I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1276 

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 

MARCH 1, 2017 

Ms. ADAMS (for herself, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. 

EVANS, Ms. PLASKETT, Ms. DELBENE, Ms. NORTON, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. 

LEE, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. 

CICILLINE, Ms. MOORE, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. DEUTCH, 

Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. 

BUTTERFIELD, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. 

COHEN, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. JAYAPAL, 

and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Agriculture 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Closing the Meal Gap 

3 Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 

5 (a) CALCULATION OF PROGRAM BENEFITS.—The 

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

7 is amended— 

8 (1) in section 3 (7 U.S.C. 2012)— 

9 (A) by striking subsection (u), 

10 (B) by redesignating subsections (n) 

11 through (t) as subsections (o) through (u), re12 spectively, and 

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

14 following: 

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

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

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

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

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

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

21 all households regardless of their actual composition, ex22 cept that the Secretary shall— 

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

24 on the unrounded cost of such diet) taking into ac25 count economies of scale; 


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

2 plan for Hawaii and the urban and rural parts of 

3 Alaska to reflect the cost of food in Hawaii and 

4 urban and rural Alaska; 

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

6 low-cost food plans for Guam, and the Virgin Is7 lands of the United States, to reflect the cost of food 

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

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

10 ‘‘(4) on October 1, 2017, and each October 1 

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

12 cost of the diet in the preceding June, and round the 

13 result to the nearest lower dollar increment for each 

14 household size.’’, 

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

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

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

18 plan’’, and 

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

20 ‘‘10 percent’’, 

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

22 2025(c)(1)(A)(ii))— 

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

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


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1 and inserting ‘‘for fiscal year 2017, at an 

2 amount not greater than $50’’, and 

3 (B) in subclause (II)— 

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

5 inserting ‘‘June 30, 2017’’, and 

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

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

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

9 2028(a)(2)(A))— 

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

11 end, 

12 (B) in clause (ii)— 

13 (i) by striking ‘‘each fiscal year there14 after’’ and inserting ‘‘each of the fiscal 

15 years 2004 through 2017’’, and 

16 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

17 and inserting a semicolon, and 

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

19 ‘‘(iii) for fiscal year 2018, 

20 $2,650,000,000; and 

21 ‘‘(iv) subject to the availability of ap22 propriations under section 18(a), for fiscal 

23 year 2018 and each fiscal year thereafter, 

24 the amount determined under clause (iii), 

25 as adjusted by the percentage by which the 


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1 low-cost food plan has been adjusted under 

2 section 3(n)(4) between June 30, 2018, 

3 and June 30 of the immediately preceding 

4 fiscal year.’’. 

5 (b) STANDARD MEDICAL EXPENSE DEDUCTION.— 

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

7 (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(5)) is amended— 

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

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

10 the end, and inserting ‘‘a standard medical deduc11 tion or to a medical expense deduction of actual 

12 costs for the allowable medical expenses incurred by 

13 the elderly or disabled member, exclusive of special 

14 diets.’’, and 

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

16 ‘‘(D) The standard medical expense deduc17 tion shall be equal to $140 for fiscal year 2018, 

18 and for each subsequent fiscal year shall be 

19 equal to the applicable amount for the pre20 ceding fiscal year as adjusted to reflect changes 

21 for the 12-month period ending the preceding 

22 June 30 in the Consumer Price Index for All 

23 Urban Consumers: Medical Care published by 

24 the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Depart25 ment of Labor, except that for any such fiscal 


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1 year the State agency may establish a greater 

2 standard medical expense deduction that satis3 fies cost neutrality standards established by the 

4 Secretary for such fiscal year.’’. 

5 (c) ELIMINATION OF CAP OF EXCESS SHELTER EX6 PENSES.—Section 5(e)(6) of the Food and Nutrition Act 

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

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

9 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and 

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

11 (d) WORK REQUIREMENT.—Section 6(o)(3) of the 

12 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015(o)(3)) 

13 is amended— 

14 (1) in subparagraph (D) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

15 end, 

16 (2) in subparagraph (E) by striking the period 

17 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’, and 

18 (3) by adding at end the following: 

19 ‘‘(F) not offered a position in a program 

20 described in subparagraph (B) or (C) of para21 graph (2).’’. 

22 (e) FUNDING OF EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING PRO23 GRAMS.—Section 16(h)(1)(E)(ii)(II) of the Food and Nu24 trition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2025(h)(1)(E)(ii)(II)) is 


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1 amended by inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) through (E) of’’ 

2 after ‘‘under’’. 

3 (f) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

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

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

6 seq.) is amended— 

7 (A) in section 10 (7 U.S.C. 2019) by strik8 ing ‘‘3(p)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(q)’’, 

9 (B) in section 11 (7 U.S.C. 2012)— 

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

11 ‘‘3(t)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(u)(1)’’, and 

12 (ii) in subsection (d)— 

13 (I) by striking ‘‘3(t)(1)’’ each 

14 place it appears and inserting 

15 ‘‘3(u)(1)’’, and 

16 (II) by striking ‘‘3(t)(2)’’ each 

17 place it appears and inserting 

18 ‘‘3(u)(2)’’, 

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

20 (a)(2)(A)(ii)) by striking ‘‘3(u)(4)’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘3(n)(4)’’, and 

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

23 2036(a)(2))— 

24 (i) in subparagraph (C) by striking 

25 ‘‘3(u)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(n)(4)’’, and 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (E) by striking 

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

3 (2) LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE

4 ACT OF 1981.—Section 2605(f)(2)(A) of the Low-In5 come Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 

6 U.S.C. 8624(f)(2)(A)) is amended— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘5(e)(6)(C)(iv)(I)’’ and in8 serting ‘‘5(e)(6)(B)(iv)(1)’’, and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘(7 U.S.C. 

10 2014(e)(6)(C)(iv)(I))’’ and inserting ‘‘(7 U.S.C. 

11 2014(e)(6)(B)(iv)(I))’’. 

12 (g) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—The Food and Nu13 trition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) is amended— 

14 (1) in section 5(a) (7 U.S.C. 2014(a)) by strik15 ing ‘‘3(n)(4)’’ each place it appears and inserting 

16 ‘‘3(m)(4)’’, 

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

18 2017(f)(1)(A)(i)) by striking ‘‘3(n)(5)’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘3(m)(5)’’, and 

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

21 2016(b)(1)(B)(iv)(III)(aa)) by striking ‘‘3(n)’’ and 

22 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, 2017. 

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, 2017. 

Æ 


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