Missouri's lifetime food-stamp ban for drug felons is cruel and counterproductive

As Missouri lawmakers embark on yet another legislative session sure to be defined by right-wing extremism and entrenched partisanship, positive exception has arisen regarding, of all things, public assistance: A bipartisan proposal would finally end a cruel and counterproductive lifetime ban on food stamp eligibility for people with felony drug convictions in their past. Technically, the state modified that ban a decade ago, but under such onerous restrictions that it effectively still prevents almost anyone with a felony drug record from accessing the federal-state Supplemental Nutrition Foo...