Gov. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) this week became the first Democrat to join the Trump administration’s quest to banish soda from federal food assistance.
Colorado is one of a dozen states planning to bar beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from using their benefits to buy sugary soft drinks.
The initiative has been championed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose “Make America Healthy Again” efforts have combined anti-vaccine quackery with a push for healthier diets.
“Colorado is one of the healthiest states in the nation and has the lowest obesity rate of any state,” Polis said in a statement outlining his reasons for the change. “Sadly, even Colorado’s lowest obesity rate of 24.9% is too high, and endangers and shortens the lives of too many Coloradans.”
Kennedy and Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins have asked states to apply for waivers from federal law requiring SNAP benefits to be usable for any food item in a grocery store intended for home consumption. Kennedy has said he hopes every state seeks such a waiver.
Republicans in Congress enacted a significant SNAP funding cut to help offset the cost of a tax cut bill last month, but the nutritional changes pushed by the Trump administration could prove at least as significant.
Republicans in state governments have long sought restrictions on food benefits for junk and luxury items alike, but have been rebuffed by both Democratic and Republican administrations. The first Trump administration denied such a request from Maine’s Republican governor in 2018.
The dam has broken amid persistently high U.S. obesity rates, increasing skepticism of sugary drinks and a second Trump presidency that’s much more willing to shatter norms. Next year, SNAP recipients in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and West Virginia will face new restrictions on what their SNAP debit cards can buy.
Starting in March 2026, SNAP recipients in Colorado won’t be able to use their benefits for “soft drinks,” which the state describes as “nonalcoholic beverages that contain natural or artificial sweeteners.” The policy doesn’t ban milk products or drinks with more than 50% fruit or vegetable juice.
Polis described the policy change as a public health issue, calling the waiver “a big step towards improving the health of Coloradans, and reducing obesity rates, diabetes, and tooth decay.”
The Democratic governor also said that because grocers stock shelves based partly on SNAP eligibility, he’s “confident that this waiver will also help reduce food deserts in Colorado by reducing shelf space for soda and increasing it for other nutritional food products eligible for SNAP.”
By signing on to the Trump administration’s push for SNAP restrictions, Polis is breaking from establishment consensus shared by Democrats, most Republicans, plus the food industry and anti-hunger groups, who have argued new rules are paternalistic and impractical. Notably, however, the American Medical Association has favored the idea.
More than 20 million households receive SNAP benefits, which average around $356 per month. Available evidence suggests SNAP recipients have similar shopping patterns as nonrecipients, who also buy plenty of sugary drinks.
“People can make their own choice about what they’re going to buy and what they’re not going to buy. If you want to buy a sugary soda, you ought to be able to do that, but U.S. taxpayers should not pay for it,” Kennedy said Monday. “The U.S. taxpayers should not be paying to feed kids foods — the poorest kids in our country ― with foods that are going to give them diabetes.”
