II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2723 

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

nutrition assistance program benefits for children 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 19, 2018 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. WARREN, and 

Ms. HARRIS) 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 require 

that supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits 

for children 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 ‘‘SNAP for Kids Act 

5 of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CALCULATION OF PROGRAM BENEFITS WITH REF2 ERENCE TO LOW-COST FOOD PLAN. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the Food and Nutri4 tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subsections (n) through (v) 

6 as subsections (o) through (w), respectively; and 

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (m) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(n) LOW-COST FOOD PLAN.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘low-cost food 

11 plan’ means the diet required to feed a family of 4 

12 persons, consisting of a man and a woman 19 

13 through 50 years old, a child 6 through 8 years old, 

14 and a child 9 through 11 years old, at a cost that 

15 is in the second quartile of food expenditures for 

16 those families in the United States, as determined 

17 by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(2) UNIFORM USE FOR SMALL HOUSEHOLDS

19 INCLUDING CHILDREN.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

20 the Secretary shall use the cost of the diet deter21 mined under paragraph (1) as the basis for uniform 

22 allotments for all small households that include one 

23 or more children not less than 5 and not greater 

24 than 17 years old (as determined on the first day of 

25 each month), regardless of the composition of such 

26 a household. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENTS.—In determining the diet 

2 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) make household-size adjustments 

4 (based on the unrounded cost of the diet), tak5 ing into account economies of scale; 

6 ‘‘(B) make cost adjustments in the diet for 

7 the State of Hawaii and the urban and rural 

8 parts of the State of Alaska to reflect the cost 

9 of food in the State of Hawaii and urban and 

10 rural parts of the State of Alaska; 

11 ‘‘(C) make cost adjustments in the sepa12 rate low-cost food plans for Guam and the 

13 United States Virgin Islands to reflect the cost 

14 of food in those States, which shall not exceed 

15 the cost of food in the 50 States and the Dis16 trict of Columbia; and 

17 ‘‘(D) on October 1, 2018, and each Octo18 ber 1 thereafter— 

19 ‘‘(i) adjust the cost of the diet to re20 flect the cost of the diet in the preceding 

21 June; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) round the cost determined under 

23 clause (i) to the nearest lower dollar incre24 ment.’’. 


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1 (b) VALUE OF ALLOTMENT.—Section 8 of the Food 

2 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2017) is amended— 

3 (1) by striking the section heading and all that 

4 follows through ‘‘(a) The value’’ and inserting the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 8. VALUE OF ALLOTMENT. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

8 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF ALLOTMENT.—Sub9 ject to paragraphs (2) and (3), the value’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (a)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by 

12 striking ‘‘dollar: Provided, That for households’’ 

13 and inserting the following: ‘‘dollar. 

14 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM ALLOTMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara16 graph (B), for a household’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (2) (as so designated), by 

18 adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(B) SMALL HOUSEHOLDS INCLUDING

20 CHILDREN.—For a household of 1 or 2 persons, 

21 not fewer than one of which is a child not less 

22 than 5 and not greater than 17 years old (as 

23 determined on the first day of each month), the 

24 minimum allotment shall be 8 percent of the 

25 cost of the low-cost food plan for a household 


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1 containing 1 member, as determined by the 

2 Secretary under section 3, rounded to the near3 est whole dollar increment.’’; and 

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

5 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL ALLOTMENT FOR CERTAIN

6 HOUSEHOLDS INCLUDING CHILDREN.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph 

8 (2)(B), in the case of a household that includes 

9 one or more children not less than 5 and not 

10 greater than 17 years old (as determined on the 

11 first day of each month), a State agency shall 

12 issue an additional allotment to the household 

13 in an amount (rounded to the nearest lower 

14 whole dollar) equal to the sum of each of the 

15 amounts determined under subparagraph (B). 

16 ‘‘(B) CALCULATION OF ALLOTMENT.—The 

17 amount of an additional allotment determined 

18 by the Secretary under subparagraph (A) shall 

19 be an amount equal to the difference (rounded 

20 to the nearest lower whole dollar) between— 

21 ‘‘(i) the product obtained by multi22 plying— 

23 ‘‘(I) the amount determined 

24 under paragraph (1), except by sub25 stituting ‘thrifty food plan’ in that 


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1 paragraph with ‘low-cost food plan’; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(II) the quotient obtained by di4 viding— 

5 ‘‘(aa) the number of children 

6 described in subparagraph (A); 

7 by 

8 ‘‘(bb) the number of mem9 bers of the household; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) the product obtained by multi11 plying— 

12 ‘‘(I) the amount determined 

13 under paragraph (1); and 

14 ‘‘(II) the quotient obtained by di15 viding— 

16 ‘‘(aa) the number of children 

17 described in subparagraph (A); 

18 by 

19 ‘‘(bb) the number of mem20 bers of the household.’’. 

21 (c) TOLERANCE LEVEL FOR EXCLUDING SMALL ER22 RORS.—Section 16(c)(1)(A)(ii) of the Food and Nutrition 

23 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2025(c)(1)(A)(ii)) is amended— 

24 (1) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘for fiscal year 

25 2014, at an amount not greater than $37’’ and inVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:42 Apr 26, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2723.IS S2723

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1 serting ‘‘for fiscal year 2018, at an amount not 

2 greater than $50’’; and 

3 (2) in subclause (II), by striking ‘‘3(u)(4) be4 tween June 30, 2013’’ and inserting ‘‘3(v)(4) be5 tween June 30, 2018’’; 

6 (d) CONSOLIDATED BLOCK GRANTS FOR PUERTO

7 RICO AND AMERICAN SAMOA.—Section 19(a)(2)(A) of the 

8 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2028(a)(2)(A)) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

11 (2) in clause (ii)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘each fiscal year there13 after’’ and inserting ‘‘each of fiscal years 2004 

14 through 2018’’; 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘3(u)(4)’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘(3)(v)(4)’’; and 

17 (C) by striking the period at the end and 

18 inserting a semicolon; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(iii) for fiscal year 2019, 

21 $2,011,992,716; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) subject to the availability of ap23 propriations under section 18(a), for fiscal 

24 year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter, 

25 the amount determined under clause (iii), 


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1 as adjusted by the percentage by which the 

2 thrifty plan has been adjusted under sec3 tion 3(v)(4) between June 30, 2019, and 

4 June 30 of the immediately preceding fis5 cal year.’’. 

6 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 27(a)(2) of 

7 the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2036(a)(2)) 

8 is amended in subparagraphs (C) and (E) by striking 

9 ‘‘3(u)(4)’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘3(v)(4)’’. 

10 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

11 This Act and the amendments made by this Act take 

12 effect on October 1, 2018. 

Æ 


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