Bill OKs Food Stamps for Some Drug Felons

The California Senate approved legislation Wednesday allowing certain drug felons to receive food stamps, in an effort to reverse a nearly eight-year ban enacted when the state overhauled the welfare system.

Although the food stamp program is funded entirely by the federal government, the state has the right to set certain rules for people using it. In 1997, California prohibited people convicted of possessing, manufacturing or selling drugs from receiving food stamps for their entire lives.

“I don’t think the idea to put in place this lifetime ban was out of mean-spiritedness,” said Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), author of the measure. “The fear was you could trade food stamps for drugs. But today, with electronic debit cards for food stamps, the problem goes away.”

As they raced Wednesday to conclude the 2004 session by week’s end, lawmakers also voted to prohibit patient medical information from being sent abroad, to require electronic voting machines to keep a paper record, to allow the state to purchase drugs from Canada, and to create a special land conservancy for the Sierra Nevada.

Social service groups and Democrats had pressed for the change to the food stamp rule by citing the passage in 2000 of Proposition 36, which puts first-time drug users in treatment instead of in jail. They said approval of the proposition showed that voters wanted a less punitive treatment of drug users.

The current legislation, AB 1796, would still prohibit people convicted of selling, manufacturing and importing drugs from receiving food stamps.

But a larger category of people convicted of drug possession would be able to receive the benefits, as long as they were participating in or had passed a drug-treatment program.

Welfare officials estimate that 1,640 people are denied food benefits every year because of the current law, losing the state $1.8 million in food stamp benefits for the poor.

Republicans have said the state should not reward drug felons with a public benefit, and possibly give them an opportunity to trade food stamps for cash.

But supporters of the legislation said California and other states already allow convicted murderers, rapists, thieves and others to receive food stamps.

If the measure is approved by the state Assembly and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California would join 32 other states and territories that extend food stamp benefits to people convicted of drug possession. Twelve other states allow people with more serious drug convictions to get food stamps.

The measure passed the Senate 21 to 12, sending it back to the Assembly and then possibly to Schwarzenegger.

In other action Wednesday:

* The Assembly approved two measures intended to discourage companies from moving California jobs overseas. One bill would prevent healthcare companies from sending medical information overseas without patient consent. The bill, SB 1492, passed 43 to 33. The second measure would prohibit the state Department of Homeland Security from contracting out sensitive information overseas. SB 888 passed 41 to 35. Both bills require final approval from the Senate.

* The Senate required that, by January 2006, electronic voting machines keep a printed copy of all votes cast. The printed copy would be available in case election results were questioned. The measure, AB 2454, passed unanimously and now goes back to the Assembly for final approval. Several California counties use the machines, but fear about potential tampering has caused concern around the country.

* The Assembly voted to let state government purchase prescription drugs from Canada for mentally ill patients and others receiving medication -- as long as the federal government approves it with a waiver. SB 1144 passed 43 to 21. It requires final approval from the Senate.

* The Assembly narrowly voted to prohibit anyone under 14 from using tanning machines and required teenagers between 14 and 18 to get a signed permission slip before catching some artificial rays. The measure, AB 2193, originally prohibited anyone under 18 from using tanning booths, but was amended in the state Senate to get enough votes to pass both houses. Some lawmakers ridiculed the bill as the “nanny state” gone crazy, but supporters said it was designed to save children from dangerous cancer-causing exposure. The bill, which passed 41 to 30, now heads to Schwarzenegger’s desk.

* The Assembly approved a measure to create a land conservancy to protect the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Mountains. SB 2600 passed 62 to 14 and now goes to the governor.

* A bill that would have enabled the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to continue building a $330-million busway across the San Fernando Valley failed when the Senate’s environmental quality committee voted it down, 5 to 1. In July, a state court nullified the MTA’s environmental document on the Orange Line and, about two weeks later, stopped construction on the line.

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Times staff writer Jia-Rui Chong contributed to this report.