II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1805

To restore food stamp benefits for aliens, to provide States with flexibility

in administering the food stamp vehicle allowance, to index the excess

shelter expense deduction to inflation, to authorize additional appropriations to purchase and make available additional commodities under the

emergency food assistance program, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 27, 1999

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. JEFFORDS)

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To restore food stamp benefits for aliens, to provide States

with flexibility in administering the food stamp vehicle

allowance, to index the excess shelter expense deduction

to inflation, to authorize additional appropriations to

purchase and make available additional commodities

under the emergency food assistance 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hunger Relief Act of

3 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF FOOD STAMP BENEFITS FOR

5 ALIENS.

6 (a) LIMITED ELIGIBILITY OF QUALIFIED ALIENS

7 FOR CERTAIN FEDERAL PROGRAMS.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 402(a) of the Per9 sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec10 onciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1612(a)) is

11 amended—

12 (A) in paragraph (2)—

13 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking

14 ‘‘Federal programs’’ and inserting ‘‘Fed15 eral program’’;

16 (ii) in subparagraph (D)—

17 (I) by striking clause (ii); and

18 (II) in clause (i)—

19 (aa) by striking ‘‘(i)

20 SSI.—’’ and all that follows

21 through ‘‘paragraph (3)(A)’’ and

22 inserting the following:

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to

24 the specified Federal program described in

25 paragraph (3)’’;
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1 (bb) by redesignating sub2 clauses (II) through (IV) as

3 clauses (ii) through (iv) and in4 denting appropriately;

5 (cc) by striking ‘‘subclause

6 (I)’’ each place it appears and in7 serting ‘‘clause (i)’’; and

8 (dd) in clause (iv) (as redes9 ignated by item (bb)), by striking

10 ‘‘this clause’’ and inserting ‘‘this

11 subparagraph’’;

12 (iii) in subparagraph (E), by striking

13 ‘‘paragraph (3)(A) (relating to the supple14 mental security income program)’’ and in15 serting ‘‘paragraph (3)’’;

16 (iv) in subparagraph (F);

17 (I) by striking ‘‘Federal pro18 grams’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal pro19 gram’’;

20 (II) in clause (ii)(I)—

21 (aa) by striking ‘‘(I) in the

22 case of the specified Federal pro23 gram described in paragraph

24 (3)(A),’’; and
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1 (bb) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and

2 inserting a period; and

3 (III) by striking subclause (II);

4 (v) in subparagraph (G), by striking

5 ‘‘Federal programs’’ and inserting ‘‘Fed6 eral program’’;

7 (vi) in subparagraph (H), by striking

8 ‘‘paragraph (3)(A) (relating to the supple9 mental security income program)’’ and in10 serting ‘‘paragraph (3)’’; and

11 (vii) by striking subparagraphs (I),

12 (J), and (K); and

13 (B) in paragraph (3)—

14 (i) by striking ‘‘means any’’ and all

15 that follows through ‘‘The supplemental’’

16 and inserting ‘‘means the supplemental’’;

17 and

18 (ii) by striking subparagraph (B).

19 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section

20 402(b)(2)(F) of the Personal Responsibility and

21 Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8

22 U.S.C. 1612(b)(2)(F)) is amended by striking ‘‘sub23 section (a)(3)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(3)’’.

24 (b) FIVE-YEAR LIMITED ELIGIBILITY OF QUALIFIED

25 ALIENS FOR FEDERAL MEANS-TESTED PUBLIC BEN-
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1 EFIT.—Section 403 of the Personal Responsibility and

2 Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C.

3 1613) is amended—

4 (1) in subsection (c)(2), by adding at the end

5 the following:

6 ‘‘(L) Assistance or benefits under the Food

7 Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.).’’;

8 and

9 (2) in subsection (d)—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘not apply’’ and all that

11 follows through ‘‘(1) an individual’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘not apply to an individual’’; and

13 (B) by striking ‘‘; or’’ and all that follows

14 through ‘‘402(a)(3)(B)’’.

15 (c) AUTHORITY FOR STATES TO PROVIDE FOR AT16 TRIBUTION OF SPONSOR’S INCOME AND RESOURCES TO

17 THE ALIEN WITH RESPECT TO STATE PROGRAMS.—Sec18 tion 422(b) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Op19 portunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1632(b))

20 is amended by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘(8) Programs comparable to assistance or ben22 efits under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C.

23 2011 et seq.).’’.

24 (d) REQUIREMENTS FOR SPONSOR’S AFFIDAVIT OF

25 SUPPORT.—Section 423(d) of the Personal Responsibility
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1 and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8

2 U.S.C. 1183a note; Public Law 104–193) is amended by

3 adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(12) Benefits under the Food Stamp Act of

5 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), if a sponsor is unable

6 to make the reimbursement because the sponsor ex7 periences hardship (including bankruptcy, disability,

8 and indigence) or if the sponsor experiences severe

9 circumstances beyond the control of the sponsor, as

10 determined by the Secretary of Agriculture.’’.

11 (e) DERIVATIVE ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS.—Sec12 tion 436 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor13 tunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1646) is re14 pealed.

15 (f) APPLICATION.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para17 graph (2), this section and the amendments made by

18 this section shall apply to assistance or benefits pro19 vided under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C.

20 2011 et seq.) for months beginning on or after Octo21 ber 1, 2001.

22 (2) REFUGEES AND ASYLEES.—In the case of

23 an alien described in section 402(a)(2)(A) of the

24 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec25 onciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1612(a)(2)(A)),
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1 this section and the amendments made by this sec2 tion shall apply to assistance or benefits provided

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

4 et seq.) for months beginning on or after April 1,

5 2000.

6 SEC. 3. VEHICLE ALLOWANCE.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5(g)(2) of the Food

8 Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2014(g)(2)) is amended—

9 (1) in subparagraph (B)(iv)—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (C)’’ and

11 inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (C) and (D)’’; and

12 (B) by striking ‘‘to the extent that’’ and all

13 that follows through the end of the clause and

14 inserting ‘‘to the extent that the fair market

15 value of the vehicle exceeds $4,650; and’’; and

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

17 ‘‘(D) ALTERNATIVE VEHICLE ALLOW18 ANCE.—If the vehicle allowance standards that

19 a State agency uses to determine eligibility for

20 assistance under the State program funded

21 under part A of title IV of the Social Security

22 Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) would result in a

23 lower attribution of resources to certain house24 holds than under subparagraph (B)(iv), in lieu

25 of applying subparagraph (B)(iv), the State
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1 agency may elect to apply the State vehicle al2 lowance standards to all households that would

3 incur a lower attribution of resources under the

4 State vehicle allowance standards.’’.

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

6 this section take effect on July 1, 2000.

7 SEC. 4. MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF EXCESS SHELTER EXPENSE

8 DEDUCTION.

9 Section 5(e)(7)(B) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977

10 (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(7)(B)) is amended by striking clauses

11 (iii) and (iv) and inserting the following:

12 ‘‘(iii) for fiscal year 1999, $275,

13 $478, $393, $334, and $203 per month,

14 respectively;

15 ‘‘(iv) for fiscal year 2000, $280, $483,

16 $398, $339, and $208 per month, respec17 tively;

18 ‘‘(v) for fiscal year 2001, $340, $543,

19 $458, $399, and $268 per month, respec20 tively; and

21 ‘‘(vi) for fiscal year 2002 and each

22 subsequent fiscal year, the applicable

23 amount during the preceding fiscal year, as

24 adjusted to reflect changes for the 12-

25 month period ending the preceding Novem-
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1 ber 30 in the Consumer Price Index for All

2 Urban Consumers published by the Bureau

3 of Labor Statistics of the Department of

4 Labor.’’.

5 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR ADDI6 TIONAL COMMODITIES UNDER EMERGENCY

7 FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

8 Section 214 of the Emergency Food Assistance Act

9 of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7515) is amended by adding at the end

10 the following:

11 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other

13 funds that are made available to carry out this sec14 tion, there are authorized to be appropriated to pur15 chase and make available additional commodities

16 under this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal

17 years 2001 through 2005.

18 ‘‘(2) DIRECT EXPENSES.—Not less than 15

19 percent of the amount made available under para20 graph (1) shall be used to pay direct expenses (as

21 defined in section 204(a)(2)) incurred by emergency

22 feeding organizations to distribute additional com23 modities to needy persons.’’.

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