Anti-Hunger Empowerment Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1470 To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide greater access to the supplemental nutrition assistance program by reducing duplicative and burdensome administrative requirements, authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to award grants to certain community-based nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger groups for the purpose of establishing and imple- menting a Beyond the Soup Kitchen Pilot Program for certain socially and economically disadvantaged populations, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 28, 2019 Mr. SERRANO (for himself, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. LEE of Cali- fornia, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. OMAR, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. NADLER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Mr. ESPAILLAT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide greater access to the supplemental nutrition assistance program by reducing duplicative and burdensome admin- istrative requirements, authorize the Secretary of Agri- culture to award grants to certain community-based non- profit feeding and anti-hunger groups for the purpose of establishing and implementing a Beyond the Soup Kitchen Pilot Program for certain socially and economi- cally disadvantaged populations, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Mar 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1470.IH H1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1470 IH 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 ‘‘Anti-Hunger Em- 4 powerment Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds the following: 7 (1) In 2014 the number of Americans facing 8 hunger or food insecurity was 48,100,000, and 9 15,300,000 children lived in these households. 10 5,400,000 seniors ages 60 and up were also experi- 11 encing food hardship. 12 (2) In August 2015 approximately 45,500,000 13 people participate in the supplemental nutrition as- 14 sistance program (SNAP). In fiscal year 2014 on a 15 monthly average, 47,600,000 people participated in 16 this program, about 15 percent of the United States 17 population. SNAP, the Special Supplemental Nutri- 18 tion Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and 19 Children (WIC), and the National School Lunch 20 Program (NSLP) are the largest nutrition assist- 21 ance programs, and 61 percent of food-insecure 22 households participated in 1 or more of the 3 pro- 23 grams. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1470.IH H1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1470 IH (3) Administrative burdens involved in securing 1 supplemental nutrition assistance benefits are par- 2 ticularly burdensome for working families. 3 (4) Each year tens of millions people in the 4 United States, including children and seniors, are 5 forced to rely on soup kitchens, food pantries, and 6 other charitable feeding programs. 7 (5) The charitable food distribution system in 8 the United States would benefit from increased co- 9 ordination and technical assistance. 10 (6) Helping those who use feeding programs to 11 move ‘‘beyond the soup kitchen’’, by promoting the 12 values of community, opportunity, and responsibility, 13 is a national priority. 14 TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO THE 15 FOOD AND NUTRITION ACT 16 OF 2008 17 SEC. 101. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOOD AND NUTRITION ACT 18 OF 2008. 19 (a) ADMINISTRATIVE COST SHARING AND QUALITY 20 CONTROL.—Section 16(k) of the Food and Nutrition Act 21 of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2025(k)) is amended by striking sub- 22 section (k) and inserting the following: 23 ‘‘(k) ADMINISTRATIVE COST FOR INCREASING AC- 24 CESS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Mar 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1470.IH H1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1470 IH tion, the Secretary is authorized to pay to each State 1 agency an amount equal to 75 percent of the administra- 2 tive costs incurred by the State agency in carrying out 3 new activities not previously funded by the State— 4 ‘‘(1) to increase the number of hours that sup- 5 plemental nutrition assistance offices are open on 6 weekends and nights if there is neither a decrease in 7 the total number of supplemental nutrition assist- 8 ance offices that are open in the State nor a de- 9 crease in the number of hours such offices are open 10 during the regular work week; 11 ‘‘(2) to conduct verifiable activities to reduce 12 the average wait time that applicants spend at sup- 13 plemental nutrition assistance offices or to reduce 14 the average number of office visits required of appli- 15 cants; 16 ‘‘(3) to accept applications for supplemental nu- 17 trition assistance benefit by means of the internet; 18 ‘‘(4) to upgrade computer systems and tech- 19 nology in ways that specifically increase access to 20 the supplemental nutrition assistance program; and 21 ‘‘(5) at the time of application, to provide appli- 22 cants with a checklist listing all documents required 23 for a complete supplemental nutrition assistance ap- 24 plication.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Mar 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1470.IH H1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1470 IH (b) REDUCTION OF BURDENSOME AND DUPLICATIVE 1 OFFICE VISITS; PROHIBITION OF FINGERPRINTING.— 2 Section 11(e)(2) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 3 (7 U.S.C. 2020(e)(2)) is amended— 4 (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking the period 5 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 6 (2) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘In’’ and 7 inserting ‘‘that in’’; 8 (3) in subparagraph (D) by inserting the fol- 9 lowing before the semicolon at the end: ‘‘, and the 10 fingerprint of any member of a household shall not 11 be required for the purpose of participating in the 12 supplemental nutrition assistance program or for 13 issuance of benefits for which the household would 14 otherwise be eligible’’; 15 (4) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and 16 (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively; and 17 (5) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol- 18 lowing: 19 ‘‘(C) that the State agency shall inform house- 20 holds, at the time of application, that— 21 ‘‘(i) household members are not required 22 to appear in person at the time of application, 23 or at any other time, unless— 24 ‘‘(I) expressly required by this Act; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Mar 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1470.IH H1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1470 IH ‘‘(II) in accordance with clause (ii); 1 and 2 ‘‘(ii) if the State agency has a basis to rea- 3 sonably believe that information provided by a 4 household is incorrect or that a household has 5 failed to provide information required for par- 6 ticipation in the supplemental nutrition assist- 7 ance program, then the State agency shall— 8 ‘‘(I) provide to the household a writ- 9 ten statement notifying the household of 10 such belief; specifying the factual basis of 11 such belief, informing the household of the 12 applicable information that is believed to 13 be incorrect or missing, and instructing the 14 household how to correct or to provide the 15 appropriate information; and 16 ‘‘(II) not require any member of such 17 household to appear in person unless either 18 the household fails to provide the appro- 19 priate information or the State agency can- 20 not verify the accuracy of information the 21 household provides in response to the re- 22 quest made under this subparagraph by 23 the State agency;’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Mar 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1470.IH H1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1470 IH SEC. 102. COMPARATIVE PROGRESS REPORT. 1 Section 18 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 2 (7 U.S.C. 2027) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(i) The Secretary shall submit a single, unified, an- 5 nual report to the appropriate committees of the Congress 6 on the comparative progress of States in improving access 7 to the supplemental nutrition assistance program. The fol- 8 lowing statistics shall be included in the report with re- 9 spect to each particular State: 10 ‘‘(1) The percentage of supplemental nutrition 11 assistance program applications processed within the 12 30-day period required by this Act. 13 ‘‘(2) The average number of days required to 14 process expedited applications for supplemental nu- 15 trition assistance benefits. 16 ‘‘(3) The average number of days required to 17 process regular applications for supplemental nutri- 18 tion assistance benefits. 19 ‘‘(4) The average number of office visits that 20 each applicant makes to receive supplemental nutri- 21 tion assistance benefits. 22 ‘‘(5) Statewide negative errors rates. 23 ‘‘(6) The overall participation rate of house- 24 holds that are eligible to participate in the supple- 25 mental nutrition assistance program. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Mar 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1470.IH H1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 1470 IH ‘‘(7) The information specified in paragraphs 1 (1) through (6) for a particular geographical area in 2 such State.’’. 3 TITLE II—ANTI-HUNGER GRANTS 4 PROGRAM 5 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 6 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Beyond the Soup 7 Kitchen Grants Program Act of 2019’’. 8 SEC. 202. BEYOND THE SOUP KITCHEN PILOT PROGRAM. 9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM.—The Sec- 10 retary shall establish a pilot program, to be known as the 11 ‘‘Beyond the Soup Kitchen Pilot Program’’, in accordance 12 with this title. 13 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the pilot program 14 are— 15 (1) to provide grant assistance to a primary 16 community-based nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger 17 group in each pilot community for purposes of allo- 18 cating subgrants to other community-based non- 19 profit feeding and anti-hunger groups in such com- 20 munity; and 21 (2) to provide technical assistance grants. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Mar 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1470.IH H1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 1470 IH SEC. 203. SELECTION OF PRIMARY COMMUNITY-BASED 1 NONPROFIT FEEDING AND ANTI-HUNGER 2 GROUPS AND SUBGRANTEES. 3 (a) GRANTS TO PRIMARY COMMUNITY-BASED NON- 4 PROFIT FEEDING AND ANTI-HUNGER GROUPS.—Under 5 the pilot program and for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall 6 award not more than 30 grants to primary community- 7 based nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger groups, in ac- 8 cordance with this section. 9 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for an award of a 10 grant for a fiscal year under this section, a community- 11 based nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger group shall sub- 12 mit to the Secretary an application that contains a de- 13 scription of how the applicant proposes to use the grant 14 funds to implement the components of the pilot program 15 listed in subsection (c) in the pilot community of the com- 16 munity-based nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger group. 17 The application shall be submitted in such form, at such 18 time, and containing such other information as the Sec- 19 retary may require. 20 (c) PILOT PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—An application 21 for a grant under this section shall contain the following 22 components: 23 (1) PROGRAMS COMPONENT.—A program com- 24 ponent that describes, with respect to a target popu- 25 lation of a pilot community and in accordance with 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Mar 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1470.IH H1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 1470 IH section 204, programs designed for the following 1 purposes: 2 (A) To reduce hunger in such target popu- 3 lation. 4 (B) To increase the use of nutrition assist- 5 ance and anti-poverty programs by such target 6 population. 7 (C) To bolster food security within such 8 target population. 9 (D) To assist individuals and families 10 within such target population to develop assets. 11 (E) To promote the economic independence 12 of individuals and families within such target 13 population. 14 (F) To improve the nutrition of such tar- 15 get population. 16 (G) To reduce the occurrence of obesity in 17 such target population. 18 (2) COMMUNITY FOOD COUNCIL.—A community 19 food council component that describes the formation 20 and operation of a community food council designed 21 to engage emergency feeding groups, Federal, State, 22 and local government agencies, the cooperative ex- 23 tension system, land-grant colleges and universities, 24 and historically African American, Hispanic, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Mar 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1470.IH H1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 1470 IH American Indian educational institutes for the pur- 1 poses described under paragraph (1). 2 (3) SUBGRANTS COMPONENT.—A subgrants 3 component that describes a plan for the allocation of 4 grants funds to subgrantees by the primary commu- 5 nity-based nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger group, 6 in accordance with subsection (e). 7 (d) CRITERIA.—In evaluating an application of a 8 community-based nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger 9 group, the Secretary shall consider, in addition to such 10 other criteria as the Secretary determines appropriate, the 11 extent to which the application of the group demonstrates 12 the following: 13 (1) The capacity to serve as a leader for other 14 community-based nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger 15 groups in the pilot community and to successfully 16 provide technical assistance and other assistance to 17 the greatest number of such groups. 18 (2) Successful experience— 19 (A) in conducting a program described in 20 section 204(b); 21 (B) in working with a national service, 22 community service, or volunteer service group 23 that conducts a program described in section 24 204(b); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Mar 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1470.IH H1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 1470 IH (C) in managing and using Federal grant 1 funds, including grants for community food and 2 nutrition programs authorized under section 3 681(a) of the Community Services Block Grant 4 Act (42 U.S.C. 9922(a)); 5 (D) in working cooperatively with a nutri- 6 tion assistance and anti-poverty program, other 7 community-based nonprofit feeding and anti- 8 hunger groups, and faith-based and other com- 9 munity programs in the pilot community; and 10 (E) in [Text truncated for display. 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