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General of the United States shall conduct a study of
the effects of the Secretary issuing a rule requiring
that benefits shall only be used to purchase food that
is included in the most recent applicable thrifty food
plan market basket.’’;
(3) in subsection (c)—
(A) by striking ‘‘(c) Coupons’’ and inserting
the following:
‘‘(c) DESIGN.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—EBT cards’’;
(B) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘and
define their denomination’’; and
(C) by striking the second sentence and in-
serting the following:
‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—The name of any public of-
ficial shall not appear on any EBT card.’’;
(4) by striking subsection (d);
(5) in subsection (e)—
(A) by striking ‘‘coupons’’ each place it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘benefits’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘coupon issuers’’ each place
it appears and inserting ‘‘benefit issuers’’;
(6) in subsection (f)—
(A) by striking ‘‘coupons’’ each place it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘benefits’’;
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(B) by striking ‘‘coupon issuer’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘benefit issuers’’;
(C) by striking ‘‘section 11(e)(20)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘section 11(e)(19).’’; and
(D) by striking ‘‘and allotments’’;
(7) by striking subsection (g) and inserting the
following:
‘‘(g) ALTERNATIVE BENEFIT DELIVERY.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary determines,
in consultation with the Inspector General of the De-
partment of Agriculture, that it would improve the
integrity of the food and nutrition program, the Sec-
retary shall require a State agency to issue or deliver
benefits using alternative methods.
‘‘(2) NO IMPOSITION OF COSTS.—The cost of doc-
uments or systems that may be required by this sub-
section may not be imposed upon a retail food store
participating in the food and nutrition program.
‘‘(3) 
DEVALUATION
AND
TERMINATION
OF
ISSUANCE OF PAPER COUPONS.—
‘‘(A) COUPON ISSUANCE.—Effective on the
date of enactment of the Food and Energy Secu-
rity Act of 2007, no State shall issue any cou-
pon, stamp, certificate, or authorization card to
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a household that receives food and nutrition ben-
efits under this Act.
‘‘(B) EBT CARDS.—Effective beginning on
the date that is 1 year after the date of enact-
ment of the Food and Energy Security Act of
2007, only an EBT card issued under subsection
(i) shall be eligible for exchange at any retail
food store.
‘‘(C) DE-OBLIGATION
OF
COUPONS.—Cou-
pons not redeemed during the 1-year period be-
ginning on the date of enactment of the Food
and Energy Security Act of 2007 shall—
‘‘(i) no longer be an obligation of the
Federal Government; and
‘‘(ii) not be redeemable.’’;
(8) in subsection (h)(1), by striking ‘‘coupons’’
and inserting ‘‘benefits’’;
(9) in subsection (i), by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(12) INTERCHANGE FEES.—No interchange fees
shall apply to electronic benefit transfer transactions
under this subsection.’’;
(10) in subsection (j)—
(A) in paragraph (2)(A)(ii), by striking
‘‘printing, shipping, and redeeming coupons’’
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and inserting ‘‘issuing and redeeming benefits’’;
and
(B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘coupon’’
and inserting ‘‘benefit’’;
(11) in subsection (k)—
(A) by striking ‘‘coupons in the form of’’
each place it appears and inserting ‘‘program
benefits in the form of’’;
(B) by striking ‘‘a coupon issued in the
form of’’ each place it appears and inserting
‘‘program benefits in the form of’’; and
(C) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub-
section (i)(11)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection
(h)(11)(A)’’; and
(12) by redesignating subsections (e) through (k)
as subsections (d) through (j), respectively.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 3 of the Food and Nutrition Act of
2007 (7 U.S.C. 2012) is amended—
(A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘coupons’’
and inserting ‘‘benefits’’;
(B) by striking subsection (b) and inserting
the following:
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‘‘(b) BENEFIT.—The term ‘benefit’ means the value of
food and nutrition assistance provided to a household by
means of—
‘‘(1) an electronic benefit transfer under section
7(i); or
‘‘(2) other means of providing assistance, as de-
termined by the Secretary.’’;
(C) in subsection (c), in the first sentence,
by striking ‘‘authorization cards’’ and inserting
‘‘benefits’’;
(D) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘or access
device’’ and all that follows through the end of
the subsection and inserting a period;
(E) in subsection (e)—
(i) by striking ‘‘(e) ‘Coupon issuer’
means’’ and inserting the following:
‘‘(e) BENEFIT ISSUER.—The term ‘benefit issuer’
means’’; and
(ii) by striking ‘‘coupons’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘benefits’’;
(F) in subsection (g)(7), by striking ‘‘sub-
section (r)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (j)’’;
(G) in subsection (i)(5)—