| 1 | 1 | | I |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 1538 |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | To amend the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 to establish |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | a pilot grant program to award grants to facilitate home delivery of |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | commodities under the commodity supplemental food program, and for |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | other purposes. |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | FEBRUARY24, 2025 |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | Mr. N |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | UNNof Iowa (for himself and Ms. CROCKETT) introduced the following |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | A BILL |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | To amend the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | of 1973 to establish a pilot grant program to award |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | grants to facilitate home delivery of commodities under |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | the commodity supplemental food program, and for other |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | 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 ‘‘Delivering for Rural 4 |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | Seniors Act of 2025’’. 5 |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 13, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1538.IH H1538 |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | •HR 1538 IH |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | SEC. 2. COMMODITY SUPPLEMENTAL FOOD PROGRAM DE-1 |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | LIVERY PILOT PROGRAM. 2 |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | The Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 3 |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | 1973 (7 U.S.C. 612c note) is amended by inserting after 4 |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | section 5 the following: 5 |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | ‘‘SEC. 5A. COMMODITY SUPPLEMENTAL FOOD PROGRAM 6 |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | DELIVERY PILOT PROGRAM. 7 |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | ‘‘(a) P |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | URPOSE.—The purposes of this section are— 8 |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | ‘‘(1) to award grants for the operation of 9 |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | projects that increase the access of low-income elder-10 |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | ly persons to commodities through home delivery; 11 |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | and 12 |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | ‘‘(2) to evaluate such projects. 13 |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | ‘‘(b) I |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | NGENERAL.—The Secretary shall award, on 14 |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | a competitive basis, grants to State agencies to carry out 15 |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | the activities described in subsection (e). 16 |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | ‘‘(c) M |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | AXIMUMGRANTAWARD.—A grant awarded to 17 |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | a State agency under this section may be in an amount 18 |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | not greater than the lesser of— 19 |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | ‘‘(1) the State’s commodity supplemental food 20 |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | program caseload at time of application multiplied 21 |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | by 60; or 22 |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | ‘‘(2) $4,000,000. 23 |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | ‘‘(d) A |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | PPLICATION.—A State agency seeking a grant 24 |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | under this section shall submit to the Secretary an appli-25 |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 13, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1538.IH H1538 |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | •HR 1538 IH |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | cation at such time, in such manner, and containing such 1 |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | information as the Secretary may require. 2 |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | ‘‘(e) G |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | RANTUSES.—A State agency awarded a grant 3 |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | under this section shall distribute grant funds to eligible 4 |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | entities to operate projects that facilitate home delivery 5 |
|---|
| 66 | 66 | | of commodities to participants in the commodity supple-6 |
|---|
| 67 | 67 | | mental food program, including with respect to costs asso-7 |
|---|
| 68 | 68 | | ciated with— 8 |
|---|
| 69 | 69 | | ‘‘(1) transportation and distribution of com-9 |
|---|
| 70 | 70 | | modities to participants in the commodity supple-10 |
|---|
| 71 | 71 | | mental food program, including transportation and 11 |
|---|
| 72 | 72 | | distribution services provided by a third party; 12 |
|---|
| 73 | 73 | | ‘‘(2) staffing required to operate home delivery 13 |
|---|
| 74 | 74 | | services; and 14 |
|---|
| 75 | 75 | | ‘‘(3) outreach to participants or potential par-15 |
|---|
| 76 | 76 | | ticipants in the commodity supplemental food pro-16 |
|---|
| 77 | 77 | | gram with respect to home delivery. 17 |
|---|
| 78 | 78 | | ‘‘(f) P |
|---|
| 79 | 79 | | RIORITY.—A State agency awarded a grant 18 |
|---|
| 80 | 80 | | under this section shall prioritize eligible entities that 19 |
|---|
| 81 | 81 | | serve participants in the commodity supplemental food 20 |
|---|
| 82 | 82 | | program who reside in a rural area. 21 |
|---|
| 83 | 83 | | ‘‘(g) R |
|---|
| 84 | 84 | | EPORT TO THE SECRETARY.—No later than 22 |
|---|
| 85 | 85 | | 180 days after the end of the fiscal year in which a State 23 |
|---|
| 86 | 86 | | agency is awarded a grant under this section and has dis-24 |
|---|
| 87 | 87 | | tributed grant funds to eligible entities, and in each suc-25 |
|---|
| 88 | 88 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 13, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1538.IH H1538 |
|---|
| 89 | 89 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
|---|
| 90 | 90 | | •HR 1538 IH |
|---|
| 91 | 91 | | ceeding fiscal year until grant funds are expended, a State 1 |
|---|
| 92 | 92 | | agency shall submit a report to the Secretary that in-2 |
|---|
| 93 | 93 | | cludes— 3 |
|---|
| 94 | 94 | | ‘‘(1) a summary of the activities carried out 4 |
|---|
| 95 | 95 | | under the project, including the quantity of commod-5 |
|---|
| 96 | 96 | | ities delivered, number of participants in the com-6 |
|---|
| 97 | 97 | | modity supplemental food program served, and total 7 |
|---|
| 98 | 98 | | number of deliveries; 8 |
|---|
| 99 | 99 | | ‘‘(2) an assessment of the effectiveness of the 9 |
|---|
| 100 | 100 | | project, including— 10 |
|---|
| 101 | 101 | | ‘‘(A) a calculation of the average cost per 11 |
|---|
| 102 | 102 | | delivery; and 12 |
|---|
| 103 | 103 | | ‘‘(B) an evaluation of any services provided 13 |
|---|
| 104 | 104 | | by a third party; and 14 |
|---|
| 105 | 105 | | ‘‘(3) best practices regarding use of home deliv-15 |
|---|
| 106 | 106 | | ery to improve the effectiveness of the commodity 16 |
|---|
| 107 | 107 | | supplemental food program. 17 |
|---|
| 108 | 108 | | ‘‘(h) D |
|---|
| 109 | 109 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 18 |
|---|
| 110 | 110 | | ‘‘(1) C |
|---|
| 111 | 111 | | OMMODITY SUPPLEMENTAL FOOD PRO -19 |
|---|
| 112 | 112 | | GRAM.—The term ‘commodity supplemental food 20 |
|---|
| 113 | 113 | | program’ means the program established under sec-21 |
|---|
| 114 | 114 | | tion 4. 22 |
|---|
| 115 | 115 | | ‘‘(2) CFR |
|---|
| 116 | 116 | | TERMS.—The terms ‘local agency’, 23 |
|---|
| 117 | 117 | | ‘State agency’, and ‘subdistributing agency’ have the 24 |
|---|
| 118 | 118 | | meanings given such terms in section 247.1 of title 25 |
|---|
| 119 | 119 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 13, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1538.IH H1538 |
|---|
| 120 | 120 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
|---|
| 121 | 121 | | •HR 1538 IH |
|---|
| 122 | 122 | | 7, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regula-1 |
|---|
| 123 | 123 | | tions). 2 |
|---|
| 124 | 124 | | ‘‘(3) E |
|---|
| 125 | 125 | | LIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-3 |
|---|
| 126 | 126 | | tity’ means— 4 |
|---|
| 127 | 127 | | ‘‘(A) a local agency; or 5 |
|---|
| 128 | 128 | | ‘‘(B) a subdistributing agency. 6 |
|---|
| 129 | 129 | | ‘‘(4) R |
|---|
| 130 | 130 | | URAL AREA.—The term ‘rural area’ has 7 |
|---|
| 131 | 131 | | the meaning given such term in section 343(a) of 8 |
|---|
| 132 | 132 | | the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act 9 |
|---|
| 133 | 133 | | (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)). 10 |
|---|
| 134 | 134 | | ‘‘(i) A |
|---|
| 135 | 135 | | UTHORIZATION OFAPPROPRIATIONS.—There is 11 |
|---|
| 136 | 136 | | authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 12 |
|---|
| 137 | 137 | | $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2028, 13 |
|---|
| 138 | 138 | | to remain available until expended.’’. 14 |
|---|
| 139 | 139 | | Æ |
|---|
| 140 | 140 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 13, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1538.IH H1538 |
|---|
| 141 | 141 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
|---|