House Bill 2481 would align Missouri law with new federal legislation requiring increased verification for immigrants who lack certain documentation from receiving SNAP and Medicaid benefits.

Immigrants who are not lawful permanent residents are already excluded from SNAP and Medicaid eligibility, both under Missouri and federal law. Some immigrants who fall under qualified status, including lawful permanent residents, are eligible. However, the bill’s provisions would implement a more stringent process for verifying lawful status, including the use of federal databases to confirm documentation status. The bill would also require additional documentation to prove proper status and benefit eligibility.
Rep. Keri Ingle, D-Lee’s Summit, questioned whether the issue of fraud was costly enough to outweigh the price tag for implementing more extensive verification methods, estimated to take between $141,750 and $1,676,679 from general revenue in fiscal year 2027, according to the bill’s fiscal note.
Bill sponsor Rep. Jamie Gragg, R-Ozark, was unable to provide an amount of funds that benefit programs lose to fraud from ineligible immigrants.

Under the bill, state agencies would also be able to require program enrollees reverify their immigration status after program enrollment when agencies receive information about a change in immigration status or during regular financial eligibility redetermination.
Additionally, the bill reiterates changes to SNAP-eligible foods made by an executive order from Gov. Mike Kehoe in September 2025 and the MO SNAP Food Restriction Waiver approved by the United States Department of Agriculture in December.
The new changes prevent certain categories of junk foods from being purchased using SNAP benefits, including candy and soft drinks.
Opponents of the bill argued about the unfairness of placing restrictions on what SNAP beneficiaries should or should not be allowed to purchase and eat.
“My concern is that we’re kind of being big brother,” Rep. David Tyson Smith, D-Columbia, said. “Who are we to sit here and judge people? I find it a little degrading.”
Gragg emphasized the need to return SNAP to its original purpose as a supplementary assistance program, not as the entire food budget for an individual or family.
He said the bill’s intention is not to police people’s diets and require them to consume only healthy foods, but to provide families a budget that can be used to purchase foods with higher nutritional value.
“Take the supplement and use this to buy the nutritional portion of your food budget,” Gragg said. “And then, what you have from your budget, buy all the candy and soda pop you want. But the stuff that we’re giving you as a help, use that to buy the nutritional portion.”