[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3034 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3034
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide guidance and
enhanced technical assistance for States seeking to establish a
restaurant meals program under the supplemental nutrition assistance
program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 4, 2023
Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mr. Padilla, and Mr. Murphy) 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 provide guidance and
enhanced technical assistance for States seeking to establish a
restaurant meals program under 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 ``Meals for At-Risk Americans Act of
2023''.
SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR STATE RESTAURANT MEALS PROGRAMS.
(a) In General.--Section 11 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008
(7 U.S.C. 2020) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(y) Assistance for State Restaurant Meals Programs.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Digital application.--The term `digital
application' means a web-based platform that allows for
the digital submission of applications.
``(B) Enhanced technical assistance.--The term
`enhanced technical assistance' means enhanced detailed
educational guidance for States to learn how to set up
a restaurant meals program.
``(C) Restaurant meals program.--The term
`restaurant meals program' means a State option
restaurant program carried out under subsection
(e)(25).
``(2) Rulemaking.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary
shall promulgate a rule, which may be an interim final
rule, that establishes--
``(i) guidance for States seeking to
establish a restaurant meals program; and
``(ii) a digital application that a State
may use to submit a State plan under subsection
(e)(25) for establishing a restaurant meals
program.
``(B) Effectiveness of interim final rules.--An
interim final rule promulgated under subparagraph (A)
shall be immediately effective on publication in the
Federal Register without requiring the Secretary to
demonstrate good cause, notwithstanding subparagraph
(B) of section 553(b) of title 5, United States Code.
``(C) Opportunity for comment and hearing.--An
interim final rule promulgated under subparagraph (A)
shall give interested persons the opportunity to
comment and to request a hearing.
``(D) Final rule.--After the conclusion of any
comment period or hearing under subparagraph (C), the
Secretary shall issue a final rule in accordance with
section 553 of title 5, United States Code.
``(3) State application status.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall notify a
State agency seeking to establish a restaurant meals
program of the status of the application of the State
agency, including whether the application is in review,
approved, or denied.
``(B) Reason for denial.--If an application
described in subparagraph (A) is denied, the Secretary
shall provide a statement explaining the reasons for
the denial.
``(4) Restaurant application status.--The Secretary shall
use a real-time data sharing process established by the
Secretary to provide to States frequent status updates on the
status of applications to the Secretary from restaurants in the
State to participate in the restaurant meals program of that
State, which shall include an explanation for any denial of a
restaurant application.
``(5) Enhanced technical assistance.--Not later than 120
days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the
Secretary shall provide enhanced technical assistance to States
seeking to establish a restaurant meals program, including
assistance to establish a digital application for use by the
State for the purpose of collecting applications from
restaurants in the State.''.
(b) Program Requirements.--Section 11(e)(25)(A) of the Food and
Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020(e)(25)(A)) is amended--
(1) in clause (ii), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause (iv); and
(3) by inserting after clause (ii) the following:
``(iii) whether the State agency will offer
a digital application (as defined in subsection
(y)(1)) as an option for restaurants in the
State seeking to apply to participate in the
program; and''.
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