I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1413 
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to expand online benefit 
redemption options under the supplemental nutrition assistance program, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 26, 2021 
Ms. KELLY of Illinois (for herself, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, and Ms. 
LOIS FRANKEL of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to expand 
online benefit redemption options under 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 ‘‘Expanding SNAP Op-
tions Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. ONLINE PORTAL FOR SNAP BENEFIT REDEMPTION. 
Section 7(h)(14) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 
2008 (7 U.S.C. 2016(h)(14)) is amended— 
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(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘Subject 
to subparagraph (B), the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’; and 
(2) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(B) EBT ONLINE
REDEMPTION
POR-
TAL.— 
‘‘(i) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this 
subparagraph is to expand options for and 
access to food for eligible households by 
making the online redemption of program 
benefits, including the acceptance of EBT 
cards, more widely available to grocery 
stores, small retailers, and farmers who 
face barriers in implementing their own 
online payment portals. 
‘‘(ii) CONTRACTS.—Not later than 
180 days after the date of enactment of 
the Expanding SNAP Options Act of 
2021, the Secretary shall award on a com-
petitive basis 1 or more contracts to 1 or 
more eligible entities described in clause 
(iii) to develop an online portal, to be 
known as the ‘EBT Online Redemption 
Portal’— 
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‘‘(I) to allow program partici-
pants to use online or mobile elec-
tronic benefits transactions, including 
through the acceptance of EBT cards, 
to purchase program foods from, and 
make online payments to, authorized 
program retailers under the supple-
mental nutrition assistance program; 
and 
‘‘(II) to facilitate food purchase 
delivery 
for 
program 
participants 
using the transactions described in 
subclause (I). 
‘‘(iii) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—An eligible 
entity referred to in clause (ii) is any for- 
profit or nonprofit entity with demon-
strable expertise in the development, oper-
ation, or maintenance of electronic pay-
ment systems (including systems with ad-
vanced security protocols), which may in-
clude expertise in benefits management or 
administration of State systems, as deter-
mined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(iv) APPLICATION; 
PORTAL
FEA-
TURES.— 
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‘‘(I) APPLICATION.—An eligible 
entity shall submit to the Secretary 
an application at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such informa-
tion as the Secretary may require, in-
cluding— 
‘‘(aa) a description of how 
the eligible entity plans to imple-
ment the requirements described 
in clause (v); and 
‘‘(bb) a beta plan that has 
been user-tested. 
‘‘(II) 
PORTAL
FEATURES.—In 
awarding a contract to an eligible en-
tity under clause (ii), the Secretary 
shall give preference to an eligible en-
tity that demonstrates an ability to 
implement the following features of an 
EBT Online Redemption Portal: 
‘‘(aa) 
Client-facing 
tech-
nology with a primary preference 
for mobile device or smartphone 
application. 
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‘‘(bb) Fail-safe systems to 
maintain privacy and online secu-
rity of data. 
‘‘(cc) Ability to redirect a 
consumer to an existing online 
platform of a vendor, if applica-
ble. 
‘‘(dd) Ability to update as 
technologies evolve. 
‘‘(ee) Ease of operation for 
program participants, including 
multilingual functionality. 
‘‘(ff) Interoperability with 
delivery technologies and inter-
faces. 
‘‘(gg) Identification of par-
ticipating retailers within geo-
graphic proximity to the user. 
‘‘(hh) Ability to perform sin-
gle transactions using mixed ten-
der, including a single trans-
action for eligible food items 
using an EBT card and non-
eligible items using another form 
of payment. 
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‘‘(ii) Adherence to a com-
prehensive 
business 
continuity 
and disaster recovery plan— 
‘‘(AA) to allow the por-
tal to recover from any 
interruption of service; and 
‘‘(BB) 
that 
includes 
sufficient back-up systems, 
equipment, 
facilities, 
and 
trained personnel to imple-
ment the plan. 
‘‘(v) REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—The Online 
EBT Redemption Portal developed by 
the eligible entity awarded the con-
tract under clause (ii) shall— 
‘‘(aa) enable the integrated 
processing of an online EBT 
transaction by providing a plat-
form and facilitating the pur-
chasing interaction between the 
consumer, retailer, third-party 
processors (for EBT card proc-
essing and the secure online 
entry of a personal identification 
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number), and delivery vendor, as 
applicable; 
‘‘(bb) to deter fraud, have in 
place for program participants 
privacy and security protections, 
similar to protections provided 
under existing electronic benefit 
transfer methods, including entry 
of a personal identification num-
ber in a manner that complies 
with the guidelines of leading na-
tional consensus standards orga-
nizations, as determined by the 
Secretary, for encrypting per-
sonal 
identification 
number 
entry; 
‘‘(cc) be secure and operate 
in a manner that maintains pro-
gram integrity, including food 
item eligibility; 
‘‘(dd) be available in an ini-
tial or beta version not later than 
120 days after the date on which 
the eligible entity is awarded the 
contract; 
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‘‘(ee) be ready to be fully de-
ployed in all States not later than 
180 days after the date described 
in item (dd); 
‘‘(ff) be available for use by 
any retail food store or wholesale 
food concern authorized under 
section 9 to accept and redeem 
benefits under the supplemental 
nutrition assistance program— 
‘‘(AA) at no charge be-
yond a nominal fee that is 
not more than reasonably 
necessary to support mainte-
nance of the portal and sub-
ject to the approval of the 
Secretary; and 
‘‘(BB) on an applica-
tion-based 
and 
browser- 
based 
platform 
for 
smartphones and a browser- 
based online platform for 
tablets and computers; 
‘‘(gg) adhere to commercial 
standards for service level avail-
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ability to ensure the viability of 
the portal and the use of the por-
tal by retail food stores and 
wholesale food concerns author-
ized under section 9 to accept 
and redeem benefits under the 
supplemental nutrition assistance 
program; and 
‘‘(hh) 
perform 
ongoing 
maintenance services and retailer 
enrollment and termination of 
enrollment activities to ensure 
continuous operability of the por-
tal. 
‘‘(II) 
EVALUATION
OF
BETA 
VERSION.—The Secretary shall con-
duct a review of the initial or beta 
version of the Online EBT Redemp-
tion Portal under subclause (I)(dd), 
including by soliciting feedback from 
program participants. 
‘‘(vi) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—Not 
later than 240 days after the date of en-
actment of the Expanding SNAP Options 
Act of 2021, the Secretary shall submit to 
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Congress a report on the status of activi-
ties carried out under this subparagraph. 
‘‘(vii) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA-
TIONS.—There is appropriated to the Sec-
retary, out of funds of the Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated, $25,000,000 to 
provide under the contract described in 
clause (ii).’’. 
SEC. 3. BROAD ACCEPTANCE OF SNAP BENEFITS THROUGH 
ONLINE TRANSACTIONS. 
Section 7(k) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 
(7 U.S.C. 2016(k)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘on-line’’ each place it appears 
and inserting ‘‘online’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘Subject to paragraph (4), 
the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘in any State’’ after 
‘‘stores’’; and 
(3) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(4) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 
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‘‘(i) COVERED
ENTITY.—The term 
‘covered entity’ means a public or private 
nonprofit entity. 
‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE
ENTITY.—The term 
‘eligible entity’ means a retail food store or 
wholesale food concern authorized under 
section 9 to accept and redeem benefits 
under the supplemental nutrition assist-
ance program. 
‘‘(B) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER.— 
The Secretary, acting through the Adminis-
trator of the Food and Nutrition Service, shall, 
on a competitive basis, award 1 or more grants 
to, or enter into 1 or more cooperative agree-
ments with, 1 or more covered entities to estab-
lish a technical assistance center, to be known 
as the ‘SNAP Online Purchasing Technical As-
sistance Center’, to provide— 
‘‘(i) to State agencies, eligible entities, 
and program participants information on 
and technical assistance with, as applica-
ble— 
‘‘(I) accepting program benefits 
through online transactions; 
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‘‘(II) using the EBT Online Re-
demption Portal described in sub-
section (h)(14)(B); 
‘‘(III) in the case of State agen-
cies, conducting outreach to eligible 
entities to ensure that those eligible 
entities are informed of the technical 
assistance provided by the center; 
‘‘(IV) research, training, and best 
practices relating to redeeming pro-
gram benefits through online trans-
actions; and 
‘‘(V) facilitating communication 
between eligible entities, applicable 
State agencies, and the Department 
of Agriculture; and 
‘‘(ii) to eligible entities direct grants 
to defray the technological costs of car-
rying out the activities described in sub-
clauses (I) and (II) of clause (i). 
‘‘(C) QUALIFICATIONS.—At least 1 covered 
entity that receives a grant or enters into a co-
operative agreement under subparagraph (B) 
shall have expertise in providing technical as-
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sistance to food retailers operating under a 
Federal nutrition program. 
‘‘(D) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PRIORITY.— 
In providing technical assistance to eligible enti-
ties, the SNAP Online Purchasing Technical 
Assistance Center shall give priority to eligible 
entities that are small and limited-resource re-
tailers. 
‘‘(E) FUNDING.—There is appropriated to 
the Secretary, out of funds of the Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated, $75,000,000 to carry 
out this paragraph, to remain available until ex-
pended, of which not more than 3 percent may 
be used by the Secretary for administrative ex-
penses. 
‘‘(5) PUBLICATION OF ONLINE VENDORS.—The 
Secretary shall maintain on the website of the De-
partment of Agriculture a publicly available listing, 
organized and searchable by region, locality, and 
State, of all approved retail food stores accepting 
benefits from recipients of supplemental nutrition 
assistance, including through online transactions.’’. 
Æ 
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