A lifetime ban on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for people with certain drug felony convictions will remain in effect, after Nebraska lawmakers failed Monday to garner enough votes to override a veto issued last week by Governor Jim Pillen.
Victor Rountree, District 3. Legislature – 2025 Incoming Senators. November 20, 2024. Photo by Craig Chandler / University Communication.
Legislative Bill 319, the priority bill of Senator Victor Rountree of Bellevue, sought to open up SNAP benefits to individuals with three or more felony convictions for drug use or distribution. Currently, individuals with one or two drug possession or use convictions can access SNAP after completing an accredited treatment program. The bill would have allowed them to qualify sooner — either upon completing their sentence, beginning parole, or actively participating in a treatment program — unless a health care provider determined that treatment was not necessary.
Pillen’s veto proved to be an effective nudge against Republicans who had crossed party lines to form a bipartisan bloc in the state’s technically nonpartisan Unicameral. The bill was sent to Pillen’s desk for a signature on a 32-17 vote. He issued the veto hours after it passed.
Immediately after the bill was bounced back with no signature, Rountree filed a motion to override the Governors will notwithstanding his objections.
In his veto letter, Gov. Pillen said he disagrees with providing SNAP to repeat felons and that the bill would create “loopholes” for offenders to avoid treatment.
Rountree needed 30 votes to override Pillen’s veto. Seven republicans who had previously voted for LB 319 changed their support and voted to sustain the veto: Sens. Armendariz, Clouse, Dover, Meyer, Moser, Sanders and von Gillern.
“I’m grateful to the legislators who stuck together and helped sustain this common-sense veto,” said Pillen in a statement following the sustain of his veto. “Drug dealers should not be entitled to taxpayer-funded benefits, like SNAP. We can’t let repeat felons take advantage of the system.
Less grateful, however, was the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nebraska, which testified in support of lifting the ban.
“No one benefits from this vote,” said Mindy Rush Chipman, ACLU of Nebraska Executive Director. “I thank the senators who voted to override the veto and the many Nebraskans who spoke up for ending the SNAP ban. I hope those Nebraskans tell their senator and the governor what they think of the governor’s veto tanking this commonsense bill.”
Prior to the vote, Rountree — a senior pastor and U.S. Air Force veteran — called it “a historic moment for the 109th Legislature.” It marked Governor Pillen’s first veto of the 2025 session, with the finish line in sight as Monday marked day-81 of the 90-day session.
He offered his colleagues just one passage from the bible for consideration on the matter: Matthew 18:21-22 — an excerpt from the The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.
Rountree recited:
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
“I recognize today that forgiving is hard, and doing it over and over again can seem impossible,” he continued. “But what I want you take from this is that Jesus is clear in this passage that there is no final straw… My fellow senators, there’s not a final straw in the forgiveness of God in this kingdom.”
Proponents of the bill outlined their support as an effort to promote successful reentry, reduce recidivism, help prevent hunger among children and families, and reduce the administrative burden on the state.
Referring to the “loopholes” feared by Pillen and opponents, Rountree reiterated his “good faith” efforts to bring compromise amendments which address those concerns. Republican Sen. Mike Jacobson cited those efforts, and personal experiences with loved one grappling with addiction, as his reasons for voting to override the veto.
“Everybody in this body has to vote their conscience,” Jacobson said. “I’m just telling you why I will be supporting the override, why I’ve supported the bill. Right, wrong, or indifferent. I told Senator Rountree I would support the bill, and I’m going to support the bill. But I would also tell you that when you vote and you’re questioning me about why I’m voting the way I am, it’s because I’ve been around addiction and I’ve seen what addiction’s about.”
In the end, the override motion failed on an even split 24-24 vote, with one senator excused “not voting.”