SNAP water-bill payment resolution fails
A proposal by a Mississippi Public Service Commissioner to let SNAP/EBT recipients pay water bills directly with their food-assistance benefits died Tuesday when no other commissioner would second it.
Commissioner De'Keither Stamps presented the resolution as administrative agenda item two at the Public Service Commission's Sept. 2, 2026, meeting, after the chair recognized him to do so. Stamps told the commission the change would not require new legislation or federal spending. "This gives them an option. Doesn't make it mandatory. It doesn't require any new federal money. Doesn't require any new assistance. Just changing a few um words at the at Department of Human Services," Stamps said.
The resolution called for classifying water as "food" under Department of Human Services rules, which Stamps argued would let SNAP/EBT cardholders use their benefits to cover water bills. He said he would separately petition Gov. Tate Reeves to pursue the change through DHS. With no commissioner offering a second, the chair declared the item failed on the floor.
The measure touched on questions of public spending and regulatory reach that have drawn scrutiny from welfare-policy watchers, since it would have altered how a federal food-assistance program could be applied to utility payments without a new law or additional funding. Its failure to advance means the change does not take effect for now, though Stamps' stated plan to raise the issue with the governor's office suggests the proposal could resurface through the Department of Human Services rather than the commission itself.