I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4521 

To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to simplify the SNAP recertification process for the elderly and disabled, and to spur innovation in 

the application processes of SNAP, the Medicare Savings Program, and 

supplemental security income that will increase the utilization of entitlement programs among the most vulnerable of populations. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 1, 2017 

Mr. LAWSON of Florida (for himself, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, 

Ms. LEE, Mr. SOTO, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 

CRIST, Mr. EVANS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 

Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, 

Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, and Mr. HASTINGS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in 

addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to simplify 

the SNAP recertification process for the elderly and disabled, and to spur innovation in the application processes 

of SNAP, the Medicare Savings Program, and supplemental security income that will increase the utilization 

of entitlement programs among the most vulnerable of 

populations. 


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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 ‘‘SNAP Simplification 

5 for the Elderly Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENHANCED AND COORDINATED PROCEDURES FOR 

7 CERTAIN HOUSEHOLDS WITH ELDERLY OR 

8 DISABLED MEMBERS. 

9 (a) LONGER CERTIFICATION PERIODS FOR CERTAIN

10 HOUSEHOLDS WITH ELDERLY OR DISABLED MEM11 BERS.—Section 3(f) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 

12 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(f)) shall be amended to read as fol13 lows: 

14 ‘‘(f) ‘Certification period’ means the period for which 

15 households shall be eligible to receive benefits. The certifi16 cation period shall not exceed 12 months, except as pro17 vided in paragraphs (1) and (2). The limits specified in 

18 this subsection may be extended until the end of any tran19 sitional benefit period established under section 11(s). The 

20 certification period may be— 

21 ‘‘(1) up to 24 months if all adult household 

22 members are elderly or disabled; or 

23 ‘‘(2) up to 36 months if— 

24 ‘‘(A) all adult household members are el25 derly or disabled; 


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1 ‘‘(B) all adult household members who are 

2 elderly or disabled are enrolled in Medicaid, in3 cluding those enrolled in the Medicare Savings 

4 Program as defined in section 1144(c)(7) of the 

5 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b– 

6 14(c)(7)); 

7 ‘‘(C) the State agency’s administration of 

8 the program under paragraph (B) is jointly ad9 ministered or highly coordinated with benefits 

10 under this Act, as determined by the Secretary; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(D) at the time the household is certified 

13 the household has no earned income.’’. 

14 (b) COMBINED APPLICATION PROJECTS.—Section 

15 11(j) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 

16 2020(j)) is amended by adding at the end the following— 

17 ‘‘(3) SSI COMBINED APPLICATION PROJECTS.— 

18 The Secretary and the Commissioner of Social Secu19 rity shall revise the memorandum of understanding 

20 in effect on the date of enactment of the SNAP Sim21 plification for the Elderly Act regarding services to 

22 be provided in Social Security offices under this sub23 section and subsection (i), to provide that, in addi24 tion to the other activities under this subsection, the 

25 two agencies shall make available Combined ApplicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Dec 05, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4521.IH H4521

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1 tion Projects to not fewer than 10 additional States 

2 that are prepared to undertake such projects and 

3 satisfy the Secretary and Commissioner’s require4 ments for such projects.’’. 

5 (c) PILOT PROJECTS.—Section 17 of the Food and 

6 Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2026) is amended by add7 ing at the end the following— 

8 ‘‘(m) PILOT PROJECTS FOR SSA SENIOR CENTERS

9 TO PROVIDE INTEGRATED DELIVERY OF SERVICES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY FOR PILOT PROJECTS.—The 

11 Secretary shall carry out, in collaboration with the 

12 Commissioner of Social Security, under such terms 

13 and conditions as they consider appropriate, pilot 

14 projects in not more than 10 local offices of the So15 cial Security Administration that serve high-poverty 

16 areas to develop and test approaches to integrate de17 livery of benefits to households that include low-in18 come elderly or disabled members. 

19 ‘‘(2) PILOT PROJECTS.—Pilot projects carried 

20 out under this subsection shall develop and test ap21 proaches to improve participation in multiple pro22 grams that provide benefits to such members. 

23 ‘‘(A) Such approaches shall include— 

24 ‘‘(i) developing service delivery offices 

25 that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) provide a ‘one-stop shopping’ 

2 approach where applicants and recipi3 ents can apply for multiple benefits at 

4 local offices of the Social Security Ad5 ministration; or 

6 ‘‘(II) include collocation of staff 

7 of other government entities or non8 profit private organizations at such 

9 offices; 

10 ‘‘(ii) collaborating with private non11 profit organizations, such as community12 based organizations, emergency feeding or13 ganizations, or organizations that serve el14 derly individual or individuals with disabil15 ities; 

16 ‘‘(iii) make changes to allow for appli17 cations (which may include recertification 

18 applications) to be collected for a wider 

19 range of programs, for example, by revis20 ing applications and data systems to collect 

21 information for multiple programs; 

22 ‘‘(iv) targeting education and applica23 tion assistance to specific sub-populations 

24 with low participation rates in included 

25 programs; or 


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1 ‘‘(v) data-driven approaches that allow 

2 sharing relevant data across included pro3 grams for the purpose of improving cross4 program enrollment. 

5 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

6 subsection— 

7 ‘‘(i) the term ‘eligible entity’ means 

8 the State agency that administers the sup9 plemental nutrition assistance program in 

10 collaboration with the Social Security Ad11 ministration; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘included programs’ 

13 means— 

14 ‘‘(I) the supplemental nutrition 

15 assistance program; 

16 ‘‘(II) programs administered by 

17 the Administrator of Social Security 

18 that are available to individuals who 

19 are elderly or have a disability; 

20 ‘‘(III) the Medicare Savings Pro21 gram (as defined in section 

22 1144(c)(7) of the Social Security Act 

23 (42 U.S.C. 1320b–14(c)(7)); 

24 ‘‘(IV) at the option of an eligible 

25 entity, any other Federal, State, or 


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1 local program that is available to low2 income individuals who are elderly or 

3 have disability. 

4 ‘‘(3) FUNDING OF GRANTS.—The Secretary 

5 shall use not more than $50,000,000 of funds made 

6 available for fiscal year 2018 under section 18(a)(1), 

7 to remain available until expended, to make grants 

8 to State agencies to pay 100 percent of the cost of 

9 the selected eligible entities to carry out the pilot. 

10 Such grants shall supplement and not supplant 

11 other funding available to the eligible entities. 

12 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY AND LEAD AGENCY.— 

13 ‘‘(A) To be eligible to receive a grant for 

14 a pilot project under this subsection, an entity 

15 shall be a State agency administering the sup16 plemental nutrition assistance program in col17 laboration with the Social Security Administra18 tion. 

19 ‘‘(B) The State agency shall designate a 

20 lead agency for the pilot project, which may be 

21 the State agency, a local governmental agency, 

22 or the Social Security Administration. 

23 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

24 grant under this subsection a State shall submit an 

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1 taining such information as the Secretary may re2 quire. 

3 ‘‘(6) SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The 

4 Secretary and Commissioner of Social Security— 

5 ‘‘(A) shall develop criteria for the selection 

6 of eligible entities to receive grants for pilot 

7 projects under this subsection; and 

8 ‘‘(B) shall give preference to— 

9 ‘‘(i) projects that target individuals or 

10 communities with high levels of poverty 

11 among seniors and people with disabilities; 

12 ‘‘(ii) partnerships between govern13 mental and nongovernmental entities; 

14 ‘‘(iii) strategies that test innovative 

15 approaches that would be likely to be 

16 replicable in other communities; 

17 ‘‘(iv) projects that include resources 

18 from sources other than the federal gov19 ernment. 

20 ‘‘(7) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 

21 years after the date of the enactment of SNAP Sim22 plification for the Elderly Act, the Secretary and 

23 Commissioner of Social Security jointly shall submit 

24 to the Committees on Agriculture and Ways and 

25 Means of the House of Representatives and the 


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1 Committees of Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

2 and Finance of the Senate a report that includes— 

3 ‘‘(A) an assessment of the impact such 

4 pilot projects have on participation in included 

5 programs and a description of the results of 

6 such projects; 

7 ‘‘(B) identification of approaches that are 

8 most successful and, to the extent practicable, 

9 the reasons for the success; and 

10 ‘‘(C) a discussion of best practices and the 

11 factors that would affect whether such ap12 proaches can be replicated in other locations.’’. 

Æ 


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