I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1657 
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to improve the supplemental 
nutrition assistance program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 18, 2013 
Mr. STUTZMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to improve 
the supplemental nutrition assistance program. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. CATEGORICAL ELIGIBILITY LIMITATIONS. 
Section 5 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 
U.S.C. 2014) is amended— 
(1) by striking the section designation and 
heading and all that follows through ‘‘(a) Participa-
tion’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘SEC. 5. ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLDS. 
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Participation’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by striking the second sentence and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(2) RECIPIENTS OF OTHER FEDERAL BENE-
FITS.—Except as provided in section 3(n)(4) and 
subsections (b), (d)(2), and (g) of section 6, a house-
hold shall be eligible to participate in the supple-
mental nutrition assistance program if each member 
of the household receives— 
‘‘(A) cash assistance in the form of ongo-
ing basic needs benefit payments for financially 
needy families under the program of block 
grants to States for temporary assistance for 
needy families established under part A of title 
IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et 
seq.); 
‘‘(B) cash assistance under the supple-
mental security income program established 
under title XVI of that Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et 
seq.); or 
‘‘(C) aid to the aged, blind, or disabled 
under title I, X, XIV, or XVI of that Act (42 
U.S.C. 301 et seq.).’’; 
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(B) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘Ex-
cept for sections 6, 16(e)(1), and section 
3(n)(4), households’’ and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(3) GENERAL
ASSISTANCE.—Except as pro-
vided in sections 3(n)(4), 6, and 16(d), a house-
hold’’; and 
(C) in the fourth sentence, by striking 
‘‘Assistance’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(4) APPLICATIONS.—Assistance’’; and 
(3) in subsection (j)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘cash assistance in the 
form of’’ before ‘‘supplemental security income 
benefits’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘or who receives benefits’’ 
and inserting ‘‘or who receives cash assistance’’. 
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR RE-ENROLLMENT. 
Paragraph (4) of section 5(a) of the Food and Nutri-
tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014(a)) (as designated by 
section 1(2)(C)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘Assistance’’ and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Assistance’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(B) 
REENROLLMENT.—Any 
eligible 
household that previously received benefits 
under the supplemental nutrition assistance 
program and applies for reenrollment in the 
program shall be required— 
‘‘(i) to complete in full a new applica-
tion; and 
‘‘(ii) to verify that the income and as-
sets of the household are in compliance 
with the requirements of the program.’’. 
SEC. 3. STANDARD UTILITY ALLOWANCES BASED ON THE 
RECEIPT 
OF 
ENERGY 
ASSISTANCE 
PAY-
MENTS. 
(a) STANDARD UTILITY ALLOWANCE.—Section 5 of 
the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014) is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (e)(6)(C), by striking clause 
(iv); and 
(2) in subsection (k), by striking paragraph (4) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(4) THIRD PARTY ENERGY ASSISTANCE PAY-
MENTS.—For purposes of subsection (d)(1), a pay-
ment made under a State law (other than a law re-
ferred to in paragraph (2)(G)) to provide energy as-
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sistance to a household shall be considered money 
payable directly to the household.’’. 
(b) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENTS.—Section 
2605(f)(2) of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance 
Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8624(f)(2)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and for purposes of deter-
mining any excess shelter expense deduction under 
section 5(e) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 
(7 U.S.C. 2014(e))’’, and 
(2) in subparagraph (A), by inserting before the 
semicolon the following: ‘‘, except that such pay-
ments or allowances shall not be deemed to be ex-
pended for purposes of determining any excess shel-
ter expense deduction under section 5(e)(6) of the 
Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 
2014(e)(6))’’. 
SEC. 4. REPEAL OF FUNDING FOR EMPLOYMENT AND 
TRAINING PROGRAMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6(d)(4) of the Food and 
Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015(d)(4)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) by striking ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—’’; and all 
that follows through ‘‘the following components’’ in 
the matter preceding clause (i) in subparagraph (B) 
and inserting the following: 
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‘‘(A) DEFINITION
OF
EMPLOYMENT
AND 
TRAINING
PROGRAM.—In this Act, the term 
‘employment and training program’ means a 
Federal, State, or private program not adminis-
tered by the Secretary or funded through the 
Food and Nutrition Service that contains 1 or 
more of the following components’’; 
(2) by striking clause (viii) in subparagraph (A) 
(as designated in paragraph (1)) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(viii) As approved by the State, other 
employment and training programs, edu-
cational programs, projects, and experi-
ments, such as a supported work program, 
aimed at accomplishing the purpose of the 
employment and training program.’’; 
(3) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘subpara-
graph (D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (C)’’; 
(4) by striking subparagraphs (H) through (K); 
and 
(5) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) through 
(G) and (L) and (M) as subparagraphs (B) through 
(F) and (G) and (H), respectively. 
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(b) REPEAL OF FUNDING.—Section 16 of the Food 
and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2025) is amended 
by striking subsection (h). 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 5(d) of the Food and Nutrition Act 
of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014(d)) is amended— 
(A) by striking paragraph (14); and 
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (15) 
through (19) as paragraphs (14) through (18), 
respectively. 
(2) Section 17(b)(1)(B)(iv)(III) of the Food 
and 
Nutrition 
Act 
of 
2008 
(7 
U.S.C. 
2026(b)(1)(B)(iv)(III)) is amended— 
(A) in item (dd), by striking ‘‘, (4)(F)(i), 
or (4)(K)’’ and inserting ‘‘or (4)(E)’’; and 
(B) in item (hh), by striking ‘‘(g), (h)(2), 
or (h)(3) of section 16’’ and inserting ‘‘or (f) of 
section 16’’. 
SEC. 5. WORK REQUIREMENT. 
Section 6(o)(4)(A) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 
2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015(o)(4)(A)) is amended by striking 
‘‘reside—’’ and all that follows through the end of clause 
(ii) and inserting ‘‘reside has an unemployment rate of 
over 10 percent.’’. 
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SEC. 6. CENTRALIZED DATABASE FOR CROSS-COMPLIANCE. 
Section 11(o) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 
(7 U.S.C. 2020(o)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(6) CENTRALIZED DATABASE FOR CROSS-COM-
PLIANCE.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this paragraph, 
the Secretary shall develop a centralized data-
base to facilitate cooperation between the Sec-
retary and State agencies so as to ensure that 
an individual does not enroll to receive benefits 
in more than 1 State. 
‘‘(B) USE OF EXISTING DATABASES.—To 
the maximum extent practicable to reduce de-
velopment and implementation costs, in devel-
oping the centralized database the Secretary 
shall use Federal databases in existence as of 
the date of enactment of this paragraph.’’. 
SEC. 7. QUALITY CONTROL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 16(c) of the Food and 
Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2025(c)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (D)(i)(II), by insert-
ing ‘‘except as provided in subparagraph (H),’’ 
before ‘‘require’’; and 
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(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(H) STATES IN LIABILITY STATUS FOR A 
THIRD CONSECUTIVE FISCAL YEAR.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—If a liability 
amount has been established for a State 
agency under subparagraph (C) for 3 or 
more consecutive fiscal years, the Sec-
retary shall require the State to pay the 
entire liability amount for those fiscal 
years. 
‘‘(ii) ALTERNATIVES
TO
FULL
PAY-
MENT
NOT
AVAILABLE.—Subparagraph 
(D) shall not apply to a State agency de-
scribed in clause (i).’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para-
graph (10); and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(9) PENALTY FOR NEGATIVE ERROR RATE.— 
‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 
‘‘(i) AFFECTED STATE AGENCY.—The 
term ‘affected State agency’ means a State 
agency that maintains, for 2 or more con-
secutive fiscal years, a negative error rate 
that is more than 50 percent higher than 
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the national average negative error rate, as 
determined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(ii) 
AVERAGE
NEGATIVE
ERROR 
RATE.—The term ‘average negative error 
rate’ means the product obtained by multi-
plying— 
‘‘(I) the negative error rate of a 
State agency; and 
‘‘(II) the proportion of the total 
negative caseload of that State agency 
for the fiscal year, as calculated under 
the quality control sample at the time 
of the notifications issued under sub-
paragraph (C), as determined by the 
Secretary. 
‘‘(iii) NEGATIVE ERROR RATE.— 
‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—The term 
‘negative error rate’ means, for a 
State agency, the proportion that— 
‘‘(aa) the total number of 
actions erroneously taken by the 
State agency to deny applications 
or suspend or terminate benefits 
of a household participating in 
the supplemental nutrition assist-
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ance program established under 
this Act, as determined by the 
Secretary, in that fiscal year; 
bears to 
‘‘(bb) the total number of 
actions taken by the State agency 
to deny applications or suspend 
or terminate benefits of house-
holds participating in the supple-
mental nutrition assistance pro-
gram established under this Act 
in that fiscal year. 
‘‘(II) EXCLUSIONS.—The term 
‘negative error rate’ does not in-
clude— 
‘‘(aa) an error resulting 
from the application of regula-
tions promulgated under this Act 
during the period— 
‘‘(AA) beginning on the 
date of enactment of this 
clause; and 
‘‘(BB) ending on the 
date that is 121 days after 
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‘‘(i) CASE
REVIEW.—Not later than 
May 31 of each fiscal year, the case review 
and all arbitration of State-Federal dif-
ferences on negative error rates for the 
previous fiscal year shall be completed. 
‘‘(ii) 
DETERMINATION
AND
AN-
NOUNCEMENT.—Not later than June 30 of 
each fiscal year, the Secretary shall, for 
the previous fiscal year— 
‘‘(I) determine— 
‘‘(aa) final negative error 
rates; 
‘‘(bb) the national average 
negative error rate; and 
‘‘(cc) penalty amounts; 
‘‘(II) notify affected State agen-
cies of the penalty amounts; 
‘‘(III) provide a copy of the noti-
fication under subclause (II) to the 
chief executive officer and the legisla-
ture of the affected State; and 
‘‘(IV) establish a claim against 
the State agency for the monetary 
penalty amount assessed against the 
State agency. 
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‘‘(E) REVIEW.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—For any fiscal 
year, if the Secretary imposes a penalty 
amount against a State agency under sub-
paragraph (D)(ii), the following determina-
tions of the Secretary shall be subject to 
administrative and judicial review: 
‘‘(I) The final negative error rate 
of the State agency. 
‘‘(II) A determination of the Sec-
retary that the negative error rate of 
the State agency exceeds 50 percent 
of the national average negative error 
rate. 
‘‘(III) 
The 
monetary 
penalty 
amount assessed against the State 
agency. 
‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION
NOT
REVIEW-
ABLE.—The national average negative 
error rate under this paragraph shall not 
be subject to administrative or judicial re-
view. 
‘‘(F) PAYMENT OF PENALTY AMOUNT.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—On completion of 
administrative and judicial review under 
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subparagraph (E), an affected State agen-
cy shall pay to the Secretary the penalty 
amount designated under subparagraph 
(D)(ii), subject to the findings of the ad-
ministrative or judicial review, not later 
than September 30 of the fiscal year for 
which the claim has been issued to the 
State agency. 
‘‘(ii) ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF COL-
LECTION.— 
‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—If a State 
agency fails to make a payment under 
clause (i) by September 30 of the fis-
cal year for which the claim has been 
issued to the State agency, the Sec-
retary may reduce any amount due to 
the State agency under any other pro-
vision of this Act by the amount of 
the 
monetary 
penalty 
established 
under subparagraph (D)(ii). 
‘‘(II) ACCRUAL OF INTEREST.— 
Interest on the amount owed shall not 
accrue until after September 30 of the 
applicable fiscal year.’’. 
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SEC. 8. REPEAL OF INCENTIVE PAYMENTS TO STATES WITH 
LOW SNAP BENEFIT ALLOCATION ERROR 
RATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 16 of the Food and Nutri-
tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2025) is amended by striking 
subsection (d). 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 7(h)(4) of the Food and Nutrition 
Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2016(h)(4)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘16(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘16(f)’’. 
(2) Section 11(e)(3) of the Food and Nutrition 
Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020(e)(3)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘section 16(e) of this Act’’ and inserting 
‘‘section 16(d)’’. 
(3) Section 16 of the Food and Nutrition Act 
of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2025) (as amended by subsection 
(a) of this section and section 4(b)) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (a)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘subsection (k)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘subsection (i)’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘subsection (g)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘subsection (f)’’; 
(B) in subsection (c)— 
(i) in paragraph (1)(B)(i), by striking 
‘‘subsection (g)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 
(f)’’; and 
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(ii) by striking ‘‘, or performance 
under the performance measures under 
subsection (d)’’ each place it appears in 
paragraphs (4) and (5); 
(C) in subsection (i)(1), by striking ‘‘as de-
fined in subsection (d)(1))’’ and inserting ‘‘as 
defined in guidance issued by the Secretary’’; 
and 
(D) 
by 
redesignating 
subsections 
(e) 
through (g) and (i) through (k) as subsections 
(d) through (f) and (g) through (i), respectively. 
(4) Section 22(d)(1)(B)(ii) of the Food and Nu-
trition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2031(d)(1)(B)(ii)) is 
amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘(g), (h)(2), and (h)(3)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘and (f)’’; and 
(B) in the proviso, by striking ‘‘subsection 
(g) of section 16’’ and inserting ‘‘section 16(f)’’. 
(5) Section 23(a)(1) of the Food and Nutrition 
Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2032(a)(1)) is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘ei-
ther section 16(a) or 16(g)’’ and inserting 
‘‘subsection (a) or (f) of section 16’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (E), by striking 
‘‘16(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘16(f)’’. 
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SEC. 9. NUTRITION EDUCATION AND OBESITY PREVENTION 
GRANT PROGRAM. 
Section 28 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 
(7 U.S.C. 2036a) is amended by striking subsection (d) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(d) FUNDING.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Of funds made available 
each fiscal year under section 18(a)(1), the Sec-
retary shall make available to each State agency to 
carry out the nutrition education and obesity preven-
tion grant program under this section— 
‘‘(A) for fiscal year 2013, an amount equal 
to $5 per household in the State enrolled in the 
supplemental nutrition assistance program; and 
‘‘(B) for fiscal year 2014 and each subse-
quent fiscal year, the applicable amount during 
the preceding fiscal year, as adjusted to reflect 
any increases for the 12-month period ending 
the preceding June 30 in the Consumer Price 
Index for All Urban Consumers published by 
the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Depart-
ment of Labor, per household in the State en-
rolled in the supplemental nutrition assistance 
program. 
‘‘(2) TIMING OF DETERMINATION.—At the end 
of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall determine the 
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total number of households in each State enrolled in 
the supplemental nutrition assistance program so as 
to determine appropriate funding levels for the com-
ing fiscal year.’’. 
Æ 
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