I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4521 
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to simplify the SNAP recertifi-
cation process for the elderly and disabled, and to spur innovation in 
the application processes of SNAP, the Medicare Savings Program, and 
supplemental security income that will increase the utilization of entitle-
ment programs among the most vulnerable of populations. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 1, 2017 
Mr. LAWSON of Florida (for himself, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, 
Ms. LEE, Mr. SOTO, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 
CRIST, Mr. EVANS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 
Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, 
Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. CA´RDENAS, and Mr. HASTINGS) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in 
addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Energy and Com-
merce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to simplify 
the SNAP recertification process for the elderly and dis-
abled, and to spur innovation in the application processes 
of SNAP, the Medicare Savings Program, and supple-
mental security income that will increase the utilization 
of entitlement programs among the most vulnerable of 
populations. 
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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 ‘‘SNAP Simplification 
for the Elderly Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ENHANCED AND COORDINATED PROCEDURES FOR 
CERTAIN HOUSEHOLDS WITH ELDERLY OR 
DISABLED MEMBERS. 
(a) LONGER CERTIFICATION PERIODS FOR CERTAIN 
HOUSEHOLDS
WITH
ELDERLY
OR
DISABLED
MEM-
BERS.—Section 3(f) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 
2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(f)) shall be amended to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(f) ‘Certification period’ means the period for which 
households shall be eligible to receive benefits. The certifi-
cation period shall not exceed 12 months, except as pro-
vided in paragraphs (1) and (2). The limits specified in 
this subsection may be extended until the end of any tran-
sitional benefit period established under section 11(s). The 
certification period may be— 
‘‘(1) up to 24 months if all adult household 
members are elderly or disabled; or 
‘‘(2) up to 36 months if— 
‘‘(A) all adult household members are el-
derly or disabled; 
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‘‘(B) all adult household members who are 
elderly or disabled are enrolled in Medicaid, in-
cluding those enrolled in the Medicare Savings 
Program as defined in section 1144(c)(7) of the 
Social 
Security 
Act 
(42 
U.S.C. 
1320b– 
14(c)(7)); 
‘‘(C) the State agency’s administration of 
the program under paragraph (B) is jointly ad-
ministered or highly coordinated with benefits 
under this Act, as determined by the Secretary; 
and 
‘‘(D) at the time the household is certified 
the household has no earned income.’’. 
(b) COMBINED APPLICATION PROJECTS.—Section 
11(j) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 
2020(j)) is amended by adding at the end the following— 
‘‘(3) SSI COMBINED APPLICATION PROJECTS.— 
The Secretary and the Commissioner of Social Secu-
rity shall revise the memorandum of understanding 
in effect on the date of enactment of the SNAP Sim-
plification for the Elderly Act regarding services to 
be provided in Social Security offices under this sub-
section and subsection (i), to provide that, in addi-
tion to the other activities under this subsection, the 
two agencies shall make available Combined Applica-
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tion Projects to not fewer than 10 additional States 
that are prepared to undertake such projects and 
satisfy the Secretary and Commissioner’s require-
ments for such projects.’’. 
(c) PILOT PROJECTS.—Section 17 of the Food and 
Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2026) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following— 
‘‘(m) PILOT PROJECTS FOR SSA SENIOR CENTERS 
TO PROVIDE INTEGRATED DELIVERY OF SERVICES.— 
‘‘(1) AUTHORITY FOR PILOT PROJECTS.—The 
Secretary shall carry out, in collaboration with the 
Commissioner of Social Security, under such terms 
and conditions as they consider appropriate, pilot 
projects in not more than 10 local offices of the So-
cial Security Administration that serve high-poverty 
areas to develop and test approaches to integrate de-
livery of benefits to households that include low-in-
come elderly or disabled members. 
‘‘(2) PILOT PROJECTS.—Pilot projects carried 
out under this subsection shall develop and test ap-
proaches to improve participation in multiple pro-
grams that provide benefits to such members. 
‘‘(A) Such approaches shall include— 
‘‘(i) developing service delivery offices 
that— 
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‘‘(I) provide a ‘one-stop shopping’ 
approach where applicants and recipi-
ents can apply for multiple benefits at 
local offices of the Social Security Ad-
ministration; or 
‘‘(II) include collocation of staff 
of other government entities or non-
profit private organizations at such 
offices; 
‘‘(ii) collaborating with private non-
profit organizations, such as community- 
based organizations, emergency feeding or-
ganizations, or organizations that serve el-
derly individual or individuals with disabil-
ities; 
‘‘(iii) make changes to allow for appli-
cations (which may include recertification 
applications) to be collected for a wider 
range of programs, for example, by revis-
ing applications and data systems to collect 
information for multiple programs; 
‘‘(iv) targeting education and applica-
tion assistance to specific sub-populations 
with low participation rates in included 
programs; or 
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‘‘(v) data-driven approaches that allow 
sharing relevant data across included pro-
grams for the purpose of improving cross- 
program enrollment. 
‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 
subsection— 
‘‘(i) the term ‘eligible entity’ means 
the State agency that administers the sup-
plemental nutrition assistance program in 
collaboration with the Social Security Ad-
ministration; and 
‘‘(ii) the term ‘included programs’ 
means— 
‘‘(I) the supplemental nutrition 
assistance program; 
‘‘(II) programs administered by 
the Administrator of Social Security 
that are available to individuals who 
are elderly or have a disability; 
‘‘(III) the Medicare Savings Pro-
gram 
(as 
defined 
in 
section 
1144(c)(7) of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1320b–14(c)(7)); 
‘‘(IV) at the option of an eligible 
entity, any other Federal, State, or 
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local program that is available to low- 
income individuals who are elderly or 
have disability. 
‘‘(3) FUNDING
OF
GRANTS.—The Secretary 
shall use not more than $50,000,000 of funds made 
available for fiscal year 2018 under section 18(a)(1), 
to remain available until expended, to make grants 
to State agencies to pay 100 percent of the cost of 
the selected eligible entities to carry out the pilot. 
Such grants shall supplement and not supplant 
other funding available to the eligible entities. 
‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY AND LEAD AGENCY.— 
‘‘(A) To be eligible to receive a grant for 
a pilot project under this subsection, an entity 
shall be a State agency administering the sup-
plemental nutrition assistance program in col-
laboration with the Social Security Administra-
tion. 
‘‘(B) The State agency shall designate a 
lead agency for the pilot project, which may be 
the State agency, a local governmental agency, 
or the Social Security Administration. 
‘‘(5) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 
grant under this subsection a State shall submit an 
application at such time, in such manner, and con-
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taining such information as the Secretary may re-
quire. 
‘‘(6) SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The 
Secretary and Commissioner of Social Security— 
‘‘(A) shall develop criteria for the selection 
of eligible entities to receive grants for pilot 
projects under this subsection; and 
‘‘(B) shall give preference to— 
‘‘(i) projects that target individuals or 
communities with high levels of poverty 
among seniors and people with disabilities; 
‘‘(ii) partnerships between govern-
mental and nongovernmental entities; 
‘‘(iii) strategies that test innovative 
approaches that would be likely to be 
replicable in other communities; 
‘‘(iv) projects that include resources 
from sources other than the federal gov-
ernment. 
‘‘(7) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 
years after the date of the enactment of SNAP Sim-
plification for the Elderly Act, the Secretary and 
Commissioner of Social Security jointly shall submit 
to the Committees on Agriculture and Ways and 
Means of the House of Representatives and the 
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