Dairy Nutrition Incentive Program Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1474 To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to establish a dairy nutrition incentive program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 4, 2023 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. MARSHALL) 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 establish a dairy nutrition incentive 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 ‘‘Dairy Nutrition Incen- 4 tive Program Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. DAIRY NUTRITION INCENTIVE PROGRAM. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Food and Nutrition Act of 7 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) is amended by adding at 8 the end the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1474.IS S1474 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1474 IS ‘‘SEC. 31. DAIRY NUTRITION INCENTIVE PROGRAM. 1 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 2 ‘‘(1) DAIRY PRODUCT.—The term ‘dairy prod- 3 uct’ means a product for which cow’s milk is listed 4 as— 5 ‘‘(A) the first ingredient on the labeled in- 6 gredients list of the product; or 7 ‘‘(B) the second ingredient on the labeled 8 ingredients list of the product, if the first listed 9 ingredient is water. 10 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 11 tity’ means— 12 ‘‘(A) a State or local governmental entity; 13 and 14 ‘‘(B) a nonprofit organization. 15 ‘‘(3) FLUID MILK.—The term ‘fluid milk’ 16 means any variety of pasteurized cow’s milk that— 17 ‘‘(A) is packaged in liquid form; and 18 ‘‘(B) contains vitamins A and D at levels 19 consistent with the Food and Drug Administra- 20 tion standards, and applicable State and local 21 standards, for fluid milk. 22 ‘‘(4) NATURALLY NUTRIENT-RICH DAIRY.—The 23 term ‘naturally nutrient-rich dairy’ means— 24 ‘‘(A) fluid milk; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1474.IS S1474 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1474 IS ‘‘(B) yogurt and other cultured cow’s milk 1 dairy products; and 2 ‘‘(C) cheese (including nonstandardized 3 cheese) made from cow’s milk. 4 ‘‘(5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 5 the dairy nutrition incentive program established 6 under subsection (b). 7 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 8 after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 9 shall establish a dairy nutrition incentive program under 10 which the Secretary shall develop and test methods to in- 11 crease the purchase and consumption of naturally nutri- 12 ent-rich dairy by members of households that receive bene- 13 fits under the supplemental nutrition assistance program 14 by providing an incentive for the purchase of naturally nu- 15 trient-rich dairy at the point of purchase to members of 16 households purchasing food using those benefits. 17 ‘‘(c) GRANTS OR COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the program, 19 the Secretary shall enter into cooperative agreements 20 with, or provide grants to, eligible entities, on a com- 21 petitive basis, for projects that meet the purpose of 22 the program described in subsection (b). 23 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking 24 to enter into a cooperative agreement or receive a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1474.IS S1474 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1474 IS grant under the program shall submit to the Sec- 1 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 2 and containing such information as the Secretary 3 may require. 4 ‘‘(3) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary 5 shall develop and make public criteria for evaluating 6 proposed projects in applications submitted under 7 paragraph (2), which shall incorporate a scientif- 8 ically based strategy designed to improve diet quality 9 and nutritional outcomes through the increased pur- 10 chase of naturally nutrient-rich dairy. 11 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY.—In entering into cooperative 12 agreements and awarding grants under the program, 13 the Secretary shall give priority to projects that— 14 ‘‘(A) maximize the percentage of funds 15 used for direct incentives for participants in the 16 supplemental nutrition assistance program; 17 ‘‘(B) include a project design— 18 ‘‘(i) that provides incentives when nat- 19 urally nutrient-rich dairy is purchased 20 using benefits under the supplemental nu- 21 trition assistance program; and 22 ‘‘(ii) in which the incentives earned 23 may be used only to purchase naturally nu- 24 trient-rich dairy; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1474.IS S1474 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1474 IS ‘‘(C) include project sites that serve mem- 1 bers of households that participate in the sup- 2 plemental nutrition assistance program; and 3 ‘‘(D) incorporate the use of point-of-sale 4 systems that can electronically issue incentives 5 earned under the program. 6 ‘‘(5) ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—An 7 eligible entity may request funds from the Secretary, 8 pursuant to section 16, to offset initial costs to en- 9 able electronic benefits transfer technology for elec- 10 tronic point-of-sale systems described in paragraph 11 (4)(D) for projects sites selected under the program. 12 ‘‘(d) EVALUATION.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 14 for an independent evaluation of each project carried 15 out under the program that measures, to the max- 16 imum extent practicable, the effect of incentives on 17 purchases of naturally nutrient-rich dairy by mem- 18 bers of households that receive benefits under the 19 supplemental nutrition assistance program. 20 ‘‘(2) METHODOLOGY REQUIREMENT.—The 21 independent evaluation under paragraph (1) shall 22 use rigorous methodologies, such as random assign- 23 ment or other methods that are capable of producing 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1474.IS S1474 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1474 IS scientifically valid information regarding activities 1 that are effective. 2 ‘‘(3) DISCONTINUANCE.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 4 subparagraph (B), subject to availability of 5 funds, nothing in this section shall limit the 6 continuation of a project carried out under the 7 program. 8 ‘‘(B) NONCOMPLIANCE.—The Secretary 9 may discontinue a project or close a project site 10 under the program if the project— 11 ‘‘(i) does not comply with the require- 12 ments under this section; 13 ‘‘(ii) does not comply with the require- 14 ments of the grant awarded or cooperative 15 agreement entered into under the program, 16 as applicable; or 17 ‘‘(iii) if the Secretary determines that 18 the results of the independent evaluation of 19 the project under paragraph (1) are not 20 satisfactory. 21 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary 22 shall make publicly available the results of each 23 independent evaluation carried out under paragraph 24 (1). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1474.IS S1474 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1474 IS ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than December 31 of the 1 first full calendar year following the date of establishment 2 of the program, and biennially thereafter, the Secretary 3 shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 4 and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agri- 5 culture of the House of Representatives a report that in- 6 cludes a description of— 7 ‘‘(1) the status of each project carried out 8 under the program; and 9 ‘‘(2) the results of each completed evaluation 10 under paragraph (1) during the period covered by 11 the report. 12 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.— 13 ‘‘(1) MANDATORY FUNDING.—There is appro- 14 priated to the Secretary, out of any funds in the 15 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $10,000,000 16 for each fiscal year to carry out this section. 17 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the 19 funds made available under paragraph (1), 20 there is authorized to be appropriated to the 21 Secretary to carry out this section $10,000,000 22 for fiscal year 2025 and each fiscal year there- 23 after. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1474.IS S1474 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1474 IS ‘‘(B) APPROPRIATIONS IN ADVANCE.— 1 With respect to any funds made available under 2 subparagraph (A), only funds appropriated in 3 advance specifically to carry out this section 4 shall be available to carry out this section. 5 ‘‘(3) EVALUATION COSTS.—Of the funds made 6 available to carry out this section for a fiscal year, 7 the Secretary shall use not more than 7 percent to 8 carry out subsection (d). 9 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON USE.—Funds made avail- 10 able to carry out this section shall not be used for 11 any project that limits the use of benefits under the 12 supplemental nutrition assistance program.’’. 13 (b) TRANSITION FROM HEALTHY FLUID MILK IN- 14 CENTIVES PROJECTS.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 16 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 17 shall transition projects carried out under section 18 4208 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 19 (7 U.S.C. 2026a) to be carried out as part of the 20 dairy nutrition incentive program established under 21 section 31 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008. 22 (2) NO INTERRUPTION.—In carrying out para- 23 graph (1), the Secretary shall ensure that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1474.IS S1474 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1474 IS (A) there is no interruption in projects 1 being carried out under section 4208 of the Ag- 2 riculture Improvement Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 3 2026a) during the transition described in that 4 paragraph; and 5 (B) any additional authorities or flexibili- 6 ties under the dairy nutrition incentive program 7 established under section 31 of the Food and 8 Nutrition Act of 2008 shall be applied to the 9 projects described in subparagraph (A). 10 (3) REPEAL.—Effective 1 year after the date 11 on which the Secretary certifies that the Secretary 12 has completed carrying out paragraph (1), section 13 4208 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 14 (7 U.S.C. 2026a) is repealed. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1474.IS S1474 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS