Senior Hunger Prevention Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3474 To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to streamline nutrition access for older adults and adults with disabilities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 18, 2023 Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Ms. SALINAS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CARSON, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. MAGAZINER, Mr. NADLER, Mr. POCAN, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. EVANS, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mrs. MCCLELLAN, and Mrs. HAYES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to streamline nutrition access for older adults and adults with disabil- ities, 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 ‘‘Senior Hunger Preven- 4 tion Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3474.IH H3474 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3474 IH SEC. 2. IMPROVING EFFICACY OF THE SUPPLEMENTAL NU- 1 TRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 2 (a) CERTIFICATION PERIOD.—Section 3(f) of the 3 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(f)) is 4 amended in the second sentence by striking ‘‘24’’ and in- 5 serting ‘‘36’’. 6 (b) STANDARD MEDICAL EXPENSE DEDUCTION.— 7 Section 5(e)(5) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 8 (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(5)) is amended— 9 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘EX- 10 CESS MEDICAL’’ and inserting ‘‘MEDICAL’’; 11 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘an excess 12 medical’’ and all that follows through the period at 13 the end and inserting ‘‘a standard medical deduction 14 or a medical expense deduction of actual costs for 15 the allowable medical expenses incurred by the elder- 16 ly or disabled member, exclusive of special diets.’’; 17 (3) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking ‘‘ex- 18 cess’’; and 19 (4) by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(D) STANDARD MEDICAL EXPENSE DE- 21 DUCTION AMOUNT.— 22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro- 23 vided in clause (ii), the standard medical 24 expense deduction shall be— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3474.IH H3474 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3474 IH ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2024, $155; 1 and 2 ‘‘(II) for each subsequent fiscal 3 year, equal to the applicable amount 4 for the immediately preceding fiscal 5 year as adjusted to reflect changes for 6 the 12-month period ending the pre- 7 ceding June 30 in the Consumer Price 8 Index for All Urban Consumers: Med- 9 ical Care published by the Bureau of 10 Labor Statistics of the Department of 11 Labor. 12 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—For any fiscal 13 year, a State agency may establish a great- 14 er standard medical expense deduction 15 than described in clause (i) if the greater 16 deduction satisfies cost neutrality stand- 17 ards established by the Secretary for that 18 fiscal year.’’. 19 (c) VALUE OF ALLOTMENT.—Section 8(a) of the 20 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2017(a)) is 21 amended in the proviso clause by striking ‘‘8 percent’’ and 22 inserting ‘‘1⁄3’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3474.IH H3474 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3474 IH SEC. 3. STREAMLINING NUTRITION ACCESS FOR OLDER 1 ADULTS AND ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES. 2 (a) DEFINITION OF ELDERLY AND DISABLED.—Sec- 3 tion 3(j)(2)(B) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 4 (7 U.S.C. 2012(j)(2)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(which 5 includes medical assistance provided to an individual de- 6 scribed in section 1902(e)(14)(D)(i)(III) of the Social Se- 7 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(e)(14)(D)(i)(III)))’’ after 8 ‘‘(42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.)’’. 9 (b) ELDERLY SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION PRO- 10 GRAM.—The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 11 2011 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 12 lowing: 13 ‘‘SEC. 31. ELDERLY SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION PROGRAM. 14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 15 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 16 establish a program, to be known as the ‘elderly simplified 17 application program’ (referred to in this section as 18 ‘ESAP’), under which a State, in carrying out the supple- 19 mental nutrition assistance program, may elect to imple- 20 ment a streamlined application and certification process 21 for households in which all adult members— 22 ‘‘(1) are elderly or disabled members; and 23 ‘‘(2) have no earned income. 24 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION PERIOD.—The certification pe- 25 riod for participants in ESAP shall be 36 months. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3474.IH H3474 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3474 IH ‘‘(c) INCOME AND OTHER DATA VERIFICATION.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State agency deter- 2 mining the eligibility for an applicant household 3 under ESAP shall, notwithstanding section 4 11(e)(3)— 5 ‘‘(A) to the maximum extent practicable, 6 use data matching for income verification and 7 household size; and 8 ‘‘(B)(i) allow self-declaration by the appli- 9 cant of the information required under section 10 273.2(f) of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations 11 (or successor regulations); but 12 ‘‘(ii) verify, prior to certification of the 13 household, factors of eligibility provided by the 14 applicant that the State agency determines are 15 questionable. 16 ‘‘(2) ACCOUNTABILITY AND FRAUD PREVEN- 17 TION.—In carrying out paragraph (1), a State agen- 18 cy shall establish accountability and fraud protection 19 measures to deter fraud and ensure the integrity of 20 ESAP and the supplemental nutrition assistance 21 program. 22 ‘‘(d) INTERVIEWS.—Notwithstanding section 23 11(e)(6)(A), for recertification of a household under 24 ESAP, the State agency shall not require an interview un- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3474.IH H3474 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3474 IH less requested by the household, which may be conducted 1 virtually. 2 ‘‘(e) GUIDANCE.—Prior to the establishment of 3 ESAP under subsection (a), the Administrator of the 4 Food and Nutrition Service shall develop guidance for 5 States, including by consulting with States, to carry out 6 ESAP, which shall include— 7 ‘‘(1) general implementation guidelines; 8 ‘‘(2) reporting requirements; 9 ‘‘(3) quality control requirements; and 10 ‘‘(4) best practices.’’. 11 (c) COMBINED APPLICATION PROGRAM.—The Food 12 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) (as 13 amended by subsection (b)) is amended by adding at the 14 end the following: 15 ‘‘SEC. 32. COMBINED APPLICATION PROGRAM. 16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 17 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary, in 18 coordination with the Commissioner of Social Security, 19 shall establish a program, to be known as the ‘combined 20 application program’ (referred to in this section as ‘CAP’), 21 under which a State, in carrying out the supplemental nu- 22 trition assistance program, may elect to implement a 23 streamlined application process for households in which all 24 adult members are applicants for or recipients of benefits 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3474.IH H3474 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3474 IH under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 1 et seq.) on the basis of a disability or supplemental secu- 2 rity income under title XVI of that Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 3 et seq.). 4 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of CAP are— 5 ‘‘(1) to reduce the need for households de- 6 scribed in subsection (a) to have in-person interviews 7 with State offices administering the supplemental 8 nutrition assistance program; and 9 ‘‘(2) to increase participation in the supple- 10 mental nutrition assistance program by simplifying 11 the application process for that program through in- 12 creased automation and simplified calculation of 13 benefits. 14 ‘‘(c) CAP MODELS.—The Secretary, in coordination 15 with the Commissioner of the Social Security Administra- 16 tion, shall offer, at a minimum, each of the following mod- 17 els for States to implement CAP: 18 ‘‘(1) STANDARD MODEL.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Under the standard 20 model, the Commissioner of the Social Security 21 Administration and the State agency admin- 22 istering the supplemental nutrition assistance 23 program shall coordinate— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3474.IH H3474 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3474 IH ‘‘(i) to develop a simplified joint appli- 1 cation process for the supplemental nutri- 2 tion assistance program that uses stand- 3 ardized benefit amounts or standardized 4 shelter expenses, in accordance with this 5 paragraph; and 6 ‘‘(ii) to conduct outreach to adult 7 members receiving supplemental security 8 income under title XVI of the Social Secu- 9 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.) that are 10 not receiving benefits under the supple- 11 mental nutrition assistance program. 12 ‘‘(B) STANDARDIZED BENEFIT 13 AMOUNTS.— 14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Under the stand- 15 ardized model described in subparagraph 16 (A), applicants shall receive a standardized 17 or automated benefit level under the sup- 18 plemental nutrition assistance program 19 based on their shelter expenses and other 20 income. 21 ‘‘(ii) MINIMUM STANDARDIZED BEN- 22 EFIT LEVELS.—At a minimum, there shall 23 be 2 standardized benefit levels under 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3474.IH H3474 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3474 IH clause (i), including, as determined by the 1 State— 2 ‘‘(I) a level for participants with 3 low shelter expenses; and 4 ‘‘(II) a level for participants with 5 high shelter expenses. 6 ‘‘(iii) COMPARABLE AMOUNT.—A 7 State shall ensure that the amount pro- 8 vided under a standardized benefit level 9 under clause (i) is comparable to an 10 amount that a participant would otherwise 11 receive under the supplemental nutrition 12 assistance program. 13 ‘‘(iv) REFERRAL.—A State shall refer 14 a household described in subsection (a) to 15 the supplemental nutrition assistance pro- 16 gram instead of enrolling that household in 17 CAP if the standardized amount that the 18 household would receive under CAP would 19 be significantly less than the amount of 20 benefits that the household would receive 21 under the supplemental nutrition assist- 22 ance program. 23 ‘‘(C) STANDARDIZED SHELTER EX- 24 PENSES.—In computing an excess shelter ex- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3474.IH H3474 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3474 IH pense deduction under section 5(e)(6), a State 1 agency may use a standard utility allowance in 2 accordance with regulations promulgated by the 3 Secretary. 4 ‘‘(2) MODIFIED MODEL.—Under the modified 5 model, a State agency administering the supple- 6 mental nutrition assistance program shall— 7 ‘‘(A) conduct outreach to prospective par- 8 ticipants in the supplemental nutrition assist- 9 ance program using information from the Social 10 Security Administration to identify households 11 described in subsection (a) that are not partici- 12 pants in the supplemental nutrition assistance 13 program; and 14 ‘‘(B) send to those households simplified 15 application forms for the supplemental nutrition 16 assistance program.’’. 17 SEC. 4. ENROLLMENT AND OUTREACH PILOT PROGRAM 18 FOR OLDER ADULTS, KINSHIP FAMILIES, AND 19 ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES. 20 The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 21 et seq.) (as amended by section 3(c)) is amended by add- 22 ing at the end the following: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3474.IH H3474 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 3474 IH ‘‘SEC. 33. ENROLLMENT AND OUTREACH PILOT PROGRAM 1 FOR OLDER ADULTS, KINSHIP FAMILIES, AND 2 ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES. 3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 ‘‘(1) DISABILITY.—The term ‘disability’ has the 5 meaning given the term in section 3 of the Ameri- 6 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 7 12102). 8 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 9 tity’ means— 10 ‘‘(A) a State or local government agency; 11 ‘‘(B) an Indian tribe or tribal organization; 12 ‘‘(C) a nonprofit organization, including a 13 public or nonprofit provider of services; 14 ‘‘(D) a community-based organization; and 15 ‘‘(E) an educational provider. 16 ‘‘(3) KINSHIP FAMILY.—The term ‘kinship fam- 17 ily’ means a family in which a child resides with and 18 is being raised by a grandparent, another extended 19 family member, or an adult with whom the child has 20 a close family-like relationship, such as a godparent 21 or a close family friend. 22 ‘‘(4) OLDER ADULT.—The term ‘older adult’ 23 has the meaning given the term ‘older individual’ in 24 section 102 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 25 U.S.C. 3002). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3474.IH H3474 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 3474 IH ‘‘(5) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘pilot pro- 1 gram’ means the pilot program established under 2 subsection (b). 3 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 4 after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 5 shall establish a pilot program, to be known as the ‘Enroll- 6 ment and Outreach Pilot Program for Older Adults, Kin- 7 ship Families, and Adults with Disabilities’, under which 8 the Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities— 9 ‘‘(1) to raise awareness among older adults, 10 kinship families, and adults with disabilities of the 11 availability, eligibility requirements, application pro- 12 cedures, and benefits of the supplemental nutrition 13 assistance program; and 14 ‘‘(2) to support older adults, kinship families, 15 and adults with disabilities in enrolling in that pro- 16 gram. 17 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the pilot 18 program, the Secretary shall give priority to— 19 ‘‘(1) eligible entities that— 20 ‘‘(A) provide services to older adults or 21 adults with disabilities; 22 ‘‘(B) provide services to kinship families, 23 including kinship navigator programs; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6 [Text truncated for display. 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