II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4061 

To provide emergency nutrition assistance to States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2020 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To provide emergency nutrition assistance to States, 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 ‘‘State Emergency Res5 taurant and Vendor Enhancement and COVID–19 Anti6 hunger Restaurant Relief for You Act’’ or the ‘‘SERVE 

7 and CARRY Act’’. 

8 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 

9 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec10 retary of Agriculture. 


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1 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY NUTRITION ASSISTANCE TO STATES. 

2 (a) STATE EMERGENCY RESTAURANT AND VENDOR

3 ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM (SERVE) PROGRAM.—The 

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

5 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 31. STATE EMERGENCY RESTAURANT AND VENDOR 

7 ENHANCEMENT (SERVE) PROGRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) ELECTRONIC BENEFIT TRANSFER TRANS10 ACTION.—The term ‘electronic benefit transfer 

11 transaction’ means the use of a credit or debit card 

12 service, point-of-sale terminal (including a contact13 less payment system), digital or paperless voucher 

14 system (excluding manual vouchers), or online sys15 tem for the processing of a payment for the pur16 chase of food. 

17 ‘‘(2) EMERGENCY.—The term ‘emergency’ 

18 means— 

19 ‘‘(A) a national emergency declared by the 

20 President under the National Emergencies Act 

21 (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) based on an outbreak 

22 of SARS–CoV–2 or another coronavirus with 

23 pandemic potential; 

24 ‘‘(B) a public health emergency declared 

25 under section 319 of the Public Health Service 

26 Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) based on an outbreak of 


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1 SARS–CoV–2 or another coronavirus with pan2 demic potential; 

3 ‘‘(C) an emergency declared by the Presi4 dent under section 501 of the Robert T. Staf5 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

6 Act (42 U.S.C. 5191) based on an outbreak of 

7 SARS–CoV–2 or another coronavirus with pan8 demic potential; and 

9 ‘‘(D) an emergency invoked under section 

10 506(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

11 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2318(a)(1)) based on an out12 break of SARS–CoV–2 or another coronavirus 

13 with pandemic potential. 

14 ‘‘(3) FOOD.—Notwithstanding section 3(k), the 

15 term ‘food’ means an article used for food or drink 

16 (except an alcoholic beverage or tobacco) that is pre17 pared for human consumption and served by a par18 ticipating restaurant. 

19 ‘‘(4) PARTICIPATING RESTAURANT.—The term 

20 ‘participating restaurant’ means a restaurant that is 

21 authorized to participate in the SERVE program of 

22 the State in which the restaurant is located by— 

23 ‘‘(A) the State; or 

24 ‘‘(B) the electronic benefit transfer vendor 

25 of the State. 


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1 ‘‘(5) RESTAURANT.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘restaurant’ 

3 means— 

4 ‘‘(i) a food service and drinking place 

5 of business (including a small- or midsized6 food service and drinking place of business, 

7 and a place of business classified under 

8 North American Industry Classification 

9 System Code 722) that is registered to do 

10 business in the State in which the res11 taurant is located as of the date on which 

12 an emergency is declared or invoked, as 

13 applicable; 

14 ‘‘(ii) a faith-based or other charitable 

15 organization that serves meals to the pub16 lic and meets all applicable State and local 

17 food safety and public health requirements; 

18 ‘‘(iii) a soup kitchen that meets all ap19 plicable State and local food safety and 

20 public health requirements; 

21 ‘‘(iv) an entity that offers a con22 gregate meal setting and is certified to 

23 serve meals under a Federal nutrition pro24 gram; and 


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1 ‘‘(v) a vendor that sells prepared food 

2 and is authorized to conduct electronic 

3 benefit transfer transactions at a farmer’s 

4 market. 

5 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘restaurant’ 

6 shall not include any establishment described in 

7 clauses (i) through (iii) of section 

8 408(a)(12)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 608(a)(12)(A)) and defined under sub10 paragraph (B) of that section (42 U.S.C. 

11 608(a)(12)(B)). 

12 ‘‘(6) STATE EMERGENCY RESTAURANT AND

13 VENDOR ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM; SERVE PRO14 GRAM.—The terms ‘State Emergency Restaurant 

15 and Vendor Enhancement Program’ and ‘SERVE 

16 Program’ mean a State-based program described in 

17 subsection (b). 

18 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—On request of a State, the 

19 Secretary shall provide funds, if made available under sub20 section (g), to a State to carry out a program, to be known 

21 as a ‘SERVE program’, during an emergency applicable 

22 to the State, under which a State shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) issue financial assistance in the form of 

24 benefits to eligible recipients described in subsection 


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1 (c) for use at participating restaurants through elec2 tronic benefit transfer transactions; and 

3 ‘‘(2) authorize restaurants in the State to ac4 cept and redeem those benefits for the purchase of 

5 meals and food through electronic benefit transfer 

6 transactions. 

7 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual in a State is 

9 eligible to receive benefits under the SERVE pro10 gram of that State if that individual receives bene11 fits under another Federal nutrition assistance pro12 gram. 

13 ‘‘(2) OTHER ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.—Benefits 

14 received by an individual under the SERVE program 

15 shall not be considered income for determining the 

16 eligibility of that individual under any means-tested 

17 Federal assistance program. 

18 ‘‘(d) STATE ELIGIBILITY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) STATE PLAN.—To be eligible to receive 

20 funds under subsection (b), a State shall submit to 

21 the Secretary a plan describing the SERVE program 

22 to be implemented in the State using those funds. 

23 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—The Secretary shall 

24 approve a plan submitted under paragraph (1) not 

25 later than 30 days after the date on which the plan 


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1 is submitted if the plan meets the requirements es2 tablished by the Secretary, including the minimum 

3 requirements described in paragraph (3). 

4 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE

5 PLAN.—A plan submitted by a State under para6 graph (1) shall include— 

7 ‘‘(A) the maximum concessional meal price 

8 to be charged by participating restaurants; 

9 ‘‘(B) a description of how the State in10 tends to make use of electronic benefit transfer 

11 transactions, including the availability and use 

12 of— 

13 ‘‘(i) point-of-sale machines (including 

14 contactless payment systems); 

15 ‘‘(ii) existing low-income benefit pro16 grams, such as the Lifeline program set 

17 forth in subpart E of part 54 of title 47, 

18 Code of Federal Regulations (or successor 

19 regulations); and 

20 ‘‘(iii) digital or paperless voucher sys21 tems; 

22 ‘‘(C) a standard form that the State will 

23 use to contract with participating restaurants; 

24 ‘‘(D) a description of the restrictions that 

25 a State will impose on alternative forms of benVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061

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1 efits issued under the SERVE Program in any 

2 form other than electronic benefit transfer, in3 cluding manual vouchers, cash, or in-kind bene4 fits; 

5 ‘‘(E) a plan for termination of the SERVE 

6 program; 

7 ‘‘(F) a plan for maintaining integrity of 

8 the SERVE program to prevent fraud, waste, 

9 and abuse; 

10 ‘‘(G) minimum criteria that the State will 

11 use to authorize restaurants to participate in 

12 the SERVE program; and 

13 ‘‘(H) the total amount of funding re14 quested by the State, based on, at a minimum, 

15 the product obtained by multiplying— 

16 ‘‘(i) the estimated number of individ17 uals eligible to receive benefits under the 

18 SERVE program in the State, in accord19 ance with subsection (b); 

20 ‘‘(ii) the maximum concessional meal 

21 price described in subparagraph (A); and 

22 ‘‘(iii) the number of meals that the 

23 State estimates will be provided to each eli24 gible recipient. 

25 ‘‘(e) SERVE PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) RESTAURANT IDENTIFICATION NUMBER.— 

2 Under a SERVE program, a State shall assign a 

3 unique identification number to each participating 

4 restaurant, which may be identical to the number 

5 assigned to that restaurant under another Federal 

6 nutrition program. 

7 ‘‘(2) TERMINATION DATE.—A State shall termi8 nate a SERVE program not later than the later 

9 of— 

10 ‘‘(A) 60 days after the date on which the 

11 applicable emergency is lifted; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the date on which funds provided to 

13 the State under subsection (b) are expended. 

14 ‘‘(3) FUNDS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) RETURN OF FEDERAL FUNDS.—On 

16 termination of a SERVE program, a State may 

17 elect to return to the Treasury any unused 

18 funds of the funds received under subsection 

19 (b). 

20 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

22 (ii), a State may use some portion of the 

23 funds received under subsection (b) for the 

24 administrative costs of carrying out a 

25 SERVE program, including the cost of— 


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1 ‘‘(I) contracting with necessary 

2 entities to operate the SERVE pro3 gram, including to update electronic 

4 benefit transfer transaction infra5 structure; 

6 ‘‘(II) carrying out activities to 

7 protect the integrity of the SERVE 

8 program and enforce against viola9 tions of waste, fraud, and abuse of 

10 funding under the SERVE program; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(III) providing technical assist13 ance to participating restaurants. 

14 ‘‘(ii) AMOUNT.—Of the funds received 

15 under subsection (b) by a State, the Sec16 retary shall determine the amount that the 

17 State may use for administrative costs, 

18 which shall not exceed 10 percent of the 

19 total funds received. 

20 ‘‘(C) STATE CONTRIBUTION.—A State may 

21 use State funds to establish or contribute to a 

22 SERVE program. 

23 ‘‘(4) NONDISCRIMINATION.—A State shall en24 sure that an individual shall not, on any basis pro25 hibited under section 11, be excluded from participaVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061

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1 tion in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to 

2 discrimination under a SERVE program. 

3 ‘‘(5) CIVIL PENALTIES.—A State that admin4 isters a SERVE program shall establish a civil pen5 alty for any participating restaurant that knowingly 

6 and willfully carries out any act of waste, fraud, or 

7 abuse of the SERVE program— 

8 ‘‘(A) in an amount of not more than 

9 $100,000 for each violation; and 

10 ‘‘(B) if there is a pattern of violations by 

11 the restaurant, as determined by the State, the 

12 revocation of the license of the restaurant in 

13 that State. 

14 ‘‘(f) PRORATED DISTRIBUTION.—If necessary, the 

15 Secretary shall reduce the amount provided to each State 

16 under subsection (b) on a prorated basis based on the 

17 amount requested by the State and the funds made avail18 able under subsection (g). 

19 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

21 sums as are necessary to carry out this section during an 

22 emergency. 

23 ‘‘(h) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section waives, modi24 fies, or otherwise affects the requirements of the supple25 mental nutrition assistance program, the special suppleVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061

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1 mental nutrition program for women, infants, and children 

2 established by section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 

3 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786), or any other Federal nutrition 

4 assistance program, as determined by the Secretary.’’. 

5 (b) STATE-BASED CORONAVIRUS FOOD ASSISTANCE

6 PURCHASE PROGRAM.— 

7 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

8 (A) EMERGENCY.—The term ‘‘emergency’’ 

9 means— 

10 (i) a national emergency declared by 

11 the President under the National Emer12 gencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) based 

13 on an outbreak of SARS–CoV–2 or an14 other coronavirus with pandemic potential; 

15 (ii) a public health emergency de16 clared under section 319 of the Public 

17 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) based 

18 on an outbreak of SARS–CoV–2 or an19 other coronavirus with pandemic potential; 

20 (iii) an emergency declared by the 

21 President under section 501 of the Robert 

22 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

23 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191) based on 

24 an outbreak of SARS–CoV–2 or another 

25 coronavirus with pandemic potential; and 


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1 (iv) an emergency invoked under sec2 tion 506(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance 

3 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2318(a)(1)) based 

4 on an outbreak of SARS–CoV–2 or an5 other coronavirus with pandemic potential. 

6 (B) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the 

7 meaning given the term in section 3 of the 

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

9 2012). 

10 (2) PROVISION OF FUNDS TO STATES.—On re11 quest of a State during an emergency applicable to 

12 the State, the Secretary shall provide funds, if made 

13 available under paragraph (3), to the State to pur14 chase, store, process, package, harvest, and dis15 tribute locally grown commodities, fruits, vegetables, 

16 specialty crops, dairy, and other consumable items, 

17 including for donation to emergency feeding organi18 zations (as defined in section 201A of the Emer19 gency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 

20 7501)). 

21 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec23 retary such sums as are necessary to carry out this 

24 subsection during an emergency. 


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1 SEC. 4. RESTAURANT MEALS PROGRAM UNDER THE SUP2 PLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PRO3 GRAM. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘‘covered pe6 riod’’ means the period beginning on the first day of 

7 the first month that begins after the date of enact8 ment of this Act and ending on the last day of the 

9 month that follows the month in which the public 

10 health emergency declared by the Secretary of 

11 Health and Human Services under section 319 of 

12 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on 

13 January 31, 2020, with respect to COVID–19, is 

14 lifted. 

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

16 the supplemental nutrition assistance program es17 tablished under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 

18 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 

19 (b) DEFINITION OF FOOD.—Section 3(k) of the Food 

20 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(k)) is amend21 ed— 

22 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘clauses (3), 

23 (4), (5), (7), (8), and (9) of this subsection’’ and in24 serting ‘‘paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (7) through 

25 (10)’’; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

2 end; and 

3 (3) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at 

4 the end and inserting ‘‘, and (10) in the case of 

5 households residing in an area for which a major 

6 disaster has been declared by the President under 

7 section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

8 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170), 

9 regardless of whether individual assistance has been 

10 authorized under such major disaster declaration, or 

11 a public health emergency has been declared by the 

12 Secretary of Health and Human Services under sec13 tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

14 U.S.C. 247d), meals prepared for and served by a 

15 public or private nonprofit establishment (approved 

16 by an appropriate State or local agency) that feeds 

17 such households and by private establishments that 

18 contract with the appropriate agency of the State to 

19 offer meals for such households at concessional 

20 prices subject to section 9(h).’’. 

21 (c) TEMPORARY STREAMLINING OF STATE PARTICI22 PATION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

24 during the covered period, the Secretary shall waive 

25 the requirements under section 11(e)(25) of the 


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

2 2020(e)(25)) for a State plan of operation required 

3 under subsection (d) of that section. 

4 (2) COVERED PERIOD.—The Secretary may ex5 tend the covered period for the purpose of carrying 

6 out paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines that 

7 such action is necessary to prevent hunger in areas 

8 impacted by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 

9 (COVID–19). 

10 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF NEW RETAILERS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the covered period, 

12 for the sole purpose of expanding the number and 

13 capacity of retail food establishments, including res14 taurants, authorized to accept and redeem program 

15 benefits in order to adequately serve households that 

16 are eligible to receive program benefits, the Sec17 retary may waive any requirements under section 9 

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

19 2018). 

20 (2) NO FEES.—Nothing in this subsection per21 mits any retail food establishment, including a res22 taurant, authorized to accept and redeem program 

23 benefits to charge fees for the redemption of those 

24 benefits, including fees described in section 7(h)(13) 


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

2 2016(h)(13)). 

3 (e) CONTRACTS WITH PRIVATE ESTABLISHMENTS.— 

4 In the case of a contract that a State or the Federal Gov5 ernment enters into with a private establishment to offer 

6 meals at concessional prices under the Food and Nutrition 

7 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) that is effective on 

8 the day before the public health emergency described in 

9 subsection (a)(1) is lifted, if the Secretary determines, on 

10 or after the date on which the public health emergency 

11 described in subsection (a)(1) is lifted, that the participa12 tion of the private establishment is not necessary to meet 

13 a documented need in accordance with section 11(e)(25) 

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

15 2020(e)(25)), the Secretary may— 

16 (1) allow the operation of the private establish17 ment to continue without that determination of need 

18 for not more than 180 days following the date of 

19 that determination by the Secretary; or 

20 (2) terminate the contract and provide justifica21 tion for the termination to the State in which the 

22 private establishment is located. 

23 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 

24 after the public health emergency described in subsection 

25 (a)(1) is lifted, the Secretary shall submit to the ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Jul 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4061.IS S4061

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1 mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Sen2 ate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 

3 Representatives a report that includes— 

4 (1) a description of the effectiveness of this sec5 tion in— 

6 (A) increasing access to concessional meals 

7 during the public health emergency; and 

8 (B) preventing hunger and improving 

9 health and safety among program recipients de10 scribed in paragraphs (3), (4), and (9) of sec11 tion 3(k) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 

12 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(k)); and 

13 (2) recommendations for additional statutory 

14 authority needed by the Secretary— 

15 (A) to prevent hunger among program re16 cipients during any public health emergency or 

17 major disaster; and 

18 (B) to improve health and safety among 

19 program recipients during ongoing social 

20 distancing policies relating to the Coronavirus 

21 Disease 2019 (COVID–19). 

Æ 


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