II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1336 To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to require that supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits be calculated using the value of the low-cost food plan, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 2023 Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. WELCH, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. FETTERMAN) 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 require that supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits be calculated using the value of the low-cost food plan, 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 ‘‘Closing the Meal Gap 4 Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1336.IS S1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1336 IS SEC. 2. CALCULATION OF PROGRAM BENEFITS USING LOW- 1 COST FOOD PLAN. 2 (a) DEFINITION OF LOW-COST FOOD PLAN.—Sec- 3 tion 3 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 4 2012) is amended— 5 (1) by striking subsection (u); 6 (2) by redesignating subsections (n) through (t) 7 as subsections (o) through (u), respectively; and 8 (3) by inserting after subsection (m) the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(n) LOW-COST FOOD PLAN.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘low-cost food 12 plan’ means the diet, determined in accordance with 13 the calculations of the Secretary, required to feed a 14 4-person family that consists of— 15 ‘‘(A) a man and a woman who are each be- 16 tween 19 and 50 years of age; 17 ‘‘(B) a child who is between 6 and 8 years 18 of age; and 19 ‘‘(C) a child who is between 9 and 11 20 years of age. 21 ‘‘(2) REEVALUATION.—By December 31, 2029, 22 and at 5-year intervals thereafter, the Secretary 23 shall reevaluate and publish the market baskets of 24 the low-cost food plan, based on current food prices, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1336.IS S1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1336 IS food composition data, consumption patterns, and 1 dietary guidance. 2 ‘‘(3) COST.—For purposes of paragraph (1), 3 the cost of the diet described in that paragraph shall 4 be the basis for uniform allotments for all house- 5 holds regardless of the actual composition of the 6 household, except that the Secretary shall— 7 ‘‘(A) make household-size adjustments 8 (based on the unrounded cost of that diet) tak- 9 ing into account economies of scale; 10 ‘‘(B) make cost adjustments in the low- 11 cost food plan for the State of Hawaii and the 12 urban and rural parts of the State of Alaska to 13 reflect the cost of food in Hawaii and urban 14 and rural Alaska, respectively; and 15 ‘‘(C) on October 1, 2023, and each Octo- 16 ber 1 thereafter, adjust the cost of the diet to 17 reflect the cost of the diet in the immediately 18 preceding June, and round the result to the 19 nearest lower-dollar increment for each house- 20 hold size.’’. 21 (b) VALUE OF ALLOTMENT.—Section 8(a) of the 22 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2017(a)) is 23 amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1336.IS S1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1336 IS (1) by striking ‘‘thrifty food plan’’ each place it 1 appears and inserting ‘‘low-cost food plan’’; and 2 (2) in the proviso, by striking ‘‘8 percent’’ and 3 inserting ‘‘10 percent’’. 4 (c) QUALITY CONTROL SYSTEM.—Section 5 16(c)(1)(A)(ii) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 6 U.S.C. 2025(c)(1)(A)(ii)) is amended— 7 (1) in subclause (II)— 8 (A) by striking ‘‘thrifty food plan is ad- 9 justed under section 3(u)(4)’’ and inserting 10 ‘‘low-cost food plan is adjusted under section 11 3(n)(3)(D)’’; and 12 (B) by striking ‘‘2013’’ and inserting 13 ‘‘2023’’; 14 (2) by redesignating subclause (II) as subclause 15 (III); and 16 (3) by striking subclause (I) and inserting the 17 following: 18 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2023, at an 19 amount not greater than $50; 20 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2024, the 21 amount specified in subclause (I) ad- 22 justed by the difference between the 23 thrifty food plan (as defined in section 24 3 (as in effect on the day before the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1336.IS S1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1336 IS date of enactment of the Closing the 1 Meal Gap Act of 2023)) and the low- 2 cost food plan; and’’. 3 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 4 (1) Section 10 of the Food and Nutrition Act 5 of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2019) is amended, in the first 6 sentence, by striking ‘‘3(o)(4)’’ and inserting 7 ‘‘3(p)(4)’’. 8 (2) Section 11 of the Food and Nutrition Act 9 of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020) is amended— 10 (A) in subsection (a)(2), by striking 11 ‘‘3(s)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(t)(1)’’; 12 (B) in subsection (d)— 13 (i) by striking ‘‘3(s)(1)’’ each place it 14 appears and inserting ‘‘3(t)(1)’’; 15 (ii) by striking ‘‘3(s)(2)’’ each place it 16 appears and inserting ‘‘3(t)(2)’’; and 17 (iii) by striking ‘‘Act (25 U.S.C. 18 450)’’ and inserting ‘‘and Education As- 19 sistance Act (25 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)’’; 20 and 21 (C) in subsection (e)(17), by striking 22 ‘‘3(s)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(t)(1)’’. 23 (3) Section 19(a)(2)(A)(ii) of the Food and Nu- 24 trition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2028(a)(2)(A)(ii)) is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1336.IS S1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1336 IS amended by striking ‘‘thrifty food plan has been ad- 1 justed under section 3(u)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘low- 2 cost food plan has been adjusted under section 3 3(n)(3)(D)’’. 4 (4) Section 27(a)(2) of the Food and Nutrition 5 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2036(a)(2)) is amended— 6 (A) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘(as 7 in effect on the day before the date of enact- 8 ment of the Closing the Meal Gap Act of 9 2023)’’ after ‘‘section 3(u)(4)’’; 10 (B) in subparagraph (D)(ix), by striking 11 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 12 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as 13 subparagraph (F); 14 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (D) 15 the following: 16 ‘‘(E) for fiscal year 2023, the sum ob- 17 tained by adding— 18 ‘‘(i) the dollar amount of commodities 19 specified in subparagraph (B) adjusted by 20 the percentage by which the low-cost food 21 plan has been adjusted under section 22 3(u)(4) between June 30, 2021, and June 23 30 of the immediately preceding fiscal 24 year; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1336.IS S1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1336 IS ‘‘(ii) $35,000,000; and’’; and 1 (E) in subparagraph (F) (as so redesig- 2 nated), by striking ‘‘subparagraph (D)(ix) ad- 3 justed by the percentage by which the thrifty 4 food plan has been adjusted under section 5 3(u)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (F) ad- 6 justed by the percentage by which the low-cost 7 food plan has been adjusted under section 8 3(n)(3)(D)’’. 9 (5) Section 408(a)(12)(B)(i) of the Social Secu- 10 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 608(a)(12)(B)(i)) is amended by 11 striking ‘‘(r)’’ each place it appears. 12 SEC. 3. DEDUCTIONS FROM INCOME. 13 (a) STANDARD MEDICAL EXPENSE DEDUCTION.— 14 Section 5(e)(5) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 15 (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(5)) is amended— 16 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘EX- 17 CESS MEDICAL’’ and inserting ‘‘MEDICAL’’; 18 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘an excess 19 medical’’ and all that follows through the period at 20 the end and inserting ‘‘a standard medical deduction 21 or a medical expense deduction of actual costs for 22 the allowable medical expenses incurred by the elder- 23 ly or disabled member, exclusive of special diets.’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1336.IS S1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1336 IS (3) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking ‘‘ex- 1 cess’’; and 2 (4) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(D) STANDARD MEDICAL EXPENSE DE- 4 DUCTION AMOUNT.— 5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro- 6 vided in clause (ii), the standard medical 7 expense deduction shall be— 8 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2023, $140; 9 and 10 ‘‘(II) for each subsequent fiscal 11 year, equal to the applicable amount 12 for the immediately preceding fiscal 13 year as adjusted to reflect changes for 14 the 12-month period ending the pre- 15 ceding June 30 in the Consumer Price 16 Index for All Urban Consumers: Med- 17 ical Care published by the Bureau of 18 Labor Statistics of the Department of 19 Labor. 20 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—For any fiscal 21 year, a State agency may establish a great- 22 er standard medical expense deduction 23 than described in clause (i) if the greater 24 deduction satisfies cost neutrality stand- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1336.IS S1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1336 IS ards established by the Secretary for that 1 fiscal year.’’. 2 (b) ELIMINATION OF CAP OF EXCESS SHELTER EX- 3 PENSES.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5(e)(6) of the Food 5 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(6)) is 6 amended— 7 (A) by striking subparagraph (B); and 8 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) 9 and (D) as subparagraphs (B) and (C), respec- 10 tively. 11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 12 2605(f)(2)(A) of the Low-Income Home Energy As- 13 sistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8624(f)(2)(A)) is 14 amended by striking ‘‘5(e)(6)(C)(iv)(I) of that Act 15 (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(6)(C)(iv)(I))’’ and inserting 16 ‘‘5(e)(6)(B)(iv)(I) of that Act (7 U.S.C. 17 2014(e)(6)(B)(iv)(I))’’. 18 SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF TIME LIMIT. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6 of the Food and Nutri- 20 tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015) is amended— 21 (1) by striking subsection (o); and 22 (2) by redesignating subsections (p) through (s) 23 as subsections (o) through (r), respectively. 24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1336.IS S1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1336 IS (1) Section 5(a) of the Food and Nutrition Act 1 of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014(a)) is amended, in the sec- 2 ond sentence, by striking ‘‘(r)’’ and inserting ‘‘(q)’’. 3 (2) Section 6(d)(4) of the Food and Nutrition 4 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015(d)(4)) is amended— 5 (A) in subparagraph (B)(ii)(I)(bb)(DD), 6 by striking ‘‘or subsection (o)’’; and 7 (B) in subparagraph (N), by striking ‘‘or 8 subsection (o)’’ each place it appears. 9 (3) Section 7(i)(1) of the Food and Nutrition 10 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2016(i)(1)) is amended by 11 striking ‘‘section 6(o)(2) of this Act or’’. 12 (4) Section 16(h) of the Food and Nutrition 13 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2025(h)) is amended— 14 (A) in paragraph (1)— 15 (i) in subparagraph (B), in the matter 16 preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘that—’’ 17 and all that follows through the period at 18 the end of clause (ii) and inserting ‘‘that 19 is determined and adjusted by the Sec- 20 retary.’’; 21 (ii) by striking subparagraph (E); 22 (iii) by redesignating subparagraph 23 (F) as subparagraph (E); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1336.IS S1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1336 IS (iv) in clause (ii)(III)(ee)(AA) of sub- 1 paragraph (E) (as so redesignated), by 2 striking ‘‘, individuals subject to the re- 3 quirements under section 6(o),’’; and 4 (B) in paragraph (5)(C)— 5 (i) in clause (ii), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 6 the end; 7 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 8 and inserting a period; and 9 (iii) by striking clause (iv). 10 (5) Section 51(d)(8)(A)(ii) of the Internal Rev- 11 enue Code of 1986 is amended— 12 (A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘, or’’ at 13 the end and inserting a period; 14 (B) in the matter preceding subclause (I), 15 by striking ‘‘family—’’ and all that follows 16 through ‘‘receiving’’ in subclause (I) and insert- 17 ing ‘‘family receiving’’; and 18 (C) by striking subclause (II). 19 (6) Section 103(a)(2) of the Workforce Innova- 20 tion and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3113) is 21 amended— 22 (A) by striking subparagraph (D); and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1336.IS S1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1336 IS (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) 1 through (K) as subparagraphs (D) through (J), 2 respectively. 3 (7) Section 121(b)(2)(B) of the Workforce In- 4 novation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3151) is 5 amended— 6 (A) by striking clause (iv); and 7 (B) by redesignating clauses (v) through 8 (vii) as clauses (iv) through (vi), respectively. 9 SEC. 5. INCLUSION OF PUERTO RICO IN THE SUPPLE- 10 MENTAL NUTRITIONAL ASSISTANCE PRO- 11 GRAM. 12 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the Food and Nutri- 13 tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012) is amended— 14 (1) in subsection (r), by inserting ‘‘the Com- 15 monwealth of Puerto Rico,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’; and 16 (2) in subsection (u)(3), by inserting ‘‘the Com- 17 monwealth of Puerto Rico,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’. 18 (b) ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLDS.—Section 5 of the Food 19 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014) is amended— 20 (1) in subsection (b), in the first sentence, by 21 inserting ‘‘the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,’’ after 22 ‘‘Guam,’’; 23 (2) in subsection (c)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1336.IS S1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1336 IS (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and 1 Guam,’’ and inserting ‘‘Guam, and the Com- 2 monwealth of Puerto Rico,’’; and 3 (B) in the undesignated matter at the end, 4 by striking ‘‘States or Guam’’ and inserting 5 ‘‘States, Guam, or the Commonwealth of Puer- 6 to Rico’’; and 7 (3) in subsection (e)— 8 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘the 9 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,’’ after ‘‘Ha- 10 waii,’’ each place it appears; and 11 (B) in paragraph (6)(B), in the matter 12 preceding clause (i), by inserting ‘‘the Common- 13 wealth of Puerto Rico,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’. 14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 16 subsections (a) and (b) shall be effective with re- 17 spect to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico on the 18 date described in paragraph (2) if the Secretary of 19 Agriculture submits to Congress a certifi [Text truncated for display. 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