Food for Families in Crisis Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6722 To strengthen Federal nutrition assistance programs as automatic stabilizers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 5, 2020 Mr. NEGUSE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To strengthen Federal nutrition assistance programs as automatic stabilizers, 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 ‘‘Food for Families in 4 Crisis Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. STRENGTHENING FEDERAL NUTRITION ASSIST- 6 ANCE PROGRAMS AS AUTOMATIC STABI- 7 LIZERS. 8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 May 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6722.IH H6722 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6722 IH (1) ELEVATED UNEMPLOYMENT PERIOD.—The 1 term ‘‘elevated unemployment period’’ means, as de- 2 termined by the Commissioner of the Bureau of 3 Labor Statistics in accordance with subsection (b), a 4 period— 5 (A) beginning on the first day of the last 6 month during the most recent 3-month period 7 for which data for all States are published be- 8 fore the close of a given week, the average rate 9 of total unemployment for all States (seasonally 10 adjusted, as applicable) is not less than 0.5 per- 11 centage points higher than the lowest average 12 rate of total unemployment for all States (as 13 seasonally adjusted) for any 3-month period 14 during the preceding 12 months; and 15 (B) ending on the date on which the aver- 16 age rate of total unemployment for all States 17 (seasonally adjusted, as applicable) for the most 18 recent 3-month period for which data for all 19 States are published before the close of a given 20 week— 21 (i) has decreased for not less than 2 22 consecutive months; 23 (ii) is less than 5.5 percent; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 May 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6722.IH H6722 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6722 IH (iii) is less than 1.5 percentage points 1 above the 3-month average rate of total 2 unemployment for all States (as seasonally 3 adjusted) reported for the 3-month period 4 ending on the last day of the month imme- 5 diately preceding the month during which 6 the applicable beginning date described in 7 subparagraph (A) occurs. 8 (2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL OR HOUSEHOLD.— 9 The term ‘‘eligible individual or household’’ means 10 an individual or household that is eligible to receive 11 Federal nutrition assistance. 12 (3) FEDERAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE.—The 13 term ‘‘Federal nutrition assistance’’ means nutrition 14 assistance provided under— 15 (A) the supplemental nutrition assistance 16 program under the Food and Nutrition Act of 17 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); 18 (B) a consolidated block grant for the 19 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or American 20 Samoa under section 19(a) of that Act (7 21 U.S.C. 2028(a)); or 22 (C) a block grant for the Commonwealth of 23 the Northern Mariana Islands or any other ter- 24 ritory of the United States provided by the Sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 May 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6722.IH H6722 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6722 IH retary pursuant to section 601(c) of Public Law 1 96–597 (48 U.S.C. 1469d(c)). 2 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 3 the Secretary of Agriculture. 4 (5) STATE; STATE AGENCY; THRIFTY FOOD 5 PLAN.—The terms ‘‘State’’, ‘‘State agency’’, and 6 ‘‘thrifty food plan’’ have the meanings given those 7 terms in section 3 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 8 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012). 9 (b) INCLUSION OF DETERMINATION IN MONTHLY 10 EMPLOYMENT SITUATION REPORTS.—Notwithstanding 11 any other provision of law, the Commissioner of the Bu- 12 reau of Labor Statistics shall include in each monthly em- 13 ployment situation report published by the Commissioner 14 a specific determination of whether an elevated unemploy- 15 ment period is in existence in the United States. 16 (c) WAIVER OF WORK REQUIREMENTS.—Notwith- 17 standing any other provision of law (including regula- 18 tions), during an elevated unemployment period, for pur- 19 poses of the distribution of, receipt of, or eligibility for 20 Federal nutrition assistance— 21 (1) no work requirement under section 6(o) of 22 the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 23 2015(o)) shall apply to any eligible individual or 24 household; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 May 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6722.IH H6722 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6722 IH (2) no other, similar work requirement with re- 1 spect to any eligible individual or household shall be 2 established or applied by— 3 (A) the Secretary; 4 (B) any State, as a condition of receipt 5 from the Secretary of assistance under the sup- 6 plemental nutrition assistance program; or 7 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 8 American Samoa, or the Commonwealth of the 9 Northern Mariana Islands, as a condition of re- 10 ceipt from the Secretary of a Federal nutrition 11 assistance block grant. 12 (d) PRECLUSION OF CERTAIN RULES.—No funds 13 (including fees) made available under this or any other 14 Act for any fiscal year may be used to finalize, implement, 15 administer, enforce, carry out, or otherwise give effect 16 to— 17 (1) the proposed rule entitled ‘‘Revision of Cat- 18 egorical Eligibility in the Supplemental Nutrition 19 Assistance Program (SNAP)’’ (84 Fed. Reg. 35570 20 (July 24, 2019)); 21 (2) the proposed rule entitled ‘‘Supplemental 22 Nutrition Assistance Program: Standardization of 23 State Heating and Cooling Standard Utility Allow- 24 ances’’ (84 Fed. Reg. 52809 (October 3, 2019)); or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 May 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6722.IH H6722 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6722 IH (3) the final rule entitled ‘‘Supplemental Nutri- 1 tion Assistance Program: Requirements for Able- 2 Bodied Adults Without Dependents’’ (84 Fed. Reg. 3 66782 (December 5, 2019)). 4 (e) INCREASE IN FEDERAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE 5 PAYMENTS.— 6 (1) INCREASES.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 8 other provision of law, subject to paragraph (2), 9 effective beginning on the first day of the first 10 month beginning after the date of publication of 11 a monthly employment situation report in which 12 an elevated unemployment period is determined 13 to exist in accordance with subsection (b)— 14 (i) the value of the benefits deter- 15 mined under section 8(a) of the Food and 16 Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2017(a)) 17 and the consolidated block grants for the 18 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and Amer- 19 ican Samoa determined under section 20 19(a) of that Act (7 U.S.C. 2028(a)) shall 21 be calculated using 115 percent of the 22 value of the thrifty food plan in the month 23 immediately preceding the month during 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 May 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6722.IH H6722 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6722 IH which the beginning date of that elevated 1 unemployment period occurs; 2 (ii) the value of the block grant re- 3 ferred to in subsection (a)(3)(C) shall be 4 calculated using 115 percent of the value 5 of that block grant for the preceding fiscal 6 year; and 7 (iii) the minimum value of the bene- 8 fits determined under section 8(a) of the 9 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 10 2017(a)) for a household of not more than 11 2 members shall be $30 (adjusted for in- 12 flation). 13 (B) FDPIR INCREASE.—Notwithstanding 14 any other provision of law, subject to subsection 15 (h), of the funds made available under para- 16 graph (3), the Secretary shall use $7,000,000 17 (adjusted for inflation) for facility improve- 18 ments and equipment upgrades associated with 19 the food distribution program on Indian res- 20 ervations under section 4(b) of the Food and 21 Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2013(b)). 22 (2) LIMITATIONS.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The calculations under 24 clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(A) shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 May 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6722.IH H6722 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6722 IH apply only if the value of the benefit or block 1 grant described in the clause, as applicable, 2 would be greater under that calculation than in 3 the absence of this subsection. 4 (B) EFFECTIVE PERIOD OF CERTAIN IN- 5 CREASE.—An increase under paragraph 6 (1)(A)(iii) shall remain in effect until the date 7 on which an amount equal to 8 percent of the 8 value of the thrifty food plan for a household 9 containing 1 member, rounded to the nearest 10 whole dollar increment, is equal to not less than 11 $30 (adjusted for inflation). 12 (3) FUNDING.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—On the first day of the 14 first month beginning after the date of publica- 15 tion of a monthly employment situation report 16 in which an elevated unemployment period is 17 determined to exist in accordance with sub- 18 section (b), out of any funds in the Treasury 19 not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the 20 Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary such 21 amounts as are necessary to carry out para- 22 graph (1). 23 (B) RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE.—The 24 Secretary shall be entitled to receive, shall ac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 May 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6722.IH H6722 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6722 IH cept, and shall use to carry out paragraph (1) 1 the funds transferred under subparagraph (A), 2 without further appropriation. 3 (f) CATEGORICAL ELIGIBILITY UNDER SNAP.—Sec- 4 tion 5(a) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 5 2014(a)) is amended by inserting after the third sentence 6 the following: ‘‘Each State agency shall administer the 7 State option of categorical eligibility for the supplemental 8 nutrition assistance program as described in clause (ii) or 9 (iii) of section 273.2(j)(2) of title 7, Code of Federal Regu- 10 lations (as in effect on the date of enactment of the Food 11 for Families in Crisis Act of 2020).’’. 12 (g) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—For the costs of State ad- 14 ministrative expenses associated with carrying out 15 this section and administering the supplemental nu- 16 trition assistance program established under the 17 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et 18 seq.), the Secretary shall, during an elevated unem- 19 ployment period, make available $150,000,000 (ad- 20 justed for inflation), in accordance with paragraph 21 (2). 22 (2) ALLOCATION.—The funds made available 23 under paragraph (1) shall be provided in the form 24 of grants to State agencies as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 May 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6722.IH H6722 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6722 IH (A) Seventy-five percent of the amounts 1 made available shall be allocated to each State 2 agency based on the proportion of households in 3 the applicable State that participate in the sup- 4 plemental nutrition assistance program, as— 5 (i) reported to the Secretary for the 6 most recent 12-month period for which 7 data are available; and 8 (ii) if applicable, adjusted by the Sec- 9 retary, as of the date of enactment of this 10 Act, for participation in a disaster program 11 under section 5(h) of the Food and Nutri- 12 tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014(h)). 13 (B) Twenty-five percent of the amounts 14 available shall be allocated to each State agency 15 based on the increase in the number of house- 16 holds in the applicable State that participate in 17 the supplemental nutrition assistance program, 18 as— 19 (i) reported to the Secretary for the 20 most recent 12-month period for which 21 data are available; and 22 (ii) if applicable, adjusted by the Sec- 23 retary, as of the date of enactment of this 24 Act, for participation in a disaster program 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 May 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6722.IH H6722 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6722 IH under section 5(h) of the Food and Nutri- 1 tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014(h)). 2 (h) FDPIR WAIVER.—Any activity carried out using 3 funds provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Eco- 4 nomic Security Act (Public Law 116–136; 134 Stat. 281) 5 for the food distribution program on Indian reservations 6 under section 4(b) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 7 (7 U.S.C. 2013(b)) shall not be subject to the non-Federal 8 share requirement described in paragraph (4)(A) of that 9 section. 10 (i) REQUIREMENTS FOR SECRETARY.—In carrying 11 out this section, the Secretary shall— 12 (1) consider the benefit increases under sub- 13 section (e)(1) to be a ‘‘mass change’’; 14 (2) require a simple process by which States, 15 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American 16 Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 17 Mariana Islands shall notify eligible individuals and 18 households of the increase in benefits under that 19 subsection; 20 (3) consider section 16(c)(3)(A) of the Food 21 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2025(c)(3)(A)) 22 to apply to any errors in the implementation of this 23 section, without regard to the 120-day limit de- 24 scribed in that section; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 May 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6722.IH H6722 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6722 IH (4) disregard the additional amount of benefits 1 that an eligible individual or household receives as a 2 result of this section in determining the amount of 3 overissuances under section 13 of the Food and Nu- 4 trition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2022); and 5 (5) establish the tolerance level for excluding 6 small errors for purposes of section 16(c) of the 7 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2025(c)) 8 at $50. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 May 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6722.IH H6722 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS