I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5094 

To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to allow for blended workforces 

to carry out the supplemental nutrition assistance program under certain 

conditions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 1, 2023 

Mr. BACON (for himself and Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to allow 

for blended workforces to carry out the supplemental 

nutrition assistance program under certain conditions, 

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 ‘‘SNAP Staffing Flexi5 bility Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SNAP STAFFING FLEXIBILITY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

8 11(e)(6)(B) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, a 


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1 State agency (as defined in section 3 of the Food and Nu2 trition Act of 2008) may, by contract with the State agen3 cy at a reasonable cost in accordance with the State agen4 cy’s standard contracting rules, hire a contractor to under5 take supplemental nutrition assistance program certifi6 cation or carry out any other function of the State agency 

7 under the supplemental nutrition assistance program so 

8 long as— 

9 (1) the contract does not provide incentives for 

10 the agency or contractor to delay eligibility deter11 minations or to deny eligibility for individuals other 

12 wise eligible for supplemental nutrition assistance 

13 program benefits, and 

14 (2) the contractor has no direct or indirect fi15 nancial interest in an approved retail store. 

16 (b) USE.—A State agency may use the authority pro17 vided in subsection (a) when the State experiences in18 creases in supplemental nutrition assistance program ap19 plications or an inability to timely process such applica20 tions from causes that include but are not limited to— 

21 (1) pandemics and other health emergencies, 

22 (2) seasonal workforce cycles, 

23 (3) temporary staffing shortages, and 

24 (4) weather or other natural disasters. 


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1 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—A State agency that hires a 

2 contractor under subsection (a) shall ensure such action— 

3 (1) is consistent with all principles under sec4 tion 900.603 of title 5 of the Code of Federal Regu5 lations; and 

6 (2) is part of a blended workforce and does not 

7 supplant existing merit-based personnel in the State. 

8 (d) NOTIFICATION.—A State agency shall notify the 

9 Secretary of Agriculture of the intent to use the authority 

10 provided in this section and shall provide any information 

11 or data supporting State agency increases in supplemental 

12 nutrition assistance program applications or inability to 

13 timely process such applications. 

14 (e) PROGRAM DESIGN.—Any action taken by a State 

15 agency under subsection (a) shall not be— 

16 (1) considered to be a major change in the op17 erations of such State agency for the purposes of 

18 section 11(a)(4) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 

19 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020(a)(4)), or 

20 (2) subject to any requirement specified in such 

21 section. 

22 (f) BLENDED WORKFORCE.—For purposes of this 

23 section, the term ‘‘blended workforce’’ means a govern24 ment workforce that combines— 


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1 (1) employees of the State or of a local govern2 ment of such State, and 

3 (2) employees of a for-profit, or private non4 profit, employer with whom a contract is made 

5 under the authority provided in this section. 

6 (g) STATE AGENCY NOTIFICATIONS.—Not later than 

7 10 days after the date of the receipt of a notification sub8 mitted by a State agency under subsection (d), the Sec9 retary of Agriculture shall make publicly available on the 

10 website of the Department of Agriculture the notification 

11 submitted by such State agency and any accompanying 

12 information or data supporting such notification so sub13 mitted. 

14 (h) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

15 shall submit to the Agriculture Committee of the House 

16 of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nu17 trition, and Forestry of the Senate, an annual report that 

18 contains a description of the measures taken to address 

19 the increases in supplemental nutrition assistance pro20 gram applications, any inability to timely process such ap21 plications, any information or data supporting State agen22 cy requests and recommendations for changes to the Sec23 retary’s authority under the Food and Nutrition Act of 

24 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) to assist the Secretary, and 

25 States and local governments of State, in preparations for 


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1 any future increases in supplemental nutrition assistance 

2 program applications or inability to timely process such 

3 applications. 

4 (i) TEMPORARY STAFFING SHORTAGES.—In cases of 

5 temporary staffing shortages, the authority provided to 

6 State agencies under subsection (a)— 

7 (1) shall expire when the backlog of supple8 mental nutrition assistance program applications has 

9 been eliminated, and 

10 (2) shall not impact any collective bargaining 

11 agreement or memorandum of understanding in ef12 fect between the State and employees of the State 

13 or of a local government of such State. 

Æ 


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