A BILL 
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to require 
that supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits 
be calculated with reference to the cost of the low-cost 
food plan as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture, 
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 ‘‘Closing the Meal Gap 
Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 
(a) CALCULATION
OF PROGRAM BENEFITS.—The 
Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) 
is amended— 
(1) in section 3 (7 U.S.C. 2012)— 
(A) by striking subsection (u), 
(B) 
by 
redesignating 
subsections 
(n) 
through (t) as subsections (o) through (u), re-
spectively, and 
(C) by inserting after subsection (m) the 
following: 
‘‘(n) ‘Low-cost food plan’ means the diet required to 
feed a family of four persons, consisting of a man and 
a woman nineteen through fifty, a child six through eight, 
and a child nine through eleven years of age, determined 
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in accordance with the Secretary’s calculations. The cost 
of such diet shall be the basis for uniform allotments for 
all households regardless of their actual composition, ex-
cept that the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) make household-size adjustments (based 
on the unrounded cost of such diet) taking into ac-
count economies of scale; 
‘‘(2) make cost adjustments in the low-cost food 
plan for Hawaii and the urban and rural parts of 
Alaska to reflect the cost of food in Hawaii and 
urban and rural Alaska; 
‘‘(3) make cost adjustments in the separate 
low-cost food plans for Guam, and the Virgin Is-
lands of the United States, to reflect the cost of food 
in those States, but not to exceed the cost of food 
in the 50 States and the District of Columbia; and 
‘‘(4) on October 1, 2019, and each October 1 
thereafter, adjust the cost of the diet to reflect the 
cost of the diet in the immediately preceding June, 
and round the result to the nearest lower dollar in-
crement for each household size.’’, 
(2) in section 8(a) (7 U.S.C. 2017(a))— 
(A) by striking ‘‘thrifty food plan’’ each 
place it appears, and inserting ‘‘low-cost food 
plan’’, and 
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(B) by striking ‘‘8 percent’’ and inserting 
‘‘10 percent’’, 
(3) 
in 
section 
16(c)(1)(A)(ii) 
(7 
U.S.C. 
2025(c)(1)(A)(ii))— 
(A) in subclause (I) by striking ‘‘for fiscal 
year 2014, at an amount not greater than $37’’ 
and inserting ‘‘for fiscal year 2019, at an 
amount not greater than $50’’, and 
(B) in subclause (II)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘June 30, 2013’’ and 
inserting ‘‘June 30, 2019’’, and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘thrifty food plan’’ 
and inserting ‘‘low-cost food plan’’, and 
(4) 
in 
section 
19(a)(2)(A) 
(7 
U.S.C. 
2028(a)(2)(A))— 
(A) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end, 
(B) in clause (ii)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘each fiscal year there-
after’’ and inserting ‘‘each of the fiscal 
years 2004 through 2019’’, and 
(ii) by striking the period at the end 
and inserting a semicolon, and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(iii) 
for 
fiscal 
year 
2020, 
$2,650,000,000; and 
‘‘(iv) subject to the availability of ap-
propriations under section 18(a), for each 
fiscal year thereafter, the amount deter-
mined under clause (iii), as adjusted by the 
percentage by which the low-cost food plan 
has been adjusted under section 3(n)(4) 
between June 30, 2019, and June 30 of 
the immediately preceding fiscal year.’’. 
(b) STANDARD MEDICAL EXPENSE DEDUCTION.— 
Section 5(e)(5) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 
(7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(5)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘an excess 
medical’’ and all that follows through the period at 
the end, and inserting ‘‘a standard medical deduc-
tion or to a medical expense deduction of actual 
costs for the allowable medical expenses incurred by 
the elderly or disabled member, exclusive of special 
diets.’’, and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) The standard medical expense deduc-
tion shall be equal to $140 for fiscal year 2020, 
and for each subsequent fiscal year shall be 
equal to the applicable amount for the imme-
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diately preceding fiscal year as adjusted to re-
flect changes for the 12-month period ending 
the preceding June 30 in the Consumer Price 
Index for All Urban Consumers: Medical Care 
published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of 
the Department of Labor, except that for any 
such fiscal year the State agency may establish 
a greater standard medical expense deduction 
that satisfies cost neutrality standards estab-
lished by the Secretary for such fiscal year.’’. 
(c) ELIMINATION OF CAP OF EXCESS SHELTER EX-
PENSES.—Section 5(e)(6) of the Food and Nutrition Act 
of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014(e)(6)) is amended— 
(1) by striking subparagraph (B), and 
(2) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and 
(D) as subparagraphs (B) and (C), respectively. 
(d) SNAP ELIGIBILITY FOR FULL AND PART-TIME 
STUDENTS; STUDENTS’ RESPONSIBLE FOR CARE OF DIS-
ABLED MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLDS.—Section 6 of the 
Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking subsection (e); and 
(2) in subsection (d)(2)(C) by striking ‘‘(except 
that any such person enrolled in an institution of 
higher education shall be ineligible to participate in 
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the supplemental nutrition assistance program un-
less he or she meets the requirements of subsection 
(e) of this section)’’. 
(e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) FOOD AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2008.—The 
Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et 
seq.) is amended— 
(A) in section 10 (7 U.S.C. 2019) by strik-
ing ‘‘3(o)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(p)(4)’’, 
(B) in section 11 (7 U.S.C. 2012)— 
(i) in subsection (a)(2) by striking 
‘‘3(s)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(t)(1)’’, and 
(ii) in subsection (d)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘3(s)(1)’’ each 
place 
it 
appears 
and 
inserting 
‘‘3(t)(1)’’, and 
(II) by striking ‘‘3(s)(2)’’ each 
place 
it 
appears 
and 
inserting 
‘‘3(t)(2)’’, 
(C) in section 19(a)(2)(A)(ii) (7 U.S.C. 
(a)(2)(A)(ii)) by striking ‘‘3(u)(4)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘3(n)(4)’’, and 
(D) 
in 
section 
27(a)(2) 
(7 
U.S.C. 
2036(a)(2))— 
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(i) in subparagraph (C) by striking 
‘‘3(u)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(n)(4)’’, and 
(ii) in subparagraph (E) by striking 
‘‘3(u)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘3(n)(4)’’. 
(2) LOW-INCOME
HOME
ENERGY
ASSISTANCE 
ACT OF 1981.—Section 2605(f)(2)(A) of the Low-In-
come Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 
U.S.C. 8624(f)(2)(A)) is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘5(e)(6)(C)(iv)(I)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘5(e)(6)(B)(iv)(1)’’, and 
(B) 
by 
striking 
‘‘(7 
U.S.C. 
2014(e)(6)(C)(iv)(I))’’ and inserting ‘‘(7 U.S.C. 
2014(e)(6)(B)(iv)(I))’’. 
(f) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—The Food and Nu-
trition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) in section 5(a) (7 U.S.C. 2014(a)) by strik-
ing ‘‘3(n)(4)’’ each place it appears and inserting 
‘‘3(m)(4)’’, 
(2) 
in 
section 
8(f)(1)(A)(i) 
(7 
U.S.C. 
2017(f)(1)(A)(i)) by striking ‘‘3(n)(5)’’ and inserting 
‘‘3(m)(5)’’, and 
(3) in section 17(b)(1)(B)(iv)(III)(aa) (7 U.S.C. 
2016(b)(1)(B)(iv)(III)(aa)) by striking ‘‘3(n)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘3(m)’’. 
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SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS. 
(a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in sub-
section (b), this Act and the amendments made by this 
Act shall take effect on October 1, 2019. 
(b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.—The amend-
ments made by subsections (b), (c), and (f)(2) shall not 
apply with respect to certification periods that begin be-
fore October 1, 2019. 
Æ 
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