I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1368 

To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to require that supplemental 

nutrition assistance program benefits be calculated with reference to 

the cost of the low-cost food plan as determined by the Secretary of 

Agriculture, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2019 

Ms. ADAMS (for herself, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. LEE of California, 

Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. WELCH, 

Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. WILSON of 

Florida, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. MOORE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. 

JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. EVANS, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. KILMER, Mr. 

MOULTON, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. 

PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. GARAMENDI, 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New 

York, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. 

RUSH, Mr. COHEN, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. OMAR, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. JUDY

CHU of California, Mr. PETERS, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. 

JAYAPAL, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. POCAN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. CLARK of 

Massachusetts, Mr. TONKO, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. 

LYNCH, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. HECK, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, 

Mr. ROUDA, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. GARCIA of 

Texas, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. 

NEGUSE, Mr. RYAN, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. BASS, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. SHERMAN, 

Mr. NEAL, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. 

KEATING, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, 

Mr. MCNERNEY, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. COX of California, Ms. 

BROWNLEY of California, and Mr. CRIST) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 


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•HR 1368 IH

A BILL 

To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to require 

that supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits 

be calculated with reference to the cost of the low-cost 

food plan as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture, 

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 ‘‘Closing the Meal Gap 

5 Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 

7 (a) CALCULATION OF PROGRAM BENEFITS.—The 

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

9 is amended— 

10 (1) in section 3 (7 U.S.C. 2012)— 

11 (A) by striking subsection (u), 

12 (B) by redesignating subsections (n) 

13 through (t) as subsections (o) through (u), re14 spectively, and 

15 (C) by inserting after subsection (m) the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(n) ‘Low-cost food plan’ means the diet required to 

18 feed a family of four persons, consisting of a man and 

19 a woman nineteen through fifty, a child six through eight, 

20 and a child nine through eleven years of age, determined 


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1 in accordance with the Secretary’s calculations. The cost 

2 of such diet shall be the basis for uniform allotments for 

3 all households regardless of their actual composition, ex4 cept that the Secretary shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) make household-size adjustments (based 

6 on the unrounded cost of such diet) taking into ac7 count economies of scale; 

8 ‘‘(2) make cost adjustments in the low-cost food 

9 plan for Hawaii and the urban and rural parts of 

10 Alaska to reflect the cost of food in Hawaii and 

11 urban and rural Alaska; 

12 ‘‘(3) make cost adjustments in the separate 

13 low-cost food plans for Guam, and the Virgin Is14 lands of the United States, to reflect the cost of food 

15 in those States, but not to exceed the cost of food 

16 in the 50 States and the District of Columbia; and 

17 ‘‘(4) on October 1, 2019, and each October 1 

18 thereafter, adjust the cost of the diet to reflect the 

19 cost of the diet in the immediately preceding June, 

20 and round the result to the nearest lower dollar in21 crement for each household size.’’, 

22 (2) in section 8(a) (7 U.S.C. 2017(a))— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘thrifty food plan’’ each 

24 place it appears, and inserting ‘‘low-cost food 

25 plan’’, and 


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•HR 1368 IH

1 (B) by striking ‘‘8 percent’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘10 percent’’, 

3 (3) in section 16(c)(1)(A)(ii) (7 U.S.C. 

4 2025(c)(1)(A)(ii))— 

5 (A) in subclause (I) by striking ‘‘for fiscal 

6 year 2014, at an amount not greater than $37’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘for fiscal year 2019, at an 

8 amount not greater than $50’’, and 

9 (B) in subclause (II)— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘June 30, 2013’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘June 30, 2019’’, and 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘thrifty food plan’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘low-cost food plan’’, and 

14 (4) in section 19(a)(2)(A) (7 U.S.C. 

15 2028(a)(2)(A))— 

16 (A) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

17 end, 

18 (B) in clause (ii)— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘each fiscal year there20 after’’ and inserting ‘‘each of the fiscal 

21 years 2004 through 2019’’, and 

22 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

23 and inserting a semicolon, and 

24 (C) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(iii) for fiscal year 2020, 

2 $2,650,000,000; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) subject to the availability of ap4 propriations under section 18(a), for each 

5 fiscal year thereafter, the amount deter6 mined under clause (iii), as adjusted by the 

7 percentage by which the low-cost food plan 

8 has been adjusted under section 3(n)(4) 

9 between June 30, 2019, and June 30 of 

10 the immediately preceding fiscal year.’’. 

11 (b) STANDARD MEDICAL EXPENSE DEDUCTION.— 

12 Section 5(e)(5) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 

13 (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(5)) is amended— 

14 (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘an excess 

15 medical’’ and all that follows through the period at 

16 the end, and inserting ‘‘a standard medical deduc17 tion or to a medical expense deduction of actual 

18 costs for the allowable medical expenses incurred by 

19 the elderly or disabled member, exclusive of special 

20 diets.’’, and 

21 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(D) The standard medical expense deduc23 tion shall be equal to $140 for fiscal year 2020, 

24 and for each subsequent fiscal year shall be 

25 equal to the applicable amount for the immeVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1368.IH H1368

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•HR 1368 IH

1 diately preceding fiscal year as adjusted to re2 flect changes for the 12-month period ending 

3 the preceding June 30 in the Consumer Price 

4 Index for All Urban Consumers: Medical Care 

5 published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of 

6 the Department of Labor, except that for any 

7 such fiscal year the State agency may establish 

8 a greater standard medical expense deduction 

9 that satisfies cost neutrality standards estab10 lished by the Secretary for such fiscal year.’’. 

11 (c) ELIMINATION OF CAP OF EXCESS SHELTER EX12 PENSES.—Section 5(e)(6) of the Food and Nutrition Act 

13 of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(6)) is amended— 

14 (1) by striking subparagraph (B), and 

15 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and 

16 (D) as subparagraphs (B) and (C), respectively. 

17 (d) SNAP ELIGIBILITY FOR FULL AND PART-TIME

18 STUDENTS; STUDENTS’ RESPONSIBLE FOR CARE OF DIS19 ABLED MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLDS.—Section 6 of the 

20 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015) is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) by striking subsection (e); and 

23 (2) in subsection (d)(2)(C) by striking ‘‘(except 

24 that any such person enrolled in an institution of 

25 higher education shall be ineligible to participate in 


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1 the supplemental nutrition assistance program un2 less he or she meets the requirements of subsection 

3 (e) of this section)’’. 

4 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

5 (1) FOOD AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2008.—The 

6 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et 

7 seq.) is amended— 

8 (A) in section 10 (7 U.S.C. 2019) by strik9 ing ‘‘3(o)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(p)(4)’’, 

10 (B) in section 11 (7 U.S.C. 2012)— 

11 (i) in subsection (a)(2) by striking 

12 ‘‘3(s)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(t)(1)’’, and 

13 (ii) in subsection (d)— 

14 (I) by striking ‘‘3(s)(1)’’ each 

15 place it appears and inserting 

16 ‘‘3(t)(1)’’, and 

17 (II) by striking ‘‘3(s)(2)’’ each 

18 place it appears and inserting 

19 ‘‘3(t)(2)’’, 

20 (C) in section 19(a)(2)(A)(ii) (7 U.S.C. 

21 (a)(2)(A)(ii)) by striking ‘‘3(u)(4)’’ and insert22 ing ‘‘3(n)(4)’’, and 

23 (D) in section 27(a)(2) (7 U.S.C. 

24 2036(a)(2))— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (C) by striking 

2 ‘‘3(u)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(n)(4)’’, and 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (E) by striking 

4 ‘‘3(u)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(n)(4)’’. 

5 (2) LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE

6 ACT OF 1981.—Section 2605(f)(2)(A) of the Low-In7 come Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 

8 U.S.C. 8624(f)(2)(A)) is amended— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘5(e)(6)(C)(iv)(I)’’ and in10 serting ‘‘5(e)(6)(B)(iv)(1)’’, and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘(7 U.S.C. 

12 2014(e)(6)(C)(iv)(I))’’ and inserting ‘‘(7 U.S.C. 

13 2014(e)(6)(B)(iv)(I))’’. 

14 (f) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—The Food and Nu15 trition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) is amended— 

16 (1) in section 5(a) (7 U.S.C. 2014(a)) by strik17 ing ‘‘3(n)(4)’’ each place it appears and inserting 

18 ‘‘3(m)(4)’’, 

19 (2) in section 8(f)(1)(A)(i) (7 U.S.C. 

20 2017(f)(1)(A)(i)) by striking ‘‘3(n)(5)’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘3(m)(5)’’, and 

22 (3) in section 17(b)(1)(B)(iv)(III)(aa) (7 U.S.C. 

23 2016(b)(1)(B)(iv)(III)(aa)) by striking ‘‘3(n)’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘3(m)’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS. 

2 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in sub3 section (b), this Act and the amendments made by this 

4 Act shall take effect on October 1, 2019. 

5 (b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.—The amend6 ments made by subsections (b), (c), and (f)(2) shall not 

7 apply with respect to certification periods that begin be8 fore October 1, 2019. 

Æ 


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