II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3736 

To increase access to food delivery under the supplemental nutrition assistance 

program to address the Coronavirus Disease 2019, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 14, 2020 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To increase access to food delivery under the supplemental 

nutrition assistance program to address the Coronavirus 

Disease 2019, 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 ‘‘Increasing Access to 

5 SNAP Delivery During COVID–19 Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FOOD DELIVERY UNDER SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRI7 TION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ has the 

2 meaning given the term in section 3 of the Fair 

3 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203). 

4 (2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

5 the supplemental nutrition assistance program es6 tablished under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 

7 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 

8 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

10 (b) PROGRAM MODIFICATIONS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program, 

12 the Secretary shall— 

13 (A) notify authorized program retailers of 

14 existing opportunities through which retailers 

15 can deliver food to program participants, in16 cluding by— 

17 (i) allowing an EBT card (as defined 

18 in section 3 of the Food and Nutrition Act 

19 of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012)) to be swiped on 

20 delivery of food to the home (with a mobile 

21 device); and 

22 (ii) preparing food for pick-up; 

23 (B) authorize public-private partnerships 

24 between the Department of Agriculture, author25 ized program retailers, and community-based 


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1 organizations to support food delivery, including 

2 through the use of private funds; 

3 (C) in the case of an authorized program 

4 retailer that is unable to cover the cost of food 

5 delivery for program participants, use funds 

6 made available under paragraph (3)(B) to sup7 port food delivery for program participants who 

8 are seniors, immunocompromised individuals, or 

9 other individuals who are unable to travel safely 

10 to an authorized program retailer, in accord11 ance with paragraph (3)(A); and 

12 (D) require each State to submit to the 

13 Secretary a State plan that describes how the 

14 State will— 

15 (i) work with authorized program re16 tailers and other community-based part17 ners to establish a process for food delivery 

18 for program participants; 

19 (ii) administer the reimbursements de20 scribed in paragraph (3)(A)(i), including 

21 timing, eligibility, and distribution proc22 esses; and 

23 (iii) ensure that authorized program 

24 retailers that are reimbursed for delivery 

25 costs under paragraph (3)(A)(i) adhere to 


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1 the requirements described in paragraph 

2 (3)(A)(ii). 

3 (2) STATE PLANS.—Not later than 10 days 

4 after the date on which the Secretary receives a 

5 State plan under paragraph (1)(D), the Secretary 

6 shall— 

7 (A) approve or deny the State plan; and 

8 (B) make publicly available on the website 

9 of the Department of Agriculture— 

10 (i) the State plan; 

11 (ii) the determination made under 

12 subparagraph (A) with respect to that 

13 plan; and 

14 (iii) any guidance issued to the State 

15 with respect to that plan. 

16 (3) FOOD DELIVERY.— 

17 (A) REIMBURSEMENT OF RETAILERS.— 

18 (i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

19 any other provision of law, a State agency 

20 shall reimburse an authorized program re21 tailer described in paragraph (1)(C) for the 

22 cost of food delivery to program partici23 pants described in that paragraph if— 


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1 (I) the authorized program re2 tailer is eligible for reimbursement 

3 under clause (ii); and 

4 (II) the majority of the food 

5 items delivered by the retailer are eli6 gible for redemption using benefits 

7 under the program. 

8 (ii) ELIGIBILITY.—An authorized pro9 gram retailer described in paragraph 

10 (1)(C) is eligible for reimbursement for the 

11 cost of food delivery to program partici12 pants described in that paragraph if— 

13 (I) that food delivery is per14 formed by employees of the retailer or 

15 employees of an entity contracted by 

16 the retailer to perform deliveries; 

17 (II) before any employee de18 scribed in subclause (I) begins making 

19 that food delivery, that employee re20 ceives employer-provided health and 

21 safety training that reflects the most 

22 recent guidelines of the Centers for 

23 Disease Control and Prevention and 

24 the Occupational Safety and Health 

25 Administration relating to worker 


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1 safety and health during the 

2 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID– 

3 19) pandemic; 

4 (III) the retailer remains neutral 

5 in any union organizing effort that oc6 curs during the period in which deliv7 eries described in paragraph (1)(C) 

8 are made; and 

9 (IV) all employees described in 

10 subclause (I) performing deliveries are 

11 paid at a rate that is not less than the 

12 greater of— 

13 (aa) the minimum wage rate 

14 established under section 6(a)(1) 

15 of the Fair Labor Standards Act 

16 of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)); 

17 and 

18 (bb) the minimum wage rate 

19 established by the applicable 

20 State or locality in which the em21 ployee works. 

22 (iii) COVERED COSTS.— 

23 (I) IN GENERAL.—Reimbursable 

24 costs under clause (i) include costs as25 sociated with— 


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1 (aa) purchasing point-of-sale 

2 devices or receiving technical as3 sistance relating to point-of-sale 

4 devices; and 

5 (bb) purchasing or reimburs6 ing employees for personal pro7 tective equipment used during 

8 food delivery. 

9 (II) PPE COSTS.—An authorized 

10 program retailer shall use not more 

11 than 10 percent of amounts received 

12 under clause (i) to pay for the costs 

13 described in subclause (I)(bb). 

14 (iv) MAXIMUM REIMBURSEMENT PER

15 DELIVERY.—The maximum amount of re16 imbursement under clause (i) for a food 

17 delivery fee shall be $10 per delivery. 

18 (B) FUNDING.— 

19 (i) IN GENERAL.—There is appro20 priated to the Secretary, out of funds of 

21 the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 

22 $500,000,000 to cover the cost of food de23 livery described in paragraph (1)(C), to be 

24 distributed among the States to fund reimVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:55 Jun 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3736.IS S3736

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1 bursements by States under subparagraph 

2 (A)(i). 

3 (ii) EMERGENCY REQUIREMENT.—The 

4 amount made available under clause (i) is 

5 designated by the Congress as being for an 

6 emergency requirement pursuant to section 

7 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget 

8 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 

9 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)(A)(i)). 

10 (iii) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA11 TIONS.—In addition to the amount appro12 priated under clause (i), there are author13 ized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

14 such sums as are necessary to cover the 

15 cost of food delivery under paragraph 

16 (1)(C). 

17 (4) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The authority of the 

19 Secretary to carry out paragraphs (1) through 

20 (3) with respect to each State shall terminate 

21 on the later of— 

22 (i) the date on which the national 

23 emergency declared by the President under 

24 the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 

25 1601 et seq.) with respect to the 


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1 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) is 

2 terminated; and 

3 (ii) the date on which the State emer4 gency declared in that State with respect 

5 to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID– 

6 19) is terminated. 

7 (B) RETURN OF FUNDS.—The Secretary 

8 shall return to the Treasury any funds appro9 priated under paragraph (3)(B)(i) that have not 

10 been used or obligated by the date described in 

11 subparagraph (A). 

12 (5) REPORT.—Not later than 3 months after 

13 the date on which the authority of the Secretary is 

14 terminated under paragraph (4), the Secretary shall 

15 submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

16 and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on 

17 Agriculture of the House of Representatives a report 

18 that describes— 

19 (A) the use of that authority to address 

20 food security needs of affected populations dur21 ing the national emergency described in sub22 paragraph (A)(i) of that paragraph; 

23 (B) the authorized program retailers that 

24 were reimbursed under paragraph (3)(A); 


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1 (C) any complications or difficulties experi2 enced by States in administering reimburse3 ments under paragraph (3)(A); and 

4 (D) recommendations for changes to the 

5 authority of the Secretary under the Food and 

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

7 to assist the Secretary, States, and units of 

8 local government to prepare plans for food de9 livery to program recipients in future health 

10 emergencies. 

Æ 


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