New York State Assembly Approves State’s Entrance into SNAP Restaurant Meals Program

Photo by J.M. Lesinski

The New York State Assembly yesterday approved legislation that will formally enter New York state into the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Restaurant Meals Program (RMP).

New York will join the short list of states that accept RMP, an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) program available through SNAP that allows participants to purchase prepared foods like hot deli sandwiches or fast-food meals at participating restaurants, delis, and corner stores. The program is aimed specifically towards the elderly, homeless, and/or disabled, who benefit the most from prepared or hot foods over regular SNAP benefits.

“For many New Yorkers, food insecurity is not just about being able to purchase groceries,” New York State Assembly Member Karines Reyes commented on the newly passed legislature. “For the elderly, disabled or homeless, access to a nutritious meal includes meal preparation – something many of us take for granted. Participation in the Restaurant Meals Program will ensure more New Yorkers are able to enjoy a nutritious prepared meal and provide a financial benefit to our restaurants that are seeking to reopen.”

The legislation that was passed by the New York State Assembly officially requires New York state to enter the RMP through SNAP. By entering the RMP, homeless, disabled, and elderly SNAP recipients would be able to use their program benefits to purchase hot or prepared food items from participating delis, grocery stores, and restaurants at reduced prices.

With current SNAP laws in New York state, recipients of the social assistance program benefits cannot currently use their benefits to purchase prepared food such as fast food or hot deli sandwiches. In instances of the elderly or the homeless population, where access to the necessary food preparation equipment is often unavailable or inaccessible, access to a hot meal without the necessary prep work would be a better utilization of their SNAP benefits and easier for them overall.

“The Assembly Majority is committed to ensuring that every New Yorker has access to food,” said New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie of the newly passed legislation. “SNAP benefits help families secure the food they need to prepare a nutritious meal, but the Restaurant Meals Program helps ensure our most vulnerable populations also have access to a warm prepared meal.”

Currently in Arizona, the RMP is in effect through the state’s Nutrition Assist (NA) program, allowing for the purchase of prepared meals through participating restaurants and delis if households meet certain criteria. Every member of the household must meet the conditions to get the RMP, which fall under the categories of being disabled, elderly, or homeless.

From there, the requirements get more specific per category. For the disabled, for instance, must specifically be receiving social security benefits, railroad retirement benefits annuities, or another form of disability payment. Sixty is the required age to be determined elderly in Arizona, while homeless must not have a fixed address. These requirements would likely be similar to those that would be established in New York state.

In California, the CalFresh RMP is accepted in Alameda, Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Ventura counties. New counties in the state of California have been joining steadily every year since the implementation of the assistance program in 2003.

Much like grocery stores and storefronts already in New York state with the sign already on display, the “EBT Cards Accepted Here” signs are most often the simplest way to indicate that the restaurant is participating in the California RMP program as well, alerting those enrolled in the program where they can purchase a participatory meal.

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