Equitable Nutrition Assistance for the Territories Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3934 To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide for the participation of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Com- monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in the supplemental nutrition assistance program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 10, 2020 Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. WARREN, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide for the participation of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in the supplemental nutrition assistance program, 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 ‘‘Equitable Nutrition 4 Assistance for the Territories Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3934.IS S3934 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3934 IS SEC. 2. PARTICIPATION AND TRANSITION OF PUERTO 1 RICO, AMERICAN SAMOA, AND THE NORTH- 2 ERN MARIANA ISLANDS IN SUPPLEMENTAL 3 NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the Food and Nutri- 5 tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012) is amended— 6 (1) in subsection (r), by inserting ‘‘the Com- 7 monwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the 8 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,’’ 9 after ‘‘Guam,’’; and 10 (2) in subsection (u)(3), by inserting ‘‘the Com- 11 monwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the 12 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,’’ 13 after ‘‘Guam,’’. 14 (b) ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLDS.—Section 5 of the Food 15 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014) is amended— 16 (1) in subsection (b), in the first sentence, by 17 inserting ‘‘the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Amer- 18 ican Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern 19 Mariana Islands,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’; 20 (2) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ‘‘and 21 Guam,’’ and inserting ‘‘Guam, the Commonwealth of 22 Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Common- 23 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,’’; and 24 (3) in subsection (e)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3934.IS S3934 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3934 IS (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘the 1 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American 2 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern 3 Mariana Islands,’’ after ‘‘Hawaii,’’ each place it 4 appears; and 5 (B) in paragraph (6)(B), in the matter 6 preceding clause (i), by inserting ‘‘the Common- 7 wealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the 8 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is- 9 lands,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’. 10 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 12 subsections (a) and (b) shall be effective with re- 13 spect to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Amer- 14 ican Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 15 Mariana Islands, as applicable, on the date described 16 in paragraph (2) if the Secretary of Agriculture sub- 17 mits to Congress a certification under subsection 18 (f)(2)(B) of section 19 of the Food and Nutrition 19 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2028). 20 (2) DATE DESCRIBED.—The date referred to in 21 paragraph (1) is, with respect to the Commonwealth 22 of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Common- 23 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the date es- 24 tablished by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3934.IS S3934 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3934 IS American Samoa, or the Commonwealth of the 1 Northern Mariana Islands, respectively, in the appli- 2 cable plan of operation submitted to the Secretary of 3 Agriculture under subsection (f)(1)(A) of section 19 4 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 5 2028). 6 (d) TRANSITION OF PUERTO RICO, AMERICAN 7 SAMOA, AND THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS TO SUP- 8 PLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—Section 9 19 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2028) 10 is amended— 11 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 12 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 13 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 14 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 15 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(C) the Commonwealth of the Northern 18 Mariana Islands.’’; and 19 (2) by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(f) TRANSITION OF PUERTO RICO, AMERICAN 21 SAMOA, AND THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS TO SUP- 22 PLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 23 ‘‘(1) REQUEST FOR PARTICIPATION.—A govern- 24 mental entity may submit to the Secretary a request 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3934.IS S3934 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3934 IS to participate in the supplemental nutrition assist- 1 ance program, which shall include a plan of oper- 2 ation described in section 11(d), which shall include 3 the date on which the governmental entity intends to 4 begin participation in the program. 5 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION BY SECRETARY.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 7 certify a governmental entity that submits a re- 8 quest under paragraph (1) as qualified to par- 9 ticipate in the supplemental nutrition assistance 10 program if the Secretary— 11 ‘‘(i) approves the plan of operation 12 submitted with the request, in accordance 13 with this subsection; and 14 ‘‘(ii) approves the applications de- 15 scribed in paragraph (4) in accordance 16 with that paragraph. 17 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION OF CERTIFICATION TO 18 CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall submit each 19 certification under subparagraph (A) to Con- 20 gress. 21 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF PLAN OF OPER- 22 ATION.— 23 ‘‘(A) APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall ap- 24 prove a plan of operation submitted with a re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3934.IS S3934 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3934 IS quest under paragraph (1) if the plan satisfies 1 the requirements under this Act. 2 ‘‘(B) DISAPPROVAL.—If the Secretary does 3 not approve a plan of operation submitted with 4 a request under paragraph (1), the Secretary 5 shall provide to the governmental entity a state- 6 ment that describes each requirement under 7 this Act that is not satisfied by the plan. 8 ‘‘(4) RETAIL FOOD STORES.—If the Secretary 9 approves a plan of operation under paragraph (3)(A) 10 for a governmental entity, the Secretary shall accept 11 applications from retail food stores located in that 12 governmental entity to be authorized under section 13 9 to participate in the supplemental nutrition assist- 14 ance program. 15 ‘‘(5) PUERTO RICO.—In the case of a request 16 under paragraph (1) by the Commonwealth of Puer- 17 to Rico, notwithstanding subsection (g), the Sec- 18 retary shall allow the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico 19 to continue to carry out under the supplemental nu- 20 trition assistance program the Family Market Pro- 21 gram established pursuant to this section. 22 ‘‘(6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 23 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec- 24 retary such sums as are necessary to carry out this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3934.IS S3934 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3934 IS subsection for fiscal year 2020, to remain available 1 until expended. 2 ‘‘(g) TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE IMPLEMENTA- 3 TION.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A governmental entity may 5 request from the Secretary a 1-time grant to pay for 6 the cost of the technology infrastructure necessary 7 to implement the supplemental nutrition assistance 8 program, including the cost of information tech- 9 nology, information technology personnel, and train- 10 ing relating to program implementation. 11 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—A governmental entity 12 making a request under paragraph (1) for a grant 13 shall submit to the Secretary an application at such 14 time, in such manner, and containing such informa- 15 tion as the Secretary may require, including— 16 ‘‘(A) a description of the costs to be paid 17 for by the grant; and 18 ‘‘(B) a plan for implementing the tech- 19 nology infrastructure described in paragraph 20 (1)— 21 ‘‘(i) within 1 year of receiving the 22 grant; and 23 ‘‘(ii) that is reasonably cost efficient, 24 as determined by the Secretary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3934.IS S3934 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3934 IS ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION.— 1 ‘‘(A) TIME LIMIT.—The Secretary shall 2 approve or deny an application submitted under 3 paragraph (2) not later than 180 days after the 4 date on which the application is submitted. 5 ‘‘(B) DENIAL.—If the Secretary denies an 6 application submitted under paragraph (2), the 7 governmental entity may amend the plan de- 8 scribed in subparagraph (B) of that paragraph, 9 in coordination with the Secretary, to resubmit 10 to the Secretary for approval. 11 ‘‘(4) FUNDING.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is appropriated 13 to the Secretary, out of funds in the Treasury 14 not otherwise appropriated, $5,000,000 to carry 15 out this subsection, to remain available until 3 16 years after the date of enactment of this sub- 17 section. 18 ‘‘(B) REVERSION OF FUNDS.—Any funds 19 appropriated to the Secretary under subpara- 20 graph (A) that remain available by the date de- 21 scribed in that subparagraph shall revert to the 22 Treasury. 23 ‘‘(h) TERMINATION OF EFFECTIVENESS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3934.IS S3934 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3934 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsections (a) through (e) 1 shall cease to be effective with respect to the Com- 2 monwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and 3 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is- 4 lands, as applicable, on the date described in para- 5 graph (2) if the Secretary submits to Congress a 6 certification under subsection (f)(2)(B) for that gov- 7 ernmental entity. 8 ‘‘(2) DATE DESCRIBED.—The date referred to 9 in paragraph (1) is, with respect to the Common- 10 wealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the 11 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 12 the date established by the Commonwealth of Puerto 13 Rico, American Samoa, or the Commonwealth of the 14 Northern Mariana Islands, respectively, in the appli- 15 cable plan of operation submitted to the Secretary 16 under subsection (f)(1)(A).’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3934.IS S3934 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS