Making Essentials Available and Lawful (MEAL) Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2837 To amend the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to repeal a certain disqualification to receive benefits under title IV of the Social Security Act and benefits under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008; and to amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide that incarcerated individuals who are scheduled to be released from an institution within 30 days shall be considered to be a household for purposes of such Act. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 26, 2021 Mr. COHEN (for himself, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COOPER, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RUSH, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TRONE, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY, Mr. WELCH, and Ms. DEAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently de- termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to repeal a certain disquali- fication to receive benefits under title IV of the Social Security Act and benefits under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008; and to amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide that incarcerated individuals who are scheduled to be released from an institution within VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2837.IH H2837 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2837 IH 30 days shall be considered to be a household for pur- poses of such Act. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Making Essentials 4 Available and Lawful (MEAL) Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. TANF ASSISTANCE AND SNAP BENEFITS. 6 (a) REPEAL OF BAN ON ASSISTANCE.—Section 115 7 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec- 8 onciliation Act of 1996 (21 U.S.C. 862a) is repealed. 9 (b) EFFECT ON STATE ELECTIONS TO OPT OUT OR 10 LIMIT PERIOD OF PROHIBITION.— 11 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 12 (A) the term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning 13 given the term in section 115(e) of the Personal 14 Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconcili- 15 ation Act of 1996 (21 U.S.C. 862a(e)) (as in 16 effect on the day before the date of enactment 17 of this Act); and 18 (B) the term ‘‘TANF assistance or SNAP 19 benefits’’ means assistance or benefits referred 20 to in section 115(a) of the Personal Responsi- 21 bility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act 22 of 1996 (as in effect on the day before the date 23 of enactment of this Act). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2837.IH H2837 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2837 IH (2) EFFECT ON STATE POLICIES.—Any law en- 1 acted by a State under the authority under subpara- 2 graph (A) or (B) of subsection (d)(1) of section 115 3 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor- 4 tunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (21 U.S.C. 862a), 5 and any State law, policy, or regulation that imposes 6 conditions on eligibility for the supplemental nutri- 7 tion assistance program and temporary assistance 8 for needy families program based on an individual’s 9 conviction of an offense related to a controlled sub- 10 stance, shall have no force or effect. 11 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF HOUSEHOLD 12 FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING SNAP 13 BENEFITS. 14 Section 3(m)(5) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 15 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(m)(5)) is amended by adding at the 16 end the following: 17 ‘‘(H) Incarcerated individuals who are 18 scheduled to be released from an institution 19 within 30 days.’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2837.IH H2837 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS