What This Bill Does
This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to allow Puerto Rico to transition from a separate nutrition assistance program called a "consolidated block grant" to the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP). The bill creates a process for Puerto Rico to submit a plan for this transition and gives the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture the power to approve or deny the plan.
Who It Affects
- The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its government agencies
- The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
- U.S. Congress
- Residents of Puerto Rico who receive nutrition assistance
- American Samoa (funding changes after Puerto Rico's transition is complete)
Key Provisions
- Puerto Rico must designate an agency and submit a plan of operation to the Secretary of Agriculture within 60 days, including how it will transition to the supplemental nutrition assistance program (Sec. 3(a))
- The Secretary of Agriculture must approve or reject Puerto Rico's plan within 180 days of receiving it and must explain any rejected requirements within 30 days (Sec. 3(c))
- If the Secretary approves the plan, they must certify to Congress within 60 days that Puerto Rico qualifies to participate in the supplemental nutrition assistance program as a state (Sec. 3(d))
- The Secretary can continue Puerto Rico's current block grant program for up to 5 years after this law takes effect or until Puerto Rico no longer needs it for the transition, whichever comes first (Sec. 4(a))
- The Secretary must submit an annual report to Congress each year about how Puerto Rico's transition is operating and what additional funding is needed (Sec. 4(b))
What Changes
If this bill becomes law, Puerto Rico would transition from its current block grant nutrition assistance program to SNAP. During the transition period (up to 5 years), Puerto Rico can continue receiving its current block grant while building its new SNAP system. After the transition ends, Puerto Rico would operate as a state under SNAP rules, and American Samoa would receive all the funding previously shared between Puerto Rico and American Samoa under the block grant program.
Important Definitions
- Supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP): A federal food assistance program that helps low-income people buy food
- Consolidated block grant: A lump sum of money given to Puerto Rico for nutrition assistance, separate from SNAP
- Plan of operation: A detailed document explaining how Puerto Rico will run its nutrition assistance program
- Secretary of Agriculture: The federal official in charge of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Effective Date
This Act takes effect on the date it is signed into law. However, the specific amendments made by this bill take effect on October 1 of the first fiscal year that begins one year after the Secretary submits the certification to Congress described in Section 3(d).
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 253
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to transition the Common-
wealth of Puerto Rico to the supplemental nutrition assistance program,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 10, 2023
Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N (for herself, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr.
MCGOVERN, Mr. MOYLAN, and Mr. SOTO) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to transition
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to 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 ‘‘Puerto Rico Nutrition
4
Assistance Fairness Act’’.
5
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOOD AND NUTRITION ACT
6
OF 2008.
7
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the Food and Nutri-
8
tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012) is amended—
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•HR 253 IH
(1) in subsection (r) by inserting ‘‘Puerto
1
Rico,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’, and
2
(2) in subsection (u)(2) by inserting ‘‘, Puerto
3
Rico,’’ after ‘‘Hawaii’’.
4
(b) ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLDS.—Section 5 of the Food
5
and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014) is amended—
6
(1) in subsection (b) by inserting ‘‘Puerto
7
Rico,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’,
8
(2) in subsection (c)(1) by striking ‘‘and
9
Guam’’ and inserting ‘‘Guam, and Puerto Rico’’,
10
and
11
(3) in subsection (e)—
12
(A) in paragraph (1)(A) by inserting
13
‘‘Puerto Rico,’’ after ‘‘Hawaii,’’ each place it
14
appears, and
15
(B) in paragraph (6)(B) by inserting
16
‘‘Puerto Rico,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’.
17
SEC. 3. SUBMISSION OF PLAN OF OPERATION; TECHNICAL
18
ASSISTANCE; DETERMINATION AND CERTIFI-
19
CATION BY SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.
20
(a) SUBMISSION OF PLAN OF OPERATION.—On des-
21
ignating an agency of the kind described in section 3(s)(1)
22
of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C.
23
2012(s)(1)), the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall have
24
60 days to submit to the Secretary of Agriculture (in this
25
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•HR 253 IH
Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) its plan of operation,
1
including a plan to transition to the supplemental nutri-
2
tion assistance program under section 4(a) of such Act
3
(7 U.S.C. 5(a)) as a request to participate in the supple-
4
mental nutrition assistance program under of the Food
5
and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.).
6
(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Within the 60-day pe-
7
riod specified in subsection (a) and upon request from the
8
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Secretary shall provide
9
appropriate training and technical assistance to enable the
10
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to formulate a plan of oper-
11
ation described in subsection (a).
12
(c) DETERMINATION BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRI-
13
CULTURE.—Not later than 180 days after receiving a plan
14
of operation described in subsection (a), the Secretary
15
shall approve if such plan satisfies the requirements for
16
a supplemental nutrition assistance program State plan
17
in accordance with subsections (d) and (e) of section 11
18
of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020).
19
If the Secretary does not approve such plan, the Secretary
20
shall provide, not later than 30 days after disapproval, a
21
statement that specifies each of the requirements that
22
were not satisfied by such plan.
23
(d) CERTIFICATION BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRI-
24
CULTURE.—If the Secretary approves the plan submitted
25
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•HR 253 IH
by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico under subsection
1
(a), the Secretary shall submit to the Congress, not later
2
than 60 days thereafter, a certification that the Common-
3
wealth of Puerto Rico qualifies to participate in the sup-
4
plemental nutrition assistance program as a State as de-
5
fined in section 3(r) of the Food and Nutrition Act of
6
2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(r)).
7
SEC. 4. TRANSITION FROM THE CONSOLIDATED BLOCK
8
GRANT FOR PUERTO RICO.
9
(a) COVERED PERIOD.—The Secretary may continue
10
to implement the then most recent approved consolidated
11
block grant specified in section 19(b)(1)(A) of the Food
12
and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2028(b)(1)(A)) for
13
a period ending no later than 5 years after the effective
14
date of the amendments made by this Act, or on the date
15
the Secretary determines that the Commonwealth of Puer-
16
to Rico no longer needs to operate the consolidated block
17
grant to complete the transition described in section 3(a),
18
whichever occurs first.
19
(b) REPORT.—For each year a plan is continued
20
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the
21
Congress an annual report on the operation of such plan.
22
The Secretary shall include in such report information re-
23
lated to increases in funding that are required to accom-
24
modate the transition of the Commonwealth of Puerto
25
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•HR 253 IH
Rico from the receipt of block grant payments to the im-
1
plementation of supplemental nutrition assistance pro-
2
gram.
3
SEC. 5. CONSOLIDATED BLOCK GRANT FOR PUERTO RICO
4
AND AMERICAN SAMOA.
5
Section 19 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008
6
(7 U.S.C. 2028) is amended—
7
(1) in subsection (a)—
8
(A) in paragraph (1)(A) by inserting ‘‘until
9
the end of the period described in section 4(a)
10
of the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fair-
11
ness Act,’’ after ‘‘(A)’’,
12
(B) in paragraph (2)—
13
(i) in subparagraph (A)—
14
(I) in clause (i) by striking
15
‘‘and’’ at the end, and
16
(II) in clause (ii)—
17
(aa) by inserting ‘‘, and end-
18
ing at the end of the period de-
19
scribed in section 4(a) of the
20
Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance
21
Fairness Act’’ after ‘‘thereafter’’,
22
(bb) by striking the period
23
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’,
24
and
25
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•HR 253 IH
(cc) by adding at the end
1
the following:
2
‘‘(iii) subject to the availability of ap-
3
propriations under section 18(a), for each
4
fiscal year beginning after the end of the
5
period described in section 4(a) of the
6
Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness
7
Act, 0.4 percent of the aggregate amount
8
specified in clause (i) and adjusted under
9
clause (ii), as further adjusted by the per-
10
centage by which the thrifty food plan has
11
been adjusted under section 3(u)(4) be-
12
tween June 30 of the penultimate fiscal
13
year preceding such effective date and
14
June 30 of the fiscal year for which the
15
adjustment is made under this clause.’’,
16
(ii) in subparagraph (B)(i) by insert-
17
ing ‘‘ending at the end of the period de-
18
scribed in section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico
19
Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act’’ after
20
‘‘thereafter’’, and
21
(iii) in subparagraph (C)—
22
(I) by striking ‘‘For’’ and insert-
23
ing the following:
24
‘‘(i) For’’,
25
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•HR 253 IH
(II) by inserting ‘‘ending at the
1
end of the period described in section
2
4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition As-
3
sistance Fairness Act’’ after ‘‘there-
4
after’’, and
5
(III) by adding at the end, the
6
following:
7
‘‘(ii) For each fiscal year beginning
8
after the end of the period described in
9
section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition
10
Assistance Fairness Act, the Secretary
11
shall use 100 percent of the funds made
12
available under subparagraph (A) for pay-
13
ment to American Samoa to pay 100 per-
14
cent of the expenditures by American
15
Samoa for a nutrition assistance program
16
extended under section 601(c) of Public
17
Law 96–597 (48 U.S.C. 1469d(c)).’’, and
18
(C) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘year,’’
19
and inserting ‘‘year ending at the end of the pe-
20
riod described in section 4(a) of the Puerto
21
Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act, and’’
22
after ‘‘year’’, and
23
(2) in subsection (b)(1)(A) by inserting ‘‘and
24
ending at the end of the period described in section
25
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•HR 253 IH
4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fair-
1
ness Act’’ after ‘‘year’’ the first place it appears.
2
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
3
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out
4
this Act such sums as may be necessary until the end of
5
the period described in section 4(a).
6
SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATES.
7
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection
8
(b), this Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment
9
of this Act.
10
(b) EFFECTIVE
DATE
OF
AMENDMENTS.—The
11
amendments made by this Act shall take effect on October
12
1 of the 1st fiscal year that begins 1 year after the Sec-
13
retary submits to Congress the certification described in
14
section 3(d) of this Act.
15
Æ
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