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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1800 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1800

 To amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to improve onsite inspections of 
   State food stamp programs, to provide grants to develop community 
  partnerships and innovative outreach strategies for food stamp and 
               related programs, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 27, 1999

  Mr. Graham introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to improve onsite inspections of 
   State food stamp programs, to provide grants to develop community 
  partnerships and innovative outreach strategies for food stamp and 
               related programs, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Food Stamp 
Outreach and Research for Kids Act of 1999''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
                      TITLE I--FOOD STAMP PROGRAM

Sec. 101. Food stamp participation.
Sec. 102. Food stamp inspections.
Sec. 103. Caseworker materials demonstration program.
Sec. 104. Food stamp studies.
Sec. 105. Grants for community partnerships and innovative access and 
                            innovation strategies.
Sec. 106. Demonstration projects for online and telephone participation 
                            in food stamp program.
Sec. 107. Nutrition information.
Sec. 108. General Accounting Office reports.
TITLE II--MEDICAID AND FOOD STAMP INFORMATION THROUGH TANF PROGRAM AND 
                               TAX CREDIT

Sec. 201. Information provided to individuals regarding eligibility 
                            under food stamp program.
Sec. 202. Credit for expansion of toll-free information number.

                      TITLE I--FOOD STAMP PROGRAM

SEC. 101. FOOD STAMP PARTICIPATION.

    Section 11(e)(1)(A) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 
2020(e)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ``at the option of the State 
agency,''.

SEC. 102. FOOD STAMP INSPECTIONS.

    Section 16 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2025) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:
    ``(l) Food Stamp Inspections.--
            ``(1) Mandatory inspections.--During the period beginning 
        on the date of enactment of this subsection, and ending on 
        September 30, 2002, the Secretary shall carry out an annual 
        onsite inspection or review of the operation of the food stamp 
        program by each State agency.
            ``(2) Visit.--The Secretary shall include as part of each 
        inspection or review under paragraph (1) a visit to a State or 
        local agency office.''.

SEC. 103. CASEWORKER MATERIALS DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.

    Section 16 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2025) (as 
amended by section 102) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(m) Caseworker Demonstration Program.--The Secretary shall 
conduct a demonstration program, through State agencies and in 
consultation with State caseworkers, to develop training materials, 
guidebooks, and other resources for use by State caseworkers that focus 
on issues of access and eligibility under the food stamp program.''.

SEC. 104. FOOD STAMP STUDIES.

    Section 18 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2027) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Food Stamp Studies.--
            ``(1) In general.--To assist in formulating nutrition 
        policy and to assess the potential costs and benefits of 
        legislative proposals, the Secretary, acting through the 
        Director of the Food and Nutrition Service, shall conduct--
                    ``(A) a study to measure the impacts of the food 
                stamp program; and
                    ``(B) a study to measure the integrity of the food 
                stamp program.
            ``(2) Report.--As soon as practicable after the date of 
        completion of each study under paragraph (1), but not later 
        than 2 years after that date, the Secretary shall submit to the 
        Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and 
        the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the 
        Senate a report describing the results of the study.
            ``(3) Funding.--Funds made available under this section may 
        be used by the Secretary to conduct the studies under paragraph 
        (1).''.

SEC. 105. GRANTS FOR COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS AND INNOVATIVE ACCESS AND 
              INNOVATION STRATEGIES.

    Section 18 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2027) (as 
amended by section 104) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Grants for Community Partnerships and Innovative Access and 
Innovation Strategies.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Secretary, in consultation with 
        the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall establish a 
        program to award grants to eligible organizations described in 
        paragraph (2)--
                    ``(A) to develop and test innovative strategies to 
                ensure that low income, needy families that are former 
                or current recipients of benefits under a State program 
                established under part A of title IV of the Social 
                Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) continue to 
                receive benefits under this Act;
                    ``(B) to help ensure that families that have 
                applied for benefits under a State program established 
                under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 
                U.S.C. 601 et seq.), but that did not receive the 
                benefits because of State diversion strategies or 
                ineligibility for the benefits, are aware of the 
                availability of, and are provided assistance in 
                receiving, benefits under this Act;
                    ``(C) to place special emphasis on conducting 
                outreach to families with earned income that is at or 
                above the income eligibility limits for benefits under 
                a State program established under part A of title IV of 
                the Social Security Act; and
                    ``(D) to conduct outreach to families with 
                children.
            ``(2) Eligible organizations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Grants under paragraph (1) may 
                be awarded to--
                            ``(i) food banks, food rescue, faith-based, 
                        and other community-based programs, except that 
                        the total amount awarded to such organizations 
                        shall be not less than 15 percent of the 
                        aggregate amount of grants awarded under this 
                        subsection;
                            ``(ii) schools, health clinics, day care 
                        centers, Head Start programs carried out under 
                        the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), 
                        Healthy Start programs carried out under 
                        section 301 of the Public Health Service Act 
                        (42 U.S.C. 241), public health or welfare and 
                        private nonprofit health or welfare agencies 
                        providing assistance under the Child Nutrition 
                        Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786), and other 
                        organizations conducting medicaid and State 
                        Children's Health Insurance Program outreach, 
                        except that the total amount awarded to such 
                        organizations shall be not less than 15 percent 
                        of the aggregate amount of grants awarded under 
                        this subsection;
                            ``(iii) States and political subdivisions 
                        of States; and
                            ``(iv) other organizations designated by 
                        the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation 
                        with the Secretary of Health and Human 
                        Services.
                    ``(B) Geographical distribution of recipients.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), 
                        the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation 
                        with the Secretary of Health and Human 
                        Services, shall select, from all eligible 
                        applications received, at least 1 recipient to 
                        receive a grant under this section from each 
                        region of the Department of Agriculture, and 
                        each additional rural or urban area determined 
                        to be appropriate by the Secretary of 
                        Agriculture, in consultation with the Secretary 
                        of Health and Human Services.
                            ``(ii) Exception.--The Secretary of 
                        Agriculture may not select grant recipients 
                        under clause (i) if the Secretary determines 
                        that an insufficient number of eligible grant 
                        applications has been received.
            ``(3) Selection.--The Secretary of Agriculture, in 
        consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
        shall develop criteria for selecting recipients of grants under 
        paragraph (1) that include the consideration of--
                    ``(A) the demonstrated track record of an 
                organization in serving low income populations;
                    ``(B) the ability of an organization to reach hard-
                to-serve populations;
                    ``(C) the level of innovative proposals in the 
                application of an organization for a grant; and
                    ``(D) the development of partnerships between 
                public and private sector entities and linkages with 
                the community.
            ``(4) Administration.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary of Agriculture, in 
                consultation with Secretary of Health and Human 
                Services, shall administer the grant program under this 
                section.
                    ``(B) Administrative costs.--Not more than 5 
                percent of funds made available for the grant program 
                shall be used by the Secretary of Agriculture or the 
                Secretary of Health and Human Services for 
                administrative costs.
                    ``(C) Program evaluations.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Secretary of 
                        Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and 
                        Human Services shall jointly conduct 
                        evaluations of programs funded by grants under 
                        this section.
                          ``(ii) Limitation.--Not more than 20 percent 
                        of funds made available for the grant program 
                        shall be used for program evaluations described 
                        in clause (i).''.

SEC. 106. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS FOR ONLINE AND TELEPHONE PARTICIPATION 
              IN FOOD STAMP PROGRAM.

    Section 18 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2027) (as 
amended by section 105) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(i) Online and Telephone Participation in Food Stamp Program.--
The Secretary shall conduct demonstration projects to evaluate the 
feasibility and desirability of allowing eligible households to 
participate in the food stamp program through the use of the Internet 
and telephones.''.

SEC. 107. NUTRITION INFORMATION.

    Section 18 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2027) (as 
amended by section 106) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j) Nutrition Information.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of Agriculture, in 
        consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
        shall--
                    ``(A) facilitate partnerships to provide 
                information on nutrition programs described in 
                paragraph (3); and
                    ``(B) maintain a toll-free information number for 
                individuals to call to obtain information concerning 
                the nutrition programs.
            ``(2) Partnerships.--
                    ``(A) In general.--To carry out paragraph (1)(A), 
                the Secretary shall facilitate partnerships composed 
                of--
                            ``(i) public agencies and organizations; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) entities and organizations from the 
                        private sector.
                    ``(B) Tax credit.--An entity or organization that 
                participates in a partnership under this section to 
                maintain the toll-free information number described in 
                paragraph (1)(B) shall be eligible to receive a tax 
credit as provided in section 45D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 
1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to business related 
credits).
            ``(3) Information.--In carrying out this subsection, the 
        Secretary shall provide--
                    ``(A) information concerning all Federal nutrition 
                programs, including the food stamp program and child 
                nutrition programs (as defined in section 25(b) of the 
                National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769f(b));
                    ``(B) information that meets the requirements of 
                section 11(e)(1)(B) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 
                U.S.C. 2020(e)(1)(B)), regarding individuals that 
                primarily speak a language other than English; and
                    ``(C) access to an individual to provide 
                information and clarification that is unavailable 
                through an automated phone information system.''.

SEC. 108. GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE REPORTS.

    Section 18 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2027) (as 
amended by section 107) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) General Accounting Office Reports.--
            ``(1) Negative case error rates.--Not later than 2 years 
        after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 
        General of the United States, in consultation with the 
        Secretary, shall repeat the study conducted in 1987 to verify 
        negative case error rates under the food stamp program.
            ``(2) Food stamp outreach strategies.--Not later than 2 
        years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 
        General of the United States, in consultation with the 
        Secretary, shall conduct a study on State and locally-based 
        food stamp outreach strategies that--
            (1) examines State policies, including the effectiveness 
        of--
                    (A) extending office hours and adding weekend 
                hours; and
                    (B) other outreach strategies employed; and
            (2) determines how often strategies described in paragraph 
        (1) are employed, including the methods by which the strategies 
        are advertised by States and localities to the target 
        population.''.

TITLE II--MEDICAID AND FOOD STAMP INFORMATION THROUGH TANF PROGRAM AND 
                               TAX CREDIT

SEC. 201. INFORMATION PROVIDED TO INDIVIDUALS REGARDING ELIGIBILITY 
              UNDER FOOD STAMP PROGRAM.

    (a) Development of Model State TANF Program Application.--
            (1) Development.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
                Services shall develop a model application for 
                receiving benefits under a State TANF program (as 
                defined in subsection (e)).
                    (B) Information regarding eligibility for medicaid 
                and food stamps.--The first page of the model 
                application shall clearly inform an applicant that the 
                applicant may be eligible for benefits under the 
                medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security 
                Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) and the food stamp program 
                under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et 
                seq.), and inform the applicant on procedures for 
                applying for benefits at the appropriate State agency, 
                even if the applicant--
                            (i) is determined to be ineligible for 
                        benefits under a State TANF program;
                            (ii) receives benefits under such a program 
                        and is subsequently terminated from such a 
                        program; or
                            (iii) is receiving a diversion payment 
                        under such a program.
            (2) Voluntary use by states.--Use of the model application 
        by the State agency or agencies that administer and supervise a 
        State TANF program shall be on a voluntary basis.
    (b) Development of Notice Regarding Potential Continued Eligibility 
Under Medicaid and Food Stamp Programs.--
            (1) Development.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, 
        shall develop a 1-page model notice that provides an applicable 
        individual with the information described in subsection 
        (a)(1)(B).
            (2) Use by states.--
                    (A) Voluntary use.--Subject to subparagraph (B), 
                use of the notice by the State agency or agencies that 
                administer and supervise a State TANF program shall be 
                on a voluntary basis.
                    (B) Mandatory use.--
                            (i) In general.--If the Secretary of Health 
                        and Human Services determines (for any period) 
                        that a State is providing the information 
                        described in subsection (a)(1)(B) to less than 
                        75 percent of applicable individuals, such 
                        State shall provide the notice to all 
                        applicable individuals until such time as the 
                        State demonstrates to the Secretary that the 
                        State is providing such information to such 
                        percentage of applicable individuals.
                            (ii) Applicable individual defined.--For 
                        purposes of this subparagraph, the term 
                        ``applicable individual'' means an individual--
                                    (I) who is determined to be 
                                ineligible for benefits under a State 
                                TANF program;
                                    (II) whose benefits under such a 
                                program have terminated; or
                                    (III) who is receiving a diversion 
                                payment under such a program.
    (c) Form.--The model application developed pursuant to subsection 
(a) and the notice developed pursuant to subsection (b) shall use 
language that is concise and easily understandable by applicants under 
a State TANF program.
    (d) Distribution.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
distribute the model application developed pursuant to subsection (a) 
and the notice developed pursuant to subsection (b) to the State agency 
or agencies that administer and supervise a State TANF program.
    (e) Definition of State TANF Program.--In this section, the term 
``State TANF program'' means any State program established under part A 
of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).

SEC. 202. CREDIT FOR EXPANSION OF TOLL-FREE INFORMATION NUMBER.

    (a) Tax Credit.--Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to business related 
credits) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 45D. CREDIT FOR EXPANSION OF TOLL-FREE INFORMATION NUMBER.

    ``For purposes of section 38, the toll-free information number 
credit of any taxpayer for any taxable year is 10 percent of the 
expenses paid or incurred by the taxpayer during such taxable year as a 
participant in the partnership described in section 17(o)(2) of the 
Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2026(o)(2)).''.
    (b) Credit Treated as Business Credit.--Section 38(b) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to current year business 
credit) is amended by striking ``plus'' at the end of paragraph (11), 
by striking the period at the end of paragraph (12) and inserting ``, 
plus'', and by adding at the end the following:
            ``(13) the toll-free information number credit determined 
        under section 45D.''.
    (c) Transitional Rule.--Section 39(d) of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 (relating to transitional rules) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
            ``(9) No carryback of section 45d credit before effective 
        date.--No portion of the unused business credit for any taxable 
        year which is attributable to the credit allowable under 
        section 45D may be carried back to a taxable year ending before 
        the date of the enactment of such section.''.
    (d) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart D of 
part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by adding at the end the following:

                              ``Sec. 45D. Credit for expansion of toll-
                                        free information number.''.
    (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to payments made or incurred in taxable years beginning after the 
date of enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>
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