I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4969 

To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to restore and standardize 

work requirements for able-bodied adults enrolled in the supplemental 

nutrition assistance program and limit participation to 5 years for ablebodied adults. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Mr. BURLISON (for himself and Mr. BRECHEEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to restore 

and standardize work requirements for able-bodied adults 

enrolled in the supplemental nutrition assistance program 

and limit participation to 5 years for able-bodied adults. 

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 ‘‘Ending the Cycle of 

5 Dependency Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF WORK REQUIREMENT EXEMP2 TIONS FOR ABLE-BODIED ADULTS IN THE 

3 SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE 

4 PROGRAM. 

5 Section 6(o)(3) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 

6 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015(o)(3)) is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (2) shall not 

8 apply to an individual if the individual is— 

9 ‘‘(A) under 18 or over 65 years of age; 

10 ‘‘(B) medically certified as physically or 

11 mentally unfit for employment; 

12 ‘‘(C) a parent or other member of a house13 hold with primary responsibility for a dependent 

14 child under 6 years of age; 

15 ‘‘(D) otherwise exempt under subsection 

16 (d)(2); or 

17 ‘‘(E) a pregnant woman.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. REPEALING WAIVER OF GEOGRAPHIC WORK RE19 QUIREMENTS IN THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRI20 TION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

21 Section 6(o)(4) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 

22 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015(o)(4)) is repealed. 


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1 SEC. 4. ELIMINATING NO GOOD CAUSE WORK REQUIRE2 MENTS EXCEPTIONS IN THE SUPPLEMENTAL 

3 NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

4 Section 6(o)(6) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 

5 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015(o)(6)) is repealed. 

6 SEC. 5. STANDARDIZING WORK REQUIREMENT AGE LIMIT 

7 RULES IN THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION 

8 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

9 Section 6(d)(1)(A) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 

10 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015(d)(1)(A)) is amended to read as fol11 lows: 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No physically and 

13 mentally fit individual over the age of 15 and 

14 under the age of 65 shall be eligible to partici15 pate in the supplemental nutrition assistance 

16 program if the individual— 

17 ‘‘(i) refuses, at the time of application 

18 and every 12 months thereafter, to register 

19 for employment in a manner prescribed by 

20 the Secretary; 

21 ‘‘(ii) refuses without good cause to 

22 participate in an employment and training 

23 program established under paragraph (4), 

24 to the extent required by the State agency; 

25 ‘‘(iii) refuses without good cause to 

26 accept an offer of employment, at a site or 


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1 plant not subject to a strike or lockout at 

2 the time of the refusal, at a wage not less 

3 than the higher of— 

4 ‘‘(I) the applicable Federal or 

5 State minimum wage; or 

6 ‘‘(II) 80 percent of the wage that 

7 would have governed had the min8 imum hourly rate under section 

9 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards 

10 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) 

11 been applicable to the offer of employ12 ment; 

13 ‘‘(iv) refuses without good cause to 

14 provide a State agency with sufficient in15 formation to allow the State agency to de16 termine the employment status or the job 

17 availability of the individual; 

18 ‘‘(v) voluntarily and without good 

19 cause— 

20 ‘‘(I) quits a job; or 

21 ‘‘(II) reduces work effort and, 

22 after the reduction, the individual is 

23 working less than 30 hours per week; 

24 or 

25 ‘‘(vi) fails to comply with section 20.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. STANDARDIZING WORK REQUIREMENT EXEMP2 TIONS IN THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION 

3 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

4 Section 6(d)(2) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 

5 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015(d)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(2) A person who otherwise would be required 

7 to comply with the requirements of paragraph (1) of 

8 this subsection shall be exempt from such require9 ments if he or she is (A) currently subject to and 

10 complying with a work registration requirement 

11 under title IV of the Social Security Act, as amend12 ed (42 U.S.C. 602), or the Federal-State unemploy13 ment compensation system, in which case, failure by 

14 such person to comply with any work requirement to 

15 which such person is subject shall be the same as 

16 failure to comply with that requirement of para17 graph (1); (B) a parent or other member of a house18 hold with primary responsibility for the care of a de19 pendent child under 6 years of age; (C) a bona fide 

20 student enrolled at least half time in any recognized 

21 school, training program, or institution of higher 

22 education (except that any such person enrolled in 

23 an institution of higher education shall be ineligible 

24 to participate in the supplemental nutrition assist25 ance program unless he or she meets the require26 ments of subsection (e) of this section); (D) a regVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Aug 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4969.IH H4969

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1 ular participant in a drug addiction or alcoholic 

2 treatment and rehabilitation program; (E) employed 

3 a minimum of thirty hours per week or receiving 

4 weekly earnings which equal the minimum hourly 

5 rate under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 

6 as amended (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)), multiplied by 

7 thirty hours; or (F) a person between the ages of 

8 sixteen and eighteen who is not a head of a house9 hold or who is attending school, or enrolled in an 

10 employment training program, on at least a half11 time basis.’’. 

12 SEC. 7. LIFETIME BENEFIT LIMIT FOR ABLE-BODIED 

13 ADULTS IN THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION 

14 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

15 Section 6 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 

16 U.S.C. 2015) is amended by adding a new subsection to 

17 read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(t) NO ASSISTANCE FOR ABLE-BODIED ENROLLEES

19 FOR MORE THAN 5 YEARS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No member of a household 

21 shall be eligible to participate who resides in a 

22 household that includes an individual who has par23 ticipated for 60 months (whether or not consecu24 tive). 


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1 ‘‘(2) MINOR CHILD EXCEPTION.—In deter2 mining the number of months for which an indi3 vidual participated, the State shall disregard any 

4 month for which such assistance was provided with 

5 respect to the individual and during which the indi6 vidual was— 

7 ‘‘(A) a minor child; and 

8 ‘‘(B) not the head of a household or mar9 ried to the head of a household. 

10 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) 

11 shall not apply to an individual if the individual is— 

12 ‘‘(A) under 18 or over 64 years of age; 

13 ‘‘(B) medically certified as physically or 

14 mentally unfit for employment; 

15 ‘‘(C) a parent or other member of a house16 hold with primary responsibility for a dependent 

17 child under 6 years of age; or 

18 ‘‘(D) a pregnant woman.’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. REPEALING SUSPENSION OF WORK REQUIREMENTS 

2 DUE TO COVID–19 FOR ABLE-BODIED ADULTS 

3 WITHOUT DEPENDENTS IN THE SUPPLE4 MENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

5 Section 2301 of the Families First Coronavirus Re6 sponse Act (P.L. 116–127, division B, title III, section 

7 2301) is repealed. 

Æ 


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