II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1926

To amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to modify the requirements relating

to monthly reporting and staggered issuance of coupons for households

residing on Indian reservations, to ensure adequate access to retail food

stores by food stamp households, and to maintain the integrity of the

food stamp program, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 11 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 22), 1994

Mr. PRESSLER (for himself and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice, considered, read the third time and passed

A BILL

To amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to modify the requirements relating to monthly reporting and staggered

issuance of coupons for households residing on Indian

reservations, to ensure adequate access to retail food

stores by food stamp households, and to maintain the

integrity of the food stamp 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 ‘‘Food Stamp Program

5 Improvements Act of 1994’’.
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1 TITLE I—REPORTING AND STAG2 GERED ISSUANCE FOR

3 HOUSEHOLDS ON RESERVA4 TIONS

5 SEC. 101. BUDGETING AND MONTHLY REPORTING ON RES6 ERVATIONS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6(c)(1) of the Food

8 Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2015(c)(1)) is amended—

9 (1) in subparagraph (A)—

10 (A) by striking clause (ii); and

11 (B) by redesignating clauses (iii) and (iv)

12 as clauses (ii) and (iii), respectively; and

13 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub14 paragraph:

15 ‘‘(C) A State agency may require periodic re16 porting on a monthly basis by households residing

17 on a reservation only if—

18 ‘‘(i) the State agency reinstates benefits,

19 without requiring a new application, for any

20 household residing on a reservation that sub21 mits a report not later than 1 month after the

22 end of the month in which benefits would other23 wise be provided;

24 ‘‘(ii) the State agency does not delay, re25 duce, suspend, or terminate the allotment of a
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1 household that submits a report not later than

2 1 month after the end of the month in which

3 the report is due;

4 ‘‘(iii) on the date of enactment of this sub5 paragraph, the State agency requires house6 holds residing on a reservation to file periodic

7 reports on a monthly basis; and

8 ‘‘(iv) the certification period for households

9 residing on a reservation that are required to

10 file periodic reports on a monthly basis is 2

11 years, unless the State demonstrates just cause

12 to the Secretary for a shorter certification

13 period.’’.

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

15 (1) The second sentence of section 3(c) of such

16 Act (7 U.S.C. 2012(c)) is amended by striking

17 ‘‘For’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in section

18 6(c)(1)(C), for’’.

19 (2) Section 5(f)(2)(C) of such Act (7 U.S.C.

20 2014(f)(2)(C)) is amended by striking ‘‘clauses (i),

21 (ii), (iii), and (iv)’’ and inserting ‘‘clauses (i), (ii),

22 and (iii)’’.

23 SEC. 102. STAGGERED ISSUANCES ON RESERVATIONS.

24 Section 7(h)(1) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7

25 U.S.C. 2016(h)(1)) is amended by striking the second sen-
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1 tence and inserting the following new sentence: ‘‘Upon the

2 request of the tribal organization that exercises govern3 mental jurisdiction over the reservation, the State agency

4 shall stagger the issuance of benefits for eligible house5 holds located on reservations for at least 15 days of a

6 month.’’.

7 SEC. 103. GAO STUDY AND REPORT ON ADMINISTRATION

8 OF FOOD STAMP PROGRAM BY TRIBAL ORGA9 NIZATIONS.

10 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United

11 States shall conduct a study of the feasibility and desir12 ability of—

13 (1) increasing the opportunity for a tribal orga14 nization of an Indian tribe to administer the food

15 stamp program established under the Food Stamp

16 Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) in connection

17 with members of the tribe by—

18 (A) modifying the requirements established

19 under sections 3(n)(2) and 11(d) of such Act (7

20 U.S.C. 2012(n)(2) and 2020(d));

21 (B) modifying or eliminating the cost-shar22 ing requirements established for the tribal orga23 nization under section 16(a) of such Act (7

24 U.S.C. 2025); and
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1 (C) taking such other actions as the Comp2 troller General considers appropriate; and

3 (2) permitting the tribal organization to estab4 lish reasonable and appropriate requirements with

5 respect to issuance, reporting, and certification re6 quirements under the food stamp program for mem7 bers of the tribe.

8 (b) REPORT.—Not later than December 1, 1994, the

9 Comptroller General shall report the results of the study

10 required under subsection (a) to the Committee on Agri11 culture, and the Subcommittee on Native American Af12 fairs of the Committee on Natural Resources, of the

13 House of Representatives, and the Committee on Agri14 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and the Committee on

15 Indian Affairs, of the Senate, so that the results of the

16 study may be considered by the Committee on Agriculture

17 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on

18 Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate during

19 the reauthorization of the food stamp program during

20 1995.

21 SEC. 104. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

22 (a) Section 908 of the Food, Agriculture, Conserva23 tion, and Trade Act Amendments of 1991 (Public Law

24 102–237; 7 U.S.C. 2015 note) is repealed.
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1 (b) Section 6(c)(4) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977

2 (7 U.S.C. 2015(c)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘Any’’ and

3 inserting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (1)(C), any’’.

4 TITLE II—ACCESS TO RETAIL

5 FOOD STORES BY FOOD

6 STAMP HOUSEHOLDS

7 SEC. 201. FOOD STAMP ACT DEFINITIONS.

8 Section 3 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C.

9 2012) is amended—

10 (1) in subsection (k)—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘means (1) an establish12 ment’’ and all that follows through ‘‘spices, (2)

13 an establishment’’ and inserting the following:

14 ‘‘means—

15 ‘‘(1) an establishment or house-to-house trade

16 route that sells food for home preparation and con17 sumption and—

18 ‘‘(A) offers for sale, on a continuous basis,

19 a variety of foods in each of the 4 categories of

20 staple foods specified in subsection (u)(1), in21 cluding perishable foods in at least 2 of the cat22 egories; or

23 ‘‘(B) has over 50 percent of the total sales

24 of the establishment or route in staple foods,
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1 as determined by visual inspection, sales records,

2 purchase records, counting of stockkeeping units, or

3 other inventory or accounting recordkeeping methods

4 that are customary or reasonable in the retail food

5 industry;

6 ‘‘(2) an establishment’’;

7 (B) by striking ‘‘section, (3) a store’’ and

8 inserting the following: ‘‘section;

9 ‘‘(3) a store’’; and

10 (C) by striking ‘‘section, and (4) any pri11 vate’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘section; and

12 ‘‘(4) any private’’; and

13 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub14 section:

15 ‘‘(u)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), ‘staple

16 foods’ means foods (as defined in subsection (g)) in the

17 following categories:

18 ‘‘(A) Meat, poultry, or fish.

19 ‘‘(B) Bread or cereals.

20 ‘‘(C) Vegetables or fruits.

21 ‘‘(D) Dairy products.

22 ‘‘(2) ‘Staple foods’ do not include accessory food

23 items, such as coffee, tea, cocoa, carbonated and

24 uncarbonated drinks, candy, condiments, and spices.’’.
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1 SEC. 202. PERIODIC NOTICE.

2 Paragraph (2) of section 9(a) of the Food Stamp Act

3 of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2018(a)(2)) is amended to read as

4 follows:

5 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall issue regulations providing

6 for—

7 ‘‘(A) the periodic reauthorization of retail food

8 stores and wholesale food concerns; and

9 ‘‘(B) periodic notice to participating retail food

10 stores and wholesale food concerns of the definitions

11 of ‘retail food store’, ‘staple foods’, ‘eligible foods’,

12 and ‘perishable foods’.’’.

13 SEC. 203. USE AND DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION PRO14 VIDED BY RETAIL FOOD STORES AND WHOLE15 SALE FOOD CONCERNS.

16 Section 9(c) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7

17 U.S.C. 2018(c)) is amended—

18 (1) in the second sentence, by inserting after

19 ‘‘disclosed to and used by’’ the following: ‘‘Federal

20 law enforcement and investigative agencies and law

21 enforcement and investigative agencies of a State

22 government for the purposes of administering or en23 forcing this Act or any other Federal or State law

24 and the regulations issued under this Act or such

25 law, and’’;
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1 (2) by inserting after the second sentence the

2 following new sentence: ‘‘Any person who publishes,

3 divulges, discloses, or makes known in any manner

4 or to any extent not authorized by Federal law (in5 cluding a regulation) any information obtained

6 under this subsection shall be fined not more than

7 $1,000 or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or

8 both.’’; and

9 (3) in the last sentence, by striking ‘‘Such pur10 poses shall not exclude’’ and inserting the following:

11 ‘‘The regulations shall establish the criteria to be

12 used by the Secretary to determine whether the in13 formation is needed. The regulations shall not

14 prohibit’’.

15 SEC. 204. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS TESTING ACTIVI16 TIES DIRECTED AT TRAFFICKING IN COU17 PONS.

18 Section 17 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C.

19 2026) is amended by adding at the end the following new

20 subsection:

21 ‘‘(l) The Secretary shall use up to $4,000,000 of the

22 funds provided in advance in appropriations Acts for

23 projects authorized by this section to conduct demonstra24 tion projects in which State or local food stamp agencies

25 test innovative ideas for working with State or local law
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1 enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute coupon

2 trafficking.’’.

3 SEC. 205. CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY.

4 An establishment or house-to-house trade route that

5 is otherwise authorized to accept and redeem coupons

6 under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et

7 seq.) on the day before the date of enactment of this Act

8 shall be considered to meet the definition of ‘‘retail food

9 store’’ in section 3(k) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2012(k)) (as

10 amended by section 201) until the earlier of—

11 (1) the periodic reauthorization of the establish12 ment or route; or

13 (2) such time as the eligibility of the establish14 ment or route for continued participation in the food

15 stamp program is evaluated for any reason.

16 SEC. 206. REPORT ON IMPACT ON RETAIL FOOD STORES.

17 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment

18 of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall prepare and

19 submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of

20 Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri21 tion, and Forestry of the Senate a report on the impact

22 of the amendments made by sections 201 and 202 on the

23 involvement of retail food stores in the food stamp pro24 gram established under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7

25 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), including a description of—
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1 (1) the numbers and types of stores that were

2 newly authorized to participate in the food stamp

3 program after implementation of the amendments;

4 (2) the numbers and types of stores that were

5 withdrawn from the food stamp program after im6 plementation of the amendments;

7 (3) the procedures used by the Secretary, and

8 the adequacy of the procedures used, to determine

9 the eligibility of stores to participate in the food

10 stamp program and to authorize and reauthorize the

11 stores to participate in the food stamp program;

12 (4) the adequacy of the guidance provided by

13 the Secretary to retail food stores concerning—

14 (A) the definitions of ‘‘retail food store’’,

15 ‘‘staple foods’’, ‘‘eligible foods’’, and ‘‘perishable

16 foods’’ for purposes of the food stamp program;

17 and

18 (B) eligibility criteria for stores to partici19 pate in the food stamp program; and

20 (5) an assessment of whether the amendment to

21 the definition of ‘‘retail food store’’ under section

22 3(k) of such Act (as amended by section 201(1)) has

23 had an adverse effect on the integrity of the food

24 stamp program.

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