I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5099 

To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to establish a dairy nutrition 

incentive program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 1, 2023 

Mr. COSTA (for himself and Mr. LANGWORTHY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to establish 

a dairy nutrition incentive 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 ‘‘Dairy Nutrition Incen5 tive Program Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DAIRY NUTRITION INCENTIVE PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Food and Nutrition Act of 

8 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

9 the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 31. DAIRY NUTRITION INCENTIVE PROGRAM. 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 ‘‘(1) DAIRY PRODUCT.—The term ‘dairy prod4 uct’ means a product for which cow’s milk is listed 

5 as— 

6 ‘‘(A) the first ingredient on the labeled in7 gredients list of the product; or 

8 ‘‘(B) the second ingredient on the labeled 

9 ingredients list of the product, if the first listed 

10 ingredient is water. 

11 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en12 tity’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) a State or local governmental entity; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) a nonprofit organization. 

16 ‘‘(3) FLUID MILK.—The term ‘fluid milk’ 

17 means any variety of pasteurized cow’s milk that— 

18 ‘‘(A) is packaged in liquid form; and 

19 ‘‘(B) contains vitamins A and D at levels 

20 consistent with the Food and Drug Administra21 tion standards, and applicable State and local 

22 standards, for fluid milk. 

23 ‘‘(4) NATURALLY NUTRIENT-RICH DAIRY.—The 

24 term ‘naturally nutrient-rich dairy’ means— 

25 ‘‘(A) fluid milk; 


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1 ‘‘(B) yogurt and other cultured cow’s milk 

2 dairy products; and 

3 ‘‘(C) cheese (including nonstandardized 

4 cheese) made from cow’s milk. 

5 ‘‘(5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

6 the dairy nutrition incentive program established 

7 under subsection (b). 

8 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

9 after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 

10 shall establish a dairy nutrition incentive program under 

11 which the Secretary shall develop and test methods to in12 crease the purchase and consumption of naturally nutri13 ent-rich dairy by members of households that receive bene14 fits under the supplemental nutrition assistance program 

15 by providing an incentive for the purchase of naturally nu16 trient-rich dairy at the point of purchase to members of 

17 households purchasing food using those benefits. 

18 ‘‘(c) GRANTS OR COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the program, 

20 the Secretary shall enter into cooperative agreements 

21 with, or provide grants to, eligible entities, on a com22 petitive basis, for projects that meet the purpose of 

23 the program described in subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking 

25 to enter into a cooperative agreement or receive a 


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1 grant under the program shall submit to the Sec2 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 

3 and containing such information as the Secretary 

4 may require. 

5 ‘‘(3) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary 

6 shall develop and make public criteria for evaluating 

7 proposed projects in applications submitted under 

8 paragraph (2), which shall incorporate a scientif9 ically based strategy designed to improve diet quality 

10 and nutritional outcomes through the increased pur11 chase of naturally nutrient-rich dairy. 

12 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY.—In entering into cooperative 

13 agreements and awarding grants under the program, 

14 the Secretary shall give priority to projects that— 

15 ‘‘(A) maximize the percentage of funds 

16 used for direct incentives for participants in the 

17 supplemental nutrition assistance program; 

18 ‘‘(B) include a project design— 

19 ‘‘(i) that provides incentives when nat20 urally nutrient-rich dairy is purchased 

21 using benefits under the supplemental nu22 trition assistance program; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) in which the incentives earned 

24 may be used only to purchase naturally nu25 trient-rich dairy; 


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1 ‘‘(C) include project sites that serve mem2 bers of households that participate in the sup3 plemental nutrition assistance program; and 

4 ‘‘(D) incorporate the use of point-of-sale 

5 systems that can electronically issue incentives 

6 earned under the program. 

7 ‘‘(5) ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—An 

8 eligible entity may request funds from the Secretary, 

9 pursuant to section 16, to offset initial costs to en10 able electronic benefits transfer technology for elec11 tronic point-of-sale systems described in paragraph 

12 (4)(D) for projects sites selected under the program. 

13 ‘‘(d) EVALUATION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

15 for an independent evaluation of each project carried 

16 out under the program that measures, to the max17 imum extent practicable, the effect of incentives on 

18 purchases of naturally nutrient-rich dairy by mem19 bers of households that receive benefits under the 

20 supplemental nutrition assistance program. 

21 ‘‘(2) METHODOLOGY REQUIREMENT.—The 

22 independent evaluation under paragraph (1) shall 

23 use rigorous methodologies, such as random assign24 ment or other methods that are capable of producing 


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1 scientifically valid information regarding activities 

2 that are effective. 

3 ‘‘(3) DISCONTINUANCE.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

5 subparagraph (B), subject to availability of 

6 funds, nothing in this section shall limit the 

7 continuation of a project carried out under the 

8 program. 

9 ‘‘(B) NONCOMPLIANCE.—The Secretary 

10 may discontinue a project or close a project site 

11 under the program if the project— 

12 ‘‘(i) does not comply with the require13 ments under this section; 

14 ‘‘(ii) does not comply with the require15 ments of the grant awarded or cooperative 

16 agreement entered into under the program, 

17 as applicable; or 

18 ‘‘(iii) if the Secretary determines that 

19 the results of the independent evaluation of 

20 the project under paragraph (1) are not 

21 satisfactory. 

22 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary 

23 shall make publicly available the results of each 

24 independent evaluation carried out under paragraph 

25 (1). 


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1 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than December 31 of the 

2 first full calendar year following the date of establishment 

3 of the program, and biennially thereafter, the Secretary 

4 shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

5 and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agri6 culture of the House of Representatives a report that in7 cludes a description of— 

8 ‘‘(1) the status of each project carried out 

9 under the program; and 

10 ‘‘(2) the results of each completed evaluation 

11 under paragraph (1) during the period covered by 

12 the report. 

13 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.— 

14 ‘‘(1) MANDATORY FUNDING.—There is appro15 priated to the Secretary, out of any funds in the 

16 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $10,000,000 

17 for each fiscal year to carry out this section. 

18 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the 

20 funds made available under paragraph (1), 

21 there is authorized to be appropriated to the 

22 Secretary to carry out this section $10,000,000 

23 for fiscal year 2025 and each fiscal year there24 after. 


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1 ‘‘(B) APPROPRIATIONS IN ADVANCE.— 

2 With respect to any funds made available under 

3 subparagraph (A), only funds appropriated in 

4 advance specifically to carry out this section 

5 shall be available to carry out this section. 

6 ‘‘(3) EVALUATION COSTS.—Of the funds made 

7 available to carry out this section for a fiscal year, 

8 the Secretary shall use not more than 7 percent to 

9 carry out subsection (d). 

10 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON USE.—Funds made avail11 able to carry out this section shall not be used for 

12 any project that limits the use of benefits under the 

13 supplemental nutrition assistance program.’’. 

14 (b) TRANSITION FROM HEALTHY FLUID MILK IN15 CENTIVES PROJECTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

17 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

18 shall transition projects carried out under section 

19 4208 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 

20 (7 U.S.C. 2026a) to be carried out as part of the 

21 dairy nutrition incentive program established under 

22 section 31 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008. 

23 (2) NO INTERRUPTION.—In carrying out para24 graph (1), the Secretary shall ensure that— 


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1 (A) there is no interruption in projects 

2 being carried out under section 4208 of the Ag3 riculture Improvement Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 

4 2026a) during the transition described in that 

5 paragraph; and 

6 (B) any additional authorities or flexibili7 ties under the dairy nutrition incentive program 

8 established under section 31 of the Food and 

9 Nutrition Act of 2008 shall be applied to the 

10 projects described in subparagraph (A). 

11 (3) REPEAL.—Effective 1 year after the date 

12 on which the Secretary certifies that the Secretary 

13 has completed carrying out paragraph (1), section 

14 4208 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 

15 (7 U.S.C. 2026a) is repealed. 

Æ 


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