Closing the Meal Gap Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4077 To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to require that supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits be calculated using the value of the low-cost food plan, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 23, 2021 Ms. ADAMS (for herself, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BASS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BROWN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CAR- SON, Ms. CHU, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KEATING, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KILMER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LIEU, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALO- NEY of New York, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MENG, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLI- TANO, Mr. NEAL, Ms. NEWMAN, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PA- NETTA, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. ROSS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. SWALWELL, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Mr. WELCH) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri- culture A BILL To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to require VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:00 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4077.IH H4077 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4077 IH that supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits be calculated using the value of the low-cost food plan, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Closing the Meal Gap 4 Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. CALCULATION OF PROGRAM BENEFITS USING LOW- 6 COST FOOD PLAN. 7 (a) DEFINITION OF LOW-COST FOOD PLAN.—Sec- 8 tion 3 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 9 2012) is amended— 10 (1) by striking subsection (u); 11 (2) by redesignating subsections (n) through (t) 12 as subsections (o) through (u), respectively; and 13 (3) by inserting after subsection (m) the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘(n) LOW-COST FOOD PLAN.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘low-cost food 17 plan’ means the diet, determined in accordance with 18 the calculations of the Secretary, required to feed a 19 4-person family that consists of— 20 ‘‘(A) a man and a woman who are each be- 21 tween 19 and 50 years of age; 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:00 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4077.IH H4077 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4077 IH ‘‘(B) a child who is between 6 and 8 years 1 of age; and 2 ‘‘(C) a child who is between 9 and 11 3 years of age. 4 ‘‘(2) RE-EVALUATION.—Not later than January 5 1, 2027, and at 5-year intervals thereafter, the Sec- 6 retary shall re-evaluate and publish the market bas- 7 kets of the low-cost food plan based on current food 8 prices, food composition data, consumption patterns, 9 and dietary guidance. 10 ‘‘(3) COST.—For purposes of paragraph (1), 11 the cost of the diet described in that paragraph shall 12 be the basis for uniform allotments for all house- 13 holds regardless of the actual composition of the 14 household, except that the Secretary shall— 15 ‘‘(A) make household-size adjustments 16 (based on the unrounded cost of that diet) tak- 17 ing into account economies of scale; 18 ‘‘(B) make cost adjustments in the low- 19 cost food plan for the State of Hawaii and the 20 urban and rural parts of the State of Alaska to 21 reflect the cost of food in Hawaii and urban 22 and rural Alaska, respectively; 23 ‘‘(C) make cost adjustments in the sepa- 24 rate low-cost food plans for Guam, the Com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:00 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4077.IH H4077 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4077 IH monwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, 1 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is- 2 lands, and the United States Virgin Islands, to 3 reflect the cost of food in those territories, but 4 not to exceed the cost of food in the 50 States 5 and the District of Columbia; and 6 ‘‘(D) on October 1, 2021, and each Octo- 7 ber 1 thereafter, adjust the cost of the diet to 8 reflect the cost of the diet in the immediately 9 preceding June, and round the result to the 10 nearest lower-dollar increment for each house- 11 hold size.’’. 12 (b) VALUE OF ALLOTMENT.—Section 8(a) of the 13 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2017(a)) is 14 amended— 15 (1) by striking ‘‘thrifty food plan’’ each place it 16 appears and inserting ‘‘low-cost food plan’’; and 17 (2) in the proviso, by striking ‘‘8 percent’’ and 18 inserting ‘‘10 percent’’. 19 (c) QUALITY CONTROL SYSTEM.—Section 20 16(c)(1)(A)(ii) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 21 U.S.C. 2025(c)(1)(A)(ii)) is amended— 22 (1) in subclause (I)— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:00 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4077.IH H4077 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4077 IH (A) by striking ‘‘2014, at an amount not 1 greater than $37’’ and inserting ‘‘2021, at an 2 amount equal to not more than $50’’; and 3 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 4 (2) in subclause (II)— 5 (A) by striking ‘‘(II)’’ and inserting 6 ‘‘(III)’’; 7 (B) by striking ‘‘thrifty food plan is ad- 8 justed under section 3(u)(4)’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘low-cost food plan is adjusted under section 10 3(n)(2)(D)’’; and 11 (C) by striking ‘‘2013’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘2022’’; and 13 (3) by inserting after subclause (I) the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2022, the 16 amount specified in subclause (I) shall 17 be adjusted by the difference between 18 the thrifty food plan and the low-cost 19 food plan; and’’. 20 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 21 (1) Section 10 of the Food and Nutrition Act 22 of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2019) is amended, in the first 23 sentence, by striking ‘‘3(o)(4)’’ and inserting 24 ‘‘3(p)(4)’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:00 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4077.IH H4077 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4077 IH (2) Section 11 of the Food and Nutrition Act 1 of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020) is amended— 2 (A) in subsection (a)(2), by striking 3 ‘‘3(s)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(t)(1)’’; 4 (B) in subsection (d)— 5 (i) by striking ‘‘3(s)(1)’’ each place it 6 appears and inserting ‘‘3(t)(1)’’; 7 (ii) by striking ‘‘3(s)(2)’’ each place it 8 appears and inserting ‘‘3(t)(2)’’; and 9 (iii) by striking ‘‘Act (25 U.S.C. 10 450)’’ and inserting ‘‘and Education As- 11 sistance Act (25 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)’’; 12 and 13 (C) in subsection (e)(17), by striking 14 ‘‘3(s)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(t)(1)’’. 15 (3) Section 19(a)(2)(A)(ii) of the Food and Nu- 16 trition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2028(a)(2)(A)(ii)) is 17 amended by striking ‘‘thrifty food plan has been ad- 18 justed under section 3(u)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘low- 19 cost food plan has been adjusted under section 20 3(n)(2)(D)’’. 21 (4) Section 27(a)(2) of the Food and Nutrition 22 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2036(a)(2)) is amended— 23 (A) in subparagraph (C) by striking 24 ‘‘2023’’ and inserting ‘‘2020’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:00 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4077.IH H4077 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4077 IH (B) in subparagraph (D)— 1 (i) by striking ‘‘through 2023’’ and 2 inserting ‘‘through 2020’’; 3 (ii) in clause (vi) by adding ‘‘and’’ at 4 the end; 5 (iii) in clause(vii) by adding ‘‘and’’ at 6 the end; and 7 (iv) by striking clauses (viii) and (ix); 8 (C) in subparagraph (E)— 9 (i) by striking ‘‘2024 and each subse- 10 quent fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘2020’’; 11 (ii) by striking ‘‘2023’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘2019’’; and 13 (iii) by striking the period at the end 14 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 15 (D) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(F) for fiscal year 2021, the dollar 17 amount of commodities specified in subpara- 18 graph (B) shall be adjusted by the difference 19 between the cost of the thrifty food plan and 20 the cost of low-cost food plan; and 21 ‘‘(G) for each of the fiscal years 2022 22 through 2023, the dollar amount of commod- 23 ities specified in subparagraph (B) shall be ad- 24 justed by the percentage by which the low-cost 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:00 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4077.IH H4077 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4077 IH food plan has been adjusted under 3(n)(2)(D) 1 between June 30, 2021, and June 30 of the im- 2 mediately preceding fiscal year;’’. 3 (5) Section 408(a)(12)(B)(i) of the Social Secu- 4 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 608(a)(12)(B)(i)) is amended by 5 striking ‘‘(r)’’ each place it appears. 6 SEC. 3. DEDUCTIONS FROM INCOME. 7 (a) STANDARD MEDICAL EXPENSE DEDUCTION.— 8 Section 5(e)(5) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 9 (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(5)) is amended— 10 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘EX- 11 CESS MEDICAL’’ and inserting ‘‘MEDICAL’’; 12 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘an excess 13 medical’’ and all that follows through the period at 14 the end and inserting ‘‘a standard medical deduction 15 or a medical expense deduction of actual costs for 16 the allowable medical expenses incurred by the elder- 17 ly or disabled member, exclusive of special diets.’’; 18 (3) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking ‘‘ex- 19 cess’’; and 20 (4) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(D) STANDARD MEDICAL EXPENSE DE- 22 DUCTION AMOUNT.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:00 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4077.IH H4077 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4077 IH ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro- 1 vided in clause (ii), the standard medical 2 expense deduction shall be— 3 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2021, $140; 4 and 5 ‘‘(II) for each subsequent fiscal 6 year, equal to the applicable amount 7 for the immediately preceding fiscal 8 year as adjusted to reflect changes for 9 the 12-month period ending the pre- 10 ceding June 30 in the Consumer Price 11 Index for All Urban Consumers: Med- 12 ical Care published by the Bureau of 13 Labor Statistics of the Department of 14 Labor. 15 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—For any fiscal 16 year, a State agency may establish a great- 17 er standard medical expense deduction 18 than described in clause (i) if the greater 19 deduction satisfies cost neutrality stand- 20 ards established by the Secretary for that 21 fiscal year.’’. 22 (b) ELIMINATION OF CAP OF EXCESS SHELTER EX- 23 PENSES.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:00 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4077.IH H4077 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4077 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5(e)(6) of the Food 1 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(6)) is 2 amended— 3 (A) by striking subparagraph (B); and 4 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) 5 and (D) as subparagraphs (B) and (C), respec- 6 tively. 7 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 8 2605(f)(2)(A) of the Low-Income Home Energy As- 9 sistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8624(f)(2)(A)) is 10 amended by striking ‘‘5(e)(6)(C)(iv)(I) of that Act 11 (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(6)(C)(iv)(I))’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘5(e)(6)(B)(iv)(I) of that Act (7 U.S.C. 13 2014(e)(6)(B)(iv)(I))’’. 14 SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF TIME LIMIT. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6 of the Food and Nutri- 16 tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015) is amended— 17 (1) by striking subsection (o); and 18 (2) by redesignating subsections (p) through (s) 19 as subsections (o) through (r), respectively. 20 (b) ADDITIONAL ALLOCATIONS FOR STATES THAT 21 ENSURE AVAILABILITY OF WORK OPPORTUNITIES.—Sec- 22 tion 16(h) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 23 U.S.C. 2025(h)) is amended— 24 (1) in paragraph (1)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:00 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4077.IH H4077 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4077 IH (A) in subparagraph (C)(iv)(I)— 1 (i) by striking ‘‘(F)(viii)’’ each place it 2 appears and inserting ‘‘(E)(viii)’’; 3 (ii) by striking ‘‘(F)(vii)(I)’’ each 4 place it appears and inserting 5 ‘‘(E)(vii)(I)’’; 6 (iii) in item (bb)(BB), by striking 7 ‘‘(F)(vii)(II)’’ and inserting ‘‘(E)(vii)(II)’’; 8 and 9 (iv) in item (cc), by striking ‘‘(F)(vii)’’ 10 and inserting ‘‘(E)(vii)’’; 11 (B) by striking subparagraph (E); and 12 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 13 subparagraph (E); 14 (2) in paragraphs (3) and (4), by striking 15 ‘‘(1)(F)’’ each place it appears and inserting 16 ‘‘(1)(E)’’; and 17 (3) in paragraph (5)(C)— 18 (A) in clause (ii), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 19 end; 20 (B) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 21 inserting a period; and 22 (C) by striking clause (iv). 23 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:00 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4077.IH H4077 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4077 IH (1) Section 5(a) of the Food and Nutrition Act 1 of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014(a)) is amended in the sec- 2 ond sentence, by striking ‘‘(r)’’ and inserting ‘‘(q)’’. 3 (2) Section 6(d)(4) of the Food and Nutrition 4 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015(d)(4)) is amended— 5 (A) in subparagraph (B)(ii)(I)(bb)(DD), 6 by striking ‘‘or subsection (o)’’; and 7 (B) in subparagraph (N), by striking ‘‘or 8 subsection (o)’’ each place it appears. 9 (3) Section 7(i)(1) of the Food and Nutrition 10 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2016(i)(1)) is amended by 11 striking ‘‘section 6(o)(2) of this Act or’’. 12 (4) Section 16(h)(1) of the Food and Nutrition 13 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2025(h)) is amended— 14 (A) in subparagraph (B), in the matter 15 preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘that—’’ and 16 all that follows through the period at the end 17 of clause (ii) and inserting ‘‘that is determined 18 and adjusted by the Secretary.’’; and 19 (B) in clause (ii)(III)(ee)(AA) of subpara- 20 graph (E) (as redesignated by subsection 21 (b)(1)(C)), by striking ‘‘, individuals subject to 22 the requirements under section 6(o),’’. 23 (5) Section 51(d)(8)(A)(ii) of the Internal Rev- 24 enue Code of 1986 is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:00 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4077.IH H4077 pamtman [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]