I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5168 
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to transition the Common-
wealth of Puerto Rico to the supplemental nutrition assistance program, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 8, 2025 
Mr. HERNA´NDEZ (for himself, Mr. BACON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. LAWLER, Mr. 
SOTO, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. SALAZAR, and Ms. 
HOULAHAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to transition 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to the supplemental 
nutrition assistance program, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Puerto Rico Nutrition 
Assistance Fairness Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOOD AND NUTRITION ACT 
OF 2008. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the Food and Nutri-
tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (r) by inserting ‘‘Puerto 
Rico,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’, and 
(2) in subsection (u)(2) by inserting ‘‘, Puerto 
Rico,’’ after ‘‘Hawaii’’. 
(b) ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLDS.—Section 5 of the Food 
and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b) by inserting ‘‘Puerto 
Rico,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’, 
(2) in subsection (c)(1) by striking ‘‘and 
Guam’’ and inserting ‘‘Guam, and Puerto Rico’’, 
and 
(3) in subsection (e)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)(A) by inserting 
‘‘Puerto Rico,’’ after ‘‘Hawaii,’’ each place it 
appears, and 
(B) in paragraph (6)(B) by inserting 
‘‘Puerto Rico,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’. 
SEC. 3. SUBMISSION OF PLAN OF OPERATION; TECHNICAL 
ASSISTANCE; DETERMINATION AND CERTIFI-
CATION BY SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 
(a) SUBMISSION OF PLAN OF OPERATION.—On des-
ignating an agency of the kind described in section 3(s)(1) 
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of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 
2012(s)(1)), the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall have 
180 days to submit to the Secretary of Agriculture (in 
this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) its plan of oper-
ation, including a plan to transition to the supplemental 
nutrition assistance program under section 4(a) of such 
Act (7 U.S.C. 2013(a)) as a request to participate in the 
supplemental nutrition assistance program under such 
Act. 
(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Within the 180-day 
period specified in subsection (a) and upon request from 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Secretary shall 
provide appropriate training and technical assistance to 
enable the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to formulate a 
plan of operation described in subsection (a). 
(c) DETERMINATION BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRI-
CULTURE.—Not later than 180 days after receiving a plan 
of operation described in subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall approve if such plan satisfies the requirements for 
a supplemental nutrition assistance program State plan 
in accordance with subsections (d) and (e) of section 11 
of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020). 
If the Secretary does not approve such plan, the Secretary 
shall provide, not later than 30 days after disapproval, a 
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statement that specifies each of the requirements that 
were not satisfied by such plan. 
(d) CERTIFICATION BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRI-
CULTURE.—If the Secretary approves the plan submitted 
by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico under subsection 
(a), the Secretary shall submit to the Congress, not later 
than 90 days thereafter, a certification that the Common-
wealth of Puerto Rico qualifies to participate in the sup-
plemental nutrition assistance program as a State as de-
fined in section 3(r) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 
2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(r)). 
SEC. 4. TRANSITION FROM THE CONSOLIDATED BLOCK 
GRANT FOR PUERTO RICO. 
(a) COVERED PERIOD.—The Secretary may continue 
to implement the then most recent approved consolidated 
block grant specified in section 19(b)(1)(A) of the Food 
and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2028(b)(1)(A)) for 
an implementation period ending 5 years after the effec-
tive date of the amendments made by this Act, or on the 
date the Secretary determines that the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico no longer needs to operate the consolidated 
block grant to complete the transition described in section 
3(a), whichever occurs first. 
(b) REPORT.—For each year a plan is continued 
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the 
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Congress an annual report on the operation of such plan. 
The Secretary shall include in such report information re-
lated to increases in funding that are required to accom-
modate the transition of the Commonwealth of Puerto 
Rico from the receipt of block grant payments to the im-
plementation of supplemental nutrition assistance pro-
gram. 
SEC. 5. CONSOLIDATED BLOCK GRANT FOR PUERTO RICO 
AND AMERICAN SAMOA. 
Section 19 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 
(7 U.S.C. 2028) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)(A) by inserting ‘‘until 
the end of the period described in section 4(a) 
of the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fair-
ness Act,’’ after ‘‘(A)’’, 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A)— 
(I) in clause (i) by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end, and 
(II) in clause (ii)— 
(aa) by inserting ‘‘, and end-
ing at the end of the period de-
scribed in section 4(a) of the 
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Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance 
Fairness Act’’ after ‘‘thereafter’’, 
(bb) by striking the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’, 
and 
(cc) by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(iii) subject to the availability of ap-
propriations under section 18(a), for each 
fiscal year beginning after the end of the 
period described in section 4(a) of the 
Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness 
Act, 0.4 percent of the aggregate amount 
specified in clause (i) and adjusted under 
clause (ii), as further adjusted by the per-
centage by which the thrifty food plan has 
been adjusted under section 3(u)(4) be-
tween June 30 of the penultimate fiscal 
year preceding such effective date and 
June 30 of the fiscal year for which the 
adjustment is made under this clause.’’, 
(ii) in subparagraph (B)(i) by insert-
ing ‘‘ending at the end of the period de-
scribed in section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico 
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Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act’’ after 
‘‘thereafter’’, and 
(iii) in subparagraph (C)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘For’’ and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(i) For’’, 
(II) by inserting ‘‘ending at the 
end of the period described in section 
4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition As-
sistance Fairness Act’’ after ‘‘there-
after’’, and 
(III) by adding at the end, the 
following: 
‘‘(ii) For each fiscal year beginning 
after the end of the period described in 
section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition 
Assistance Fairness Act, the Secretary 
shall use 100 percent of the funds made 
available under subparagraph (A) for pay-
ment to American Samoa to pay 100 per-
cent of the expenditures by American 
Samoa for a nutrition assistance program 
extended under section 601(c) of Public 
Law 96–597 (48 U.S.C. 1469d(c)).’’, and 
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(C) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘year,’’ 
and inserting ‘‘year ending at the end of the pe-
riod described in section 4(a) of the Puerto 
Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act, and’’ 
after ‘‘year’’, and 
(2) in subsection (b)(1)(A) by inserting ‘‘and 
ending at the end of the period described in section 
4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fair-
ness Act’’ after ‘‘year’’ the first place it appears. 
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this Act such sums as may be necessary until the end of 
the period described in section 4(a). 
SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 
(b), this Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
(b) EFFECTIVE
DATE
OF
AMENDMENTS.—The 
amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date 
that is 10 years after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
Æ 
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