I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5215 

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 

MAY 12, 2016 

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

CONYERS, Ms. MOORE, Ms. PLASKETT, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of 

New York, and Mr. MURPHY of Florida) 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Act of 2016’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 

2 (a) CALCULATION OF PROGRAM BENEFITS.—The 

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

4 is amended— 

5 (1) in section 3 (7 U.S.C. 2012)— 

6 (A) by striking subsection (u), 

7 (B) by redesignating subsections (n) 

8 through (t) as subsections (o) through (u), re9 spectively, and 

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

11 following: 

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

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

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

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

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

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

18 all households regardless of their actual composition, ex19 cept that the Secretary shall— 

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

21 on the unrounded cost of such diet) taking into ac22 count economies of scale; 

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

24 plan for Hawaii and the urban and rural parts of 

25 Alaska to reflect the cost of food in Hawaii and 

26 urban and rural Alaska; 


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

2 low-cost food plans for Guam, and the Virgin Is3 lands of the United States, to reflect the cost of food 

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

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

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

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

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

9 result to the nearest lower dollar increment for each 

10 household size.’’, 

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

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

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

14 plan’’, and 

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

16 ‘‘10 percent’’, 

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

18 2025(c)(1)(A)(ii))— 

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

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

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

22 amount not greater than $50’’, and 

23 (B) in subclause (II)— 

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

25 inserting ‘‘June 30, 2016’’, and 


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

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

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

4 2028(a)(2)(A))— 

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

6 end, 

7 (B) in clause (ii)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘each fiscal year there9 after’’ and inserting ‘‘each of the fiscal 

10 years 2004 through 2016’’, and 

11 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

12 and inserting a semicolon, and 

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

14 ‘‘(iii) for fiscal year 2017, 

15 $2,650,000,000; and 

16 ‘‘(iv) subject to the availability of ap17 propriations under section 18(a), for fiscal 

18 year 2018 and each fiscal year thereafter, 

19 the amount determined under clause (iii), 

20 as adjusted by the percentage by which the 

21 low-cost food plan has been adjusted under 

22 section 3(n)(4) between June 30, 2017, 

23 and June 30 of the immediately preceding 

24 fiscal year.’’. 


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1 (b) STANDARD MEDICAL EXPENSE DEDUCTION.— 

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

3 (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(5)) is amended— 

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

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

6 the end, and inserting ‘‘a standard medical deduc7 tion or to a medical expense deduction of actual 

8 costs for the allowable medical expenses incurred by 

9 the elderly or disabled member, exclusive of special 

10 diets.’’, and 

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

12 ‘‘(D) The standard medical expense deduc13 tion shall be equal to $140 for fiscal year 2017, 

14 and for each subsequent fiscal year shall be 

15 equal to the applicable amount for the pre16 ceding fiscal year as adjusted to reflect changes 

17 for the 12-month period ending the preceding 

18 June 30 in the Consumer Price Index for All 

19 Urban Consumers: Medical Care published by 

20 the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Depart21 ment of Labor, except that for any such fiscal 

22 year the State agency may establish a greater 

23 standard medical expense deduction that satis24 fies cost neutrality standards established by the 

25 Secretary for such fiscal year.’’. 


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1 (c) ELIMINATION OF CAP OF EXCESS SHELTER EX2 PENSES.—Section 5(e)(6) of the Food and Nutrition Act 

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

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

5 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and 

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

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

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

9 is amended— 

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

11 end, 

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

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

14 (3) by adding at end the following: 

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

16 described in subparagraph (B) or (C) of para17 graph (2).’’. 

18 (e) FUNDING OF EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING PRO19 GRAMS.—Section 16(h)(1)(E)(ii)(II) of the Food and Nu20 trition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2025(h)(1)(E)(ii)(II)) is 

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

22 after ‘‘under’’. 

23 (f) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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

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

3 seq.) is amended— 

4 (A) in section 10 (7 U.S.C. 2019) by strik5 ing ‘‘3(p)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(q)’’, 

6 (B) in section 11 (7 U.S.C. 2012)— 

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

8 ‘‘3(t)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(u)(1)’’, and 

9 (ii) in subsection (d)— 

10 (I) by striking ‘‘3(t)(1)’’ each 

11 place it appears and inserting 

12 ‘‘3(u)(1)’’, and 

13 (II) by striking ‘‘3(t)(2)’’ each 

14 place it appears and inserting 

15 ‘‘3(u)(2)’’, 

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

17 (a)(2)(A)(ii)) by striking ‘‘3(u)(4)’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘3(n)(4)’’, and 

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

20 2036(a)(2))— 

21 (i) in subparagraph (C) by striking 

22 ‘‘3(u)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(n)(4)’’, and 

23 (ii) in subparagraph (E) by striking 

24 ‘‘3(u)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(n)(4)’’. 


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1 (2) LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE

2 ACT OF 1981.—Section 2605(f)(2)(A) of the Low-In3 come Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 

4 U.S.C. 8624(f)(2)(A)) is amended— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘5(e)(6)(C)(iv)(I)’’ and in6 serting ‘‘5(e)(6)(B)(iv)(1)’’, and 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘(7 U.S.C. 

8 2014(e)(6)(C)(iv)(I))’’ and inserting ‘‘(7 U.S.C. 

9 2014(e)(6)(B)(iv)(I))’’. 

10 (g) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—The Food and Nu11 trition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) is amended— 

12 (1) in section 5(a) (7 U.S.C. 2014(a)) by strik13 ing ‘‘3(n)(4)’’ each place it appears and inserting 

14 ‘‘3(m)(4)’’, 

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

16 2017(f)(1)(A)(i)) by striking ‘‘3(n)(5)’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘3(m)(5)’’, and 

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

19 2016(b)(1)(B)(iv)(III)(aa)) by striking ‘‘3(n)’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘3(m)’’. 

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

22 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in sub23 section (b), this Act and the amendments made by this 

24 Act shall take effect on October 1, 2016. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.—The amend2 ments made by subsections (b), (c), and (f)(2) shall not 

3 apply with respect to certification periods that begin be4 fore October 1, 2016. 

Æ 


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