Colorado is the first blue state to have a waiver approved for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that limits the ability to buy soda and other sugary beverages, set to go into effect in March 2026.
“Colorado is one of the healthiest states in the nation and has the lowest obesity rate of any state. Sadly, even Colorado’s lowest obesity rate of 24.9% is too high, and obesity endangers and shortens the lives of too many Coloradans,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said in a Monday release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
“Today’s waiver is a big step towards improving the health of Coloradans, and reducing obesity rates, diabetes, and tooth decay,” he added.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins signed Colorado’s waiver, along with the waivers for states like Florida and Louisiana on Monday.
“SNAP is a supplemental nutrition program meant to provide health food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budget so they can afford the nutritious food essential to health and well being,” Rollins said Monday before signing the waivers.
“That is the stated purpose of the SNAP program, the law states it and President Trump’s USDA plans to deliver on it,” she added.
President Trump’s recently-signed “big, beautiful bill,” which the president aggressively pushed across the finish line last month, cuts tens of millions of dollars from SNAP as well as close to $1 trillion in federal medicaid spending.
