LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Legislation to keep food-stamp recipients from using their benefits to purchase junk food and soda appears to be dead for this year. The bill died in a Senate committee on Wednesday.

Proponents said bill would have helped cut obesity-related medical costs in Arkansas. The Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee balked at the bill during Wednesday's voice vote.

Democratic Sen. Eddie Cheatham said the bill "would just kind of slap at people that were needing a hand up."

The bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Mary Bentley, says she expected a tough fight in the Senate. She says the bill faced pushback from grocers concerned about cost implementations and soft-drink manufacturers.

Bentley says she'll look into other ways states have reduced unhealthful purchases through food-stamp programs.

Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

http://www.ky3.com/content/news/413315983.html