SERVE and CARRY Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4061 To provide emergency nutrition assistance to States, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 24, 2020 Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu- trition, and Forestry A BILL To provide emergency nutrition assistance to States, 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 ‘‘State Emergency Res- 4 taurant and Vendor Enhancement and COVID–19 Anti- 5 hunger Restaurant Relief for You Act’’ or the ‘‘SERVE 6 and CARRY Act’’. 7 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 8 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec- 9 retary of Agriculture. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4061 IS SEC. 3. EMERGENCY NUTRITION ASSISTANCE TO STATES. 1 (a) STATE EMERGENCY RESTAURANT AND VENDOR 2 ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM (SERVE) PROGRAM.—The 3 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) 4 is amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 31. STATE EMERGENCY RESTAURANT AND VENDOR 6 ENHANCEMENT (SERVE) PROGRAM. 7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 ‘‘(1) ELECTRONIC BENEFIT TRANSFER TRANS- 9 ACTION.—The term ‘electronic benefit transfer 10 transaction’ means the use of a credit or debit card 11 service, point-of-sale terminal (including a contact- 12 less payment system), digital or paperless voucher 13 system (excluding manual vouchers), or online sys- 14 tem for the processing of a payment for the pur- 15 chase of food. 16 ‘‘(2) EMERGENCY.—The term ‘emergency’ 17 means— 18 ‘‘(A) a national emergency declared by the 19 President under the National Emergencies Act 20 (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) based on an outbreak 21 of SARS–CoV–2 or another coronavirus with 22 pandemic potential; 23 ‘‘(B) a public health emergency declared 24 under section 319 of the Public Health Service 25 Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) based on an outbreak of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4061 IS SARS–CoV–2 or another coronavirus with pan- 1 demic potential; 2 ‘‘(C) an emergency declared by the Presi- 3 dent under section 501 of the Robert T. Staf- 4 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 5 Act (42 U.S.C. 5191) based on an outbreak of 6 SARS–CoV–2 or another coronavirus with pan- 7 demic potential; and 8 ‘‘(D) an emergency invoked under section 9 506(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 10 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2318(a)(1)) based on an out- 11 break of SARS–CoV–2 or another coronavirus 12 with pandemic potential. 13 ‘‘(3) FOOD.—Notwithstanding section 3(k), the 14 term ‘food’ means an article used for food or drink 15 (except an alcoholic beverage or tobacco) that is pre- 16 pared for human consumption and served by a par- 17 ticipating restaurant. 18 ‘‘(4) PARTICIPATING RESTAURANT.—The term 19 ‘participating restaurant’ means a restaurant that is 20 authorized to participate in the SERVE program of 21 the State in which the restaurant is located by— 22 ‘‘(A) the State; or 23 ‘‘(B) the electronic benefit transfer vendor 24 of the State. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4061 IS ‘‘(5) RESTAURANT.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘restaurant’ 2 means— 3 ‘‘(i) a food service and drinking place 4 of business (including a small- or midsized- 5 food service and drinking place of business, 6 and a place of business classified under 7 North American Industry Classification 8 System Code 722) that is registered to do 9 business in the State in which the res- 10 taurant is located as of the date on which 11 an emergency is declared or invoked, as 12 applicable; 13 ‘‘(ii) a faith-based or other charitable 14 organization that serves meals to the pub- 15 lic and meets all applicable State and local 16 food safety and public health requirements; 17 ‘‘(iii) a soup kitchen that meets all ap- 18 plicable State and local food safety and 19 public health requirements; 20 ‘‘(iv) an entity that offers a con- 21 gregate meal setting and is certified to 22 serve meals under a Federal nutrition pro- 23 gram; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4061 IS ‘‘(v) a vendor that sells prepared food 1 and is authorized to conduct electronic 2 benefit transfer transactions at a farmer’s 3 market. 4 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘restaurant’ 5 shall not include any establishment described in 6 clauses (i) through (iii) of section 7 408(a)(12)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 8 U.S.C. 608(a)(12)(A)) and defined under sub- 9 paragraph (B) of that section (42 U.S.C. 10 608(a)(12)(B)). 11 ‘‘(6) STATE EMERGENCY RESTAURANT AND 12 VENDOR ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM; SERVE PRO- 13 GRAM.—The terms ‘State Emergency Restaurant 14 and Vendor Enhancement Program’ and ‘SERVE 15 Program’ mean a State-based program described in 16 subsection (b). 17 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—On request of a State, the 18 Secretary shall provide funds, if made available under sub- 19 section (g), to a State to carry out a program, to be known 20 as a ‘SERVE program’, during an emergency applicable 21 to the State, under which a State shall— 22 ‘‘(1) issue financial assistance in the form of 23 benefits to eligible recipients described in subsection 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4061 IS (c) for use at participating restaurants through elec- 1 tronic benefit transfer transactions; and 2 ‘‘(2) authorize restaurants in the State to ac- 3 cept and redeem those benefits for the purchase of 4 meals and food through electronic benefit transfer 5 transactions. 6 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual in a State is 8 eligible to receive benefits under the SERVE pro- 9 gram of that State if that individual receives bene- 10 fits under another Federal nutrition assistance pro- 11 gram. 12 ‘‘(2) OTHER ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.—Benefits 13 received by an individual under the SERVE program 14 shall not be considered income for determining the 15 eligibility of that individual under any means-tested 16 Federal assistance program. 17 ‘‘(d) STATE ELIGIBILITY.— 18 ‘‘(1) STATE PLAN.—To be eligible to receive 19 funds under subsection (b), a State shall submit to 20 the Secretary a plan describing the SERVE program 21 to be implemented in the State using those funds. 22 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—The Secretary shall 23 approve a plan submitted under paragraph (1) not 24 later than 30 days after the date on which the plan 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4061 IS is submitted if the plan meets the requirements es- 1 tablished by the Secretary, including the minimum 2 requirements described in paragraph (3). 3 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE 4 PLAN.—A plan submitted by a State under para- 5 graph (1) shall include— 6 ‘‘(A) the maximum concessional meal price 7 to be charged by participating restaurants; 8 ‘‘(B) a description of how the State in- 9 tends to make use of electronic benefit transfer 10 transactions, including the availability and use 11 of— 12 ‘‘(i) point-of-sale machines (including 13 contactless payment systems); 14 ‘‘(ii) existing low-income benefit pro- 15 grams, such as the Lifeline program set 16 forth in subpart E of part 54 of title 47, 17 Code of Federal Regulations (or successor 18 regulations); and 19 ‘‘(iii) digital or paperless voucher sys- 20 tems; 21 ‘‘(C) a standard form that the State will 22 use to contract with participating restaurants; 23 ‘‘(D) a description of the restrictions that 24 a State will impose on alternative forms of ben- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4061 IS efits issued under the SERVE Program in any 1 form other than electronic benefit transfer, in- 2 cluding manual vouchers, cash, or in-kind bene- 3 fits; 4 ‘‘(E) a plan for termination of the SERVE 5 program; 6 ‘‘(F) a plan for maintaining integrity of 7 the SERVE program to prevent fraud, waste, 8 and abuse; 9 ‘‘(G) minimum criteria that the State will 10 use to authorize restaurants to participate in 11 the SERVE program; and 12 ‘‘(H) the total amount of funding re- 13 quested by the State, based on, at a minimum, 14 the product obtained by multiplying— 15 ‘‘(i) the estimated number of individ- 16 uals eligible to receive benefits under the 17 SERVE program in the State, in accord- 18 ance with subsection (b); 19 ‘‘(ii) the maximum concessional meal 20 price described in subparagraph (A); and 21 ‘‘(iii) the number of meals that the 22 State estimates will be provided to each eli- 23 gible recipient. 24 ‘‘(e) SERVE PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4061 IS ‘‘(1) RESTAURANT IDENTIFICATION NUMBER.— 1 Under a SERVE program, a State shall assign a 2 unique identification number to each participating 3 restaurant, which may be identical to the number 4 assigned to that restaurant under another Federal 5 nutrition program. 6 ‘‘(2) TERMINATION DATE.—A State shall termi- 7 nate a SERVE program not later than the later 8 of— 9 ‘‘(A) 60 days after the date on which the 10 applicable emergency is lifted; and 11 ‘‘(B) the date on which funds provided to 12 the State under subsection (b) are expended. 13 ‘‘(3) FUNDS.— 14 ‘‘(A) RETURN OF FEDERAL FUNDS.—On 15 termination of a SERVE program, a State may 16 elect to return to the Treasury any unused 17 funds of the funds received under subsection 18 (b). 19 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.— 20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 21 (ii), a State may use some portion of the 22 funds received under subsection (b) for the 23 administrative costs of carrying out a 24 SERVE program, including the cost of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4061 IS ‘‘(I) contracting with necessary 1 entities to operate the SERVE pro- 2 gram, including to update electronic 3 benefit transfer transaction infra- 4 structure; 5 ‘‘(II) carrying out activities to 6 protect the integrity of the SERVE 7 program and enforce against viola- 8 tions of waste, fraud, and abuse of 9 funding under the SERVE program; 10 and 11 ‘‘(III) providing technical assist- 12 ance to participating restaurants. 13 ‘‘(ii) AMOUNT.—Of the funds received 14 under subsection (b) by a State, the Sec- 15 retary shall determine the amount that the 16 State may use for administrative costs, 17 which shall not exceed 10 percent of the 18 total funds received. 19 ‘‘(C) STATE CONTRIBUTION.—A State may 20 use State funds to establish or contribute to a 21 SERVE program. 22 ‘‘(4) NONDISCRIMINATION.—A State shall en- 23 sure that an individual shall not, on any basis pro- 24 hibited under section 11, be excluded from participa- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4061 IS tion in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to 1 discrimination under a SERVE program. 2 ‘‘(5) CIVIL PENALTIES.—A State that admin- 3 isters a SERVE program shall establish a civil pen- 4 alty for any participating restaurant that knowingly 5 and willfully carries out any act of waste, fraud, or 6 abuse of the SERVE program— 7 ‘‘(A) in an amount of not more than 8 $100,000 for each violation; and 9 ‘‘(B) if there is a pattern of violations by 10 the restaurant, as determined by the State, the 11 revocation of the license of the restaurant in 12 that State. 13 ‘‘(f) PRORATED DISTRIBUTION.—If necessary, the 14 Secretary shall reduce the amount provided to each State 15 under subsection (b) on a prorated basis based on the 16 amount requested by the State and the funds made avail- 17 able under subsection (g). 18 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 19 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 20 sums as are necessary to carry out this section during an 21 emergency. 22 ‘‘(h) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section waives, modi- 23 fies, or otherwise affects the requirements of the supple- 24 mental nutrition assistance program, the special supple- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4061 IS mental nutrition program for women, infants, and children 1 established by section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 2 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786), or any other Federal nutrition 3 assistance program, as determined by the Secretary.’’. 4 (b) STATE-BASED CORONAVIRUS FOOD ASSISTANCE 5 PURCHASE PROGRAM.— 6 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 7 (A) EMERGENCY.—The term ‘‘emergency’’ 8 means— 9 (i) a national emergency declared by 10 the President under the National Emer- 11 gencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) based 12 on an outbreak of SARS–CoV–2 or an- 13 other coronavirus with pandemic potential; 14 (ii) a public health emergency de- 15 clared under section 319 of the Public 16 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) based 17 on an outbreak of SARS–CoV–2 or an- 18 other coronavirus with pandemic potential; 19 (iii) an emergency declared by the 20 President under section 501 of the Robert 21 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 22 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191) based on 23 an outbreak of SARS–CoV–2 or another 24 coronavirus with pandemic potential; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 4061 IS (iv) an emergency invoked under sec- 1 tion 506(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance 2 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2318(a)(1)) based 3 on an outbreak of SARS–CoV–2 or an- 4 other coronavirus with pandemic potential. 5 (B) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the 6 meaning given the term in section 3 of the 7 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8 2012). 9 (2) PROVISION OF FUNDS TO STATES.—On re- 10 quest o [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]