II 

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. 

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 ‘‘Meals for At-Risk 

5 Americans Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR STATE RESTAURANT MEALS PRO2 GRAMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 11 of the Food and Nutri4 tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(y) ASSISTANCE FOR STATE RESTAURANT MEALS

7 PROGRAMS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

9 ‘‘(A) DIGITAL APPLICATION.—The term 

10 ‘digital application’ means a web-based platform 

11 that allows for the digital submission of applica12 tions. 

13 ‘‘(B) ENHANCED TECHNICAL ASSIST14 ANCE.—The term ‘enhanced technical assist15 ance’ means enhanced detailed educational 

16 guidance for States to learn how to set up a 

17 restaurant meals program. 

18 ‘‘(C) RESTAURANT MEALS PROGRAM.—The 

19 term ‘restaurant meals program’ means a State 

20 option restaurant program carried out under 

21 subsection (e)(25). 

22 ‘‘(2) RULEMAKING.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

24 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

25 the Secretary shall promulgate a rule, which 

26 may be an interim final rule, that establishes— 


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1 ‘‘(i) guidance for States seeking to es2 tablish a restaurant meals program; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) a digital application that a State 

4 may use to submit a State plan under sub5 section (e)(25) for establishing a res6 taurant meals program. 

7 ‘‘(B) EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERIM FINAL

8 RULES.—An interim final rule promulgated 

9 under subparagraph (A) shall be immediately 

10 effective on publication in the Federal Register 

11 without requiring the Secretary to demonstrate 

12 good cause, notwithstanding subparagraph (B) 

13 of section 553(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

14 ‘‘(C) OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMENT AND

15 HEARING.—An interim final rule promulgated 

16 under subparagraph (A) shall give interested 

17 persons the opportunity to comment and to re18 quest a hearing. 

19 ‘‘(D) FINAL RULE.—After the conclusion 

20 of any comment period or hearing under sub21 paragraph (C), the Secretary shall issue a final 

22 rule in accordance with section 553 of title 5, 

23 United States Code. 

24 ‘‘(3) STATE APPLICATION STATUS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

2 notify a State agency seeking to establish a res3 taurant meals program of the status of the ap4 plication of the State agency, including whether 

5 the application is in review, approved, or de6 nied. 

7 ‘‘(B) REASON FOR DENIAL.—If an applica8 tion described in subparagraph (A) is denied, 

9 the Secretary shall provide a statement explain10 ing the reasons for the denial. 

11 ‘‘(4) RESTAURANT APPLICATION STATUS.—The 

12 Secretary shall use a real-time data sharing process 

13 established by the Secretary to provide to States fre14 quent status updates on the status of applications to 

15 the Secretary from restaurants in the State to par16 ticipate in the restaurant meals program of that 

17 State, which shall include an explanation for any de18 nial of a restaurant application. 

19 ‘‘(5) ENHANCED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Not 

20 later than 120 days after the date of enactment of 

21 this subsection, the Secretary shall provide enhanced 

22 technical assistance to States seeking to establish a 

23 restaurant meals program, including assistance to 

24 establish a digital application for use by the State 


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1 for the purpose of collecting applications from res2 taurants in the State.’’. 

3 (b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

4 11(e)(25)(A) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 

5 U.S.C. 2020(e)(25)(A)) is amended— 

6 (1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

7 (2) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause (iv); 

8 and 

9 (3) by inserting after clause (ii) the following: 

10 ‘‘(iii) whether the State agency will 

11 offer a digital application (as defined in 

12 subsection (y)(1)) as an option for res13 taurants in the State seeking to apply to 

14 participate in the program; and’’. 

Æ 


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