II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4967 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2022 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MENENDEZ, 

Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Ms. WARREN) 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 transition 

the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to the supplemental 

nutrition assistance program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Puerto Rico Nutrition 

5 Assistance Fairness Act of 2022’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 4967 IS

1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOOD AND NUTRITION ACT 

2 OF 2008. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the Food and Nutri4 tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (r) by inserting ‘‘Puerto 

6 Rico,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’, and 

7 (2) in subsection (u)(2) by inserting ‘‘, Puerto 

8 Rico,’’ after ‘‘Hawaii’’. 

9 (b) ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLDS.—Section 5 of the Food 

10 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (b) by inserting ‘‘Puerto 

12 Rico,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’, 

13 (2) in subsection (c)(1) by striking ‘‘and 

14 Guam’’ and inserting ‘‘Guam, and Puerto Rico’’, 

15 and 

16 (3) in subsection (e)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (1)(A) by inserting 

18 ‘‘Puerto Rico,’’ after ‘‘Hawaii,’’ each place it 

19 appears, and 

20 (B) in paragraph (6)(B) by inserting 

21 ‘‘Puerto Rico,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’. 

22 SEC. 3. SUBMISSION OF PLAN OF OPERATION; TECHNICAL 

23 ASSISTANCE; DETERMINATION AND CERTIFI24 CATION BY SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 

25 (a) SUBMISSION OF PLAN OF OPERATION.—On des26 ignating an agency of the kind described in section 3(s)(1) 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 4967 IS

1 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 

2 2012(s)(1)), the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall have 

3 60 days to submit to the Secretary of Agriculture (in this 

4 Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) its plan of operation, 

5 including a plan to transition to the supplemental nutri6 tion assistance program under section 4(a) of such Act 

7 (7 U.S.C. 5(a)) as a request to participate in the supple8 mental nutrition assistance program under of the Food 

9 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 

10 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Within the 60-day pe11 riod specified in subsection (a) and upon request from the 

12 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Secretary shall provide 

13 appropriate training and technical assistance to enable the 

14 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to formulate a plan of oper15 ation described in subsection (a). 

16 (c) DETERMINATION BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRI17 CULTURE.—Not later than 180 days after receiving a plan 

18 of operation described in subsection (a), the Secretary 

19 shall approve if such plan satisfies the requirements for 

20 a supplemental nutrition assistance program State plan 

21 in accordance with subsections (d) and (e) of section 11 

22 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020). 

23 If the Secretary does not approve such plan, the Secretary 

24 shall provide, not later than 30 days after disapproval, a 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 4967 IS

1 statement that specifies each of the requirements that 

2 were not satisfied by such plan. 

3 (d) CERTIFICATION BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRI4 CULTURE.—If the Secretary approves the plan submitted 

5 by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico under subsection 

6 (a), the Secretary shall submit to the Congress, not later 

7 than 60 days thereafter, a certification that the Common8 wealth of Puerto Rico qualifies to participate in the sup9 plemental nutrition assistance program as a State as de10 fined in section 3(r) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 

11 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(r)). 

12 SEC. 4. TRANSITION FROM THE CONSOLIDATED BLOCK 

13 GRANT FOR PUERTO RICO. 

14 (a) COVERED PERIOD.—The Secretary may continue 

15 to implement the then most recent approved consolidated 

16 block grant specified in section 19(b)(1)(A) of the Food 

17 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2028(b)(1)(A)) for 

18 a period ending no later than 5 years after the effective 

19 date of the amendments made by this Act, or on the date 

20 the Secretary determines that the Commonwealth of Puer21 to Rico no longer needs to operate the consolidated block 

22 grant to complete the transition described in section 3(a), 

23 whichever occurs first. 

24 (b) REPORT.—For each year a plan is continued 

25 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 4967 IS

1 Congress an annual report on the operation of such plan. 

2 The Secretary shall include in such report information re3 lated to increases in funding that are required to accom4 modate the transition of the Commonwealth of Puerto 

5 Rico from the receipt of block grant payments to the im6 plementation of supplemental nutrition assistance pro7 gram. 

8 SEC. 5. CONSOLIDATED BLOCK GRANT FOR PUERTO RICO 

9 AND AMERICAN SAMOA. 

10 Section 19 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 

11 (7 U.S.C. 2028) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (a)— 

13 (A) in paragraph (1)(A) by inserting ‘‘until 

14 the Secretary terminates the implementation of 

15 the plan under section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico 

16 Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act of 2022,’’ 

17 after ‘‘(A)’’, 

18 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

19 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

20 (I) in clause (i) by striking 

21 ‘‘and’’ at the end, and 

22 (II) in clause (ii)— 

23 (aa) by inserting ‘‘, and end24 ing on the date the Secretary ter25 minates the implementation of 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 4967 IS

1 the plan under section 4(a) of the 

2 Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance 

3 Fairness Act of 2022’’ after 

4 ‘‘thereafter’’, 

5 (bb) by striking the period 

6 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’, 

7 and 

8 (cc) by adding at the end 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(iii) subject to the availability of ap11 propriations under section 18(a), for each 

12 fiscal year beginning after the Secretary 

13 terminates the implementation of the plan 

14 under section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nu15 trition Assistance Fairness Act of 2022, 

16 0.4 percent of the aggregate amount speci17 fied in clause (i) and adjusted under clause 

18 (ii), as further adjusted by the percentage 

19 by which the thrifty food plan has been ad20 justed under section 3(u)(4) between June 

21 30 of the penultimate fiscal year preceding 

22 such effective date and June 30 of the fis23 cal year for which the adjustment is made 

24 under this clause.’’, 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 4967 IS

1 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(i) by insert2 ing ‘‘ending on the date the Secretary ter3 minates the implementation of the plan 

4 under section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nu5 trition Assistance Fairness Act of 2022’’ 

6 after ‘‘thereafter’’, and 

7 (iii) in subparagraph (C)— 

8 (I) by striking ‘‘For’’ and insert9 ing the following: 

10 ‘‘(i) FOR.—’’, 

11 (II) by inserting ‘‘ending on the 

12 date the Secretary terminates the im13 plementation of the plan under section 

14 4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition As15 sistance Fairness Act of 2022’’ after 

16 ‘‘thereafter’’, and 

17 (III) by adding at the end, the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(ii) For each fiscal year beginning after 

20 the Secretary terminates the implementation of 

21 the plan under section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico 

22 Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act of 2022, the 

23 Secretary shall use 100 percent of the funds 

24 made available under subparagraph (A) for 

25 payment to American Samoa to pay 100 perVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Oct 07, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4967.IS S4967

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 4967 IS

1 cent of the expenditures by American Samoa 

2 for a nutrition assistance program extended 

3 under section 601(c) of Public Law 96–597 (48 

4 U.S.C. 1469d(c)).’’, and 

5 (C) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘year,’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘year ending on the date the Sec7 retary terminates the implementation of the 

8 plan under section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nu9 trition Assistance Fairness Act of 2022, and’’ 

10 after ‘‘year’’, and 

11 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(A) by inserting ‘‘and 

12 ending on the date the Secretary terminates the im13 plementation of the plan under section 4(a) of the 

14 Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act of 

15 2022’’ after ‘‘year’’ the first place it appears. 

16 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

18 this Act such sums as may be necessary until the Sec19 retary terminates the implementation of the plan de20 scribed on section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition As21 sistance Fairness Act of 2022. 

22 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

24 (b), this Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

25 of this Act. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 4967 IS

1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE OF AMENDMENTS.—The 

2 amendments made by this Act shall take effect on October 

3 1 of the 1st fiscal year that begins 1 year after the Sec4 retary submits to Congress the certification described in 

5 section 3(d) of this Act. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS