[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8495 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8495
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to transition the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to the supplemental nutrition assistance
program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 26, 2022
Miss Gonzalez-Colon (for herself, Mrs. Radewagen, Mr. Soto, Ms.
Houlahan, and Mr. McGovern) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to transition the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to the supplemental nutrition assistance
program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance
Fairness Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOOD AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2008.
(a) Definitions.--Section 3 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008
(7 U.S.C. 2012) is amended--
(1) in subsection (r) by inserting ``Puerto Rico,'' after
``Guam,'', and
(2) in subsection (u)(2) by inserting ``, Puerto Rico,''
after ``Hawaii''.
(b) Eligible Households.--Section 5 of the Food and Nutrition Act
of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b) by inserting ``Puerto Rico,'' after
``Guam,'',
(2) in subsection (c)(1) by striking ``and Guam'' and
inserting ``Guam, and Puerto Rico'', and
(3) in subsection (e)--
(A) in paragraph (1)(A) by inserting ``Puerto
Rico,'' after ``Hawaii,'' each place it appears, and
(B) in paragraph (6)(B) by inserting ``Puerto
Rico,'' after ``Guam,''.
SEC. 3. SUBMISSION OF PLAN OF OPERATION; TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE;
DETERMINATION AND CERTIFICATION BY SECRETARY OF
AGRICULTURE.
(a) Submission of Plan of Operation.--On designating an agency of
the kind described in section 3(s)(1) of the Food and Nutrition Act of
2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(s)(1)), the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall have
60 days to submit to the Secretary of Agriculture (in this Act referred
to as the ``Secretary'') its plan of operation, including a plan to
transition to the supplemental nutrition assistance program under
section 4(a) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 5(a)) as a request to participate in
the supplemental nutrition assistance program under of the Food and
Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.).
(b) Technical Assistance.--Within the 60-day period specified in
subsection (a) and upon request from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
the Secretary shall provide appropriate training and technical
assistance to enable the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to formulate a
plan of operation described in subsection (a).
(c) Determination by the Secretary of Agriculture.--Not later than
180 days after receiving a plan of operation described in subsection
(a), the Secretary shall approve if such plan satisfies the
requirements for a supplemental nutrition assistance program State plan
in accordance with subsections (d) and (e) of section 11 of the Food
and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020). If the Secretary does not
approve such plan, the Secretary shall provide, not later than 30 days
after disapproval, a statement that specifies each of the requirements
that were not satisfied by such plan.
(d) Certification by the Secretary of Agriculture.--If the
Secretary approves the plan submitted by the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the Congress,
not later than 60 days thereafter, a certification that the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico qualifies to participate in the
supplemental nutrition assistance program as a State as defined in
section 3(r) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(r)).
SEC. 4. TRANSITION FROM THE CONSOLIDATED BLOCK GRANT FOR PUERTO RICO.
(a) Covered Period.--The Secretary may continue to implement the
then most recent approved consolidated block grant specified in section
19(b)(1)(A) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C.
2028(b)(1)(A)) for a period ending no later than 5 years after the
effective date of the amendments made by this Act, or on the date the
Secretary determines that the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico no longer
needs to operate the consolidated block grant to complete the
transition described in section 3(a), whichever occurs first.
(b) Report.--For each year a plan is continued under subsection
(a), the Secretary shall submit to the Congress an annual report on the
operation of such plan. The Secretary shall include in such report
information related to increases in funding that are required to
accommodate the transition of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from the
receipt of block grant payments to the implementation of supplemental
nutrition assistance program.
SEC. 5. CONSOLIDATED BLOCK GRANT FOR PUERTO RICO AND AMERICAN SAMOA.
Section 19 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2028) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (1)(A) by inserting ``until the
Secretary terminates the implementation of the plan
under section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition
Assistance Fairness Act of 2022,'' after ``(A)'',
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in subparagraph (A)--
(I) in clause (i) by striking
``and'' at the end, and
(II) in clause (ii)--
(aa) by inserting ``, and
ending on the date he Secretary
terminates the implementation
of the plan under section 4(a)
of the Puerto Rico Nutrition
Assistance Fairness Act of
2022'' after ``thereafter'',
(bb) by striking the period
at the end and inserting ``;
and'', and
(cc) by adding at the end
the following:
``(iii) subject to the availability of
appropriations under section 18(a), for each
fiscal year beginning after the Secretary
terminates the implementation of the plan under
section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition
Assistance Fairness Act of 2022, 0.4 percent of
the aggregate amount specified in clause (i)
and adjusted under clause (ii), as further
adjusted by the percentage by which the thrifty
food plan has been adjusted under section
3(u)(4) between June 30 of the penultimate
fiscal year preceding such effective date and
June 30 of the fiscal year for which the
adjustment is made under this clause.'',
(ii) in subparagraph (B)(i) by inserting
``ending on the date the Secretary terminates
the implementation of the plan under section
4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance
Fairness Act of 2022'' after ``thereafter'',
and
(iii) in subparagraph (C)--
(I) by striking ``For'' and
inserting the following:
`` (i) For.--'',
(II) by inserting ``ending on the
date the Secretary terminates the
implementation of the plan under
section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico
Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act of
2022'' after ``thereafter'', and
(III) by adding at the end, the
following:
``(ii) For each fiscal year beginning after
the Secretary terminates the implementation of
the plan under section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico
Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act of 2022, the
Secretary shall use 100 percent of the funds
made available under subparagraph (A) for
payment to American Samoa to pay 100 percent of
the expenditures by American Samoa for a
nutrition assistance program extended under
section 601(c) of Public Law 96-597 (48 U.S.C.
1469d(c)).'', and
(C) in paragraph (3) by striking ``year,'' and
inserting ``year ending on the date the Secretary
terminates the implementation of the plan under section
4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness
Act of 2022, and'' after ``year'', and
(2) in subsection (b)(1)(A) by inserting ``and ending on
the date the Secretary terminates the implementation of the
plan under section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance
Fairness Act of 2022'' after ``year'' the first place it
appears.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act such
sums as may be necessary until the Secretary terminates the
implementation of the plan described on section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico
Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act of 2022.
SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATES.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) Effective Date of Amendments.--The amendments made by this Act
shall take effect on October 1 of the 1st fiscal year that begins 1
year after the Secretary submits to Congress the certification
described in section 3(d) of this Act.
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