Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB949 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 949
5	5	To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to transition the Common-
6	6	wealth of Puerto Rico to the supplemental nutrition assistance program,
7	7	and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
9	9	MARCH22, 2023
10	10	Mrs. G
11	11	ILLIBRAND(for herself, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. WARREN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr.
12	12	F
13	13	ETTERMAN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. SCHUMER)
14	14	introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
15	15	Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
16	16	A BILL
17	17	To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to transition
18	18	the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to the supplemental
19	19	nutrition assistance program, and for other purposes.
20	20	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
21	21	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
22	22	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
23	23	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Puerto Rico Nutrition 4
24	24	Assistance Fairness Act of 2023’’. 5
25	25	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Apr 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S949.IS S949
26	26	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2
27	27	•S 949 IS
28	28	SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOOD AND NUTRITION ACT 1
29	29	OF 2008. 2
30	30	(a) D
31	31	EFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the Food and Nutri-3
32	32	tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012) is amended— 4
33	33	(1) in subsection (r) by inserting ‘‘Puerto 5
34	34	Rico,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’, and 6
35	35	(2) in subsection (u)(2) by inserting ‘‘, Puerto 7
36	36	Rico,’’ after ‘‘Hawaii’’. 8
37	37	(b) E
38	38	LIGIBLEHOUSEHOLDS.—Section 5 of the Food 9
39	39	and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014) is amended— 10
40	40	(1) in subsection (b) by inserting ‘‘Puerto 11
41	41	Rico,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’, 12
42	42	(2) in subsection (c)(1) by striking ‘‘and 13
43	43	Guam’’ and inserting ‘‘Guam, and Puerto Rico’’, 14
44	44	and 15
45	45	(3) in subsection (e)— 16
46	46	(A) in paragraph (1)(A) by inserting 17
47	47	‘‘Puerto Rico,’’ after ‘‘Hawaii,’’ each place it 18
48	48	appears, and 19
49	49	(B) in paragraph (6)(B) by inserting 20
50	50	‘‘Puerto Rico,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’. 21
51	51	SEC. 3. SUBMISSION OF PLAN OF OPERATION; TECHNICAL 22
52	52	ASSISTANCE; DETERMINATION AND CERTIFI-23
53	53	CATION BY SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 24
54	54	(a) S
55	55	UBMISSION OFPLAN OFOPERATION.—On des-25
56	56	ignating an agency of the kind described in section 3(s)(1) 26
57	57	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Apr 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S949.IS S949
58	58	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3
59	59	•S 949 IS
60	60	of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 1
61	61	2012(s)(1)), the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall have 2
62	62	60 days to submit to the Secretary of Agriculture (in this 3
63	63	Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) its plan of operation, 4
64	64	including a plan to transition to the supplemental nutri-5
65	65	tion assistance program under section 4(a) of such Act 6
66	66	(7 U.S.C. 2013(a)) as a request to participate in the sup-7
67	67	plemental nutrition assistance program under the Food 8
68	68	and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 9
69	69	(b) T
70	70	ECHNICALASSISTANCE.—Within the 60-day pe-10
71	71	riod specified in subsection (a) and upon request from the 11
72	72	Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Secretary shall provide 12
73	73	appropriate training and technical assistance to enable the 13
74	74	Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to formulate a plan of oper-14
75	75	ation described in subsection (a). 15
76	76	(c) D
77	77	ETERMINATION BY THE SECRETARY OFAGRI-16
78	78	CULTURE.—Not later than 180 days after receiving a plan 17
79	79	of operation described in subsection (a), the Secretary 18
80	80	shall approve if such plan satisfies the requirements for 19
81	81	a supplemental nutrition assistance program State plan 20
82	82	in accordance with subsections (d) and (e) of section 11 21
83	83	of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020). 22
84	84	If the Secretary does not approve such plan, the Secretary 23
85	85	shall provide, not later than 30 days after disapproval, a 24
86	86	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Apr 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S949.IS S949
87	87	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4
88	88	•S 949 IS
89	89	statement that specifies each of the requirements that 1
90	90	were not satisfied by such plan. 2
91	91	(d) C
92	92	ERTIFICATION BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRI-3
93	93	CULTURE.—If the Secretary approves the plan submitted 4
94	94	by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico under subsection 5
95	95	(a), the Secretary shall submit to the Congress, not later 6
96	96	than 60 days thereafter, a certification that the Common-7
97	97	wealth of Puerto Rico qualifies to participate in the sup-8
98	98	plemental nutrition assistance program as a State as de-9
99	99	fined in section 3(r) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 10
100	100	2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(r)). 11
101	101	SEC. 4. TRANSITION FROM THE CONSOLIDATED BLOCK 12
102	102	GRANT FOR PUERTO RICO. 13
103	103	(a) C
104	104	OVEREDPERIOD.—The Secretary may continue 14
105	105	to implement the then most recent approved consolidated 15
106	106	block grant specified in section 19(b)(1)(A) of the Food 16
107	107	and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2028(b)(1)(A)) for 17
108	108	a period ending no later than 5 years after the effective 18
109	109	date of the amendments made by this Act, or on the date 19
110	110	the Secretary determines that the Commonwealth of Puer-20
111	111	to Rico no longer needs to operate the consolidated block 21
112	112	grant to complete the transition described in section 3(a), 22
113	113	whichever occurs first. 23
114	114	(b) R
115	115	EPORT.—For each year a plan is continued 24
116	116	under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the 25
117	117	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Apr 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S949.IS S949
118	118	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5
119	119	•S 949 IS
120	120	Congress an annual report on the operation of such plan. 1
121	121	The Secretary shall include in such report information re-2
122	122	lated to increases in funding that are required to accom-3
123	123	modate the transition of the Commonwealth of Puerto 4
124	124	Rico from the receipt of block grant payments to the im-5
125	125	plementation of supplemental nutrition assistance pro-6
126	126	gram. 7
127	127	SEC. 5. CONSOLIDATED BLOCK GRANT FOR PUERTO RICO 8
128	128	AND AMERICAN SAMOA. 9
129	129	Section 19 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 10
130	130	(7 U.S.C. 2028) is amended— 11
131	131	(1) in subsection (a)— 12
132	132	(A) in paragraph (1)(A) by inserting ‘‘until 13
133	133	the end of the period described in section 4(a) 14
134	134	of the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fair-15
135	135	ness Act of 2023,’’ after ‘‘(A)’’, 16
136	136	(B) in paragraph (2)— 17
137	137	(i) in subparagraph (A)— 18
138	138	(I) in clause (i) by striking 19
139	139	‘‘and’’ at the end, and 20
140	140	(II) in clause (ii)— 21
141	141	(aa) by inserting ‘‘, until the 22
142	142	end of the period described in 23
143	143	section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico 24
144	144	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Apr 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S949.IS S949
145	145	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6
146	146	•S 949 IS
147	147	Nutrition Assistance Fairness 1
148	148	Act of 2023’’ after ‘‘thereafter’’, 2
149	149	(bb) by striking the period 3
150	150	at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’, 4
151	151	and 5
152	152	(cc) by adding at the end 6
153	153	the following: 7
154	154	‘‘(iii) subject to the availability of ap-8
155	155	propriations under section 18(a), for each 9
156	156	fiscal year beginning after the end of the 10
157	157	period described in section 4(a) of the 11
158	158	Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness 12
159	159	Act of 2023, 0.4 percent of the aggregate 13
160	160	amount specified in clause (i) and adjusted 14
161	161	under clause (ii), as further adjusted by 15
162	162	the percentage by which the thrifty food 16
163	163	plan has been adjusted under section 17
164	164	3(u)(4) between June 30 of the penul-18
165	165	timate fiscal year preceding such effective 19
166	166	date and June 30 of the fiscal year for 20
167	167	which the adjustment is made under this 21
168	168	clause.’’, 22
169	169	(ii) in subparagraph (B)(i) by insert-23
170	170	ing ‘‘until the end of the period described 24
171	171	in section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutri-25
172	172	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Apr 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S949.IS S949
173	173	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7
174	174	•S 949 IS
175	175	tion Assistance Fairness Act of 2023’’ 1
176	176	after ‘‘thereafter’’, and 2
177	177	(iii) in subparagraph (C)— 3
178	178	(I) by striking ‘‘For’’ and insert-4
179	179	ing the following: 5
180	180	‘‘(i) For’’, 6
181	181	(II) by inserting ‘‘until the end of 7
182	182	the period described in section 4(a) of 8
183	183	the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance 9
184	184	Fairness Act of 2023’’ after ‘‘there-10
185	185	after’’, and 11
186	186	(III) by adding at the end, the 12
187	187	following: 13
188	188	‘‘(ii) For each fiscal year beginning 14
189	189	after the end of the period described in 15
190	190	section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition 16
191	191	Assistance Fairness Act of 2023, the Sec-17
192	192	retary shall use 100 percent of the funds 18
193	193	made available under subparagraph (A) for 19
194	194	payment to American Samoa to pay 100 20
195	195	percent of the expenditures by American 21
196	196	Samoa for a nutrition assistance program 22
197	197	extended under section 601(c) of Public 23
198	198	Law 96–597 (48 U.S.C. 1469d(c)).’’, and 24
199	199	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Apr 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S949.IS S949
200	200	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8
201	201	•S 949 IS
202	202	(C) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘year,’’ 1
203	203	and inserting ‘‘year, until the end of the period 2
204	204	described in section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico 3
205	205	Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act of 2023, 4
206	206	and’’ after ‘‘year’’, and 5
207	207	(2) in subsection (b)(1)(A) by inserting ‘‘until 6
208	208	the end of the period described in section 4(a) of the 7
209	209	Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act of 8
210	210	2023’’ after ‘‘year’’ the first place it appears. 9
211	211	SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 10
212	212	There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 11
213	213	this Act such sums as may be necessary until the end of 12
214	214	the period described in section 4(a). 13
215	215	SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATES. 14
216	216	(a) I
217	217	NGENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 15
218	218	(b), this Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment 16
219	219	of this Act. 17
220	220	(b) E
221	221	FFECTIVEDATE OF AMENDMENTS.—The 18
222	222	amendments made by this Act shall take effect on October 19
223	223	1 of the 1st fiscal year that begins 1 year after the Sec-20
224	224	retary submits to Congress the certification described in 21
225	225	section 3(d). 22
226	226	Æ
227	227	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Apr 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S949.IS S949
228	228	pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB