I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7916 
To temporarily waive section 115 of the Personal Responsibility and Work 
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 as applied to the TANF and 
SNAP programs, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 31, 2020 
Ms. MOORE (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. BASS, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 
CA´RDENAS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. RUSH, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 
THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. FOSTER, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. 
TRONE, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. EVANS, Mr. GARCI´A of Illi-
nois, Ms. NORTON, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. 
HAYES, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. COOPER, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. 
CLARKE of New York, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. SMITH of Wash-
ington, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. NADLER, Ms. OMAR, Mr. 
BUTTERFIELD, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. TAKANO, and Mr. JOHNSON of Geor-
gia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To temporarily waive section 115 of the Personal Responsi-
bility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 
as applied to the TANF and SNAP programs, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Removing Barriers to 
Basic Needs Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. EMERGENCY EXTENSION OF SNAP AND TANF BENE-
FITS. 
(a) APPLICABILITY OF BAN ON SNAP AND TANF 
BENEFITS.—Section 115 of the Personal Responsibility 
and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (21 
U.S.C. 862a) shall not apply to any individual applying 
for benefits under the supplemental nutrition assistance 
program and temporary assistance for needy families pro-
gram. 
(b) EFFECT ON STATE POLICIES.—Any law enacted 
by a State under the authority under subparagraph (A) 
or (B) of subsection (d)(1) of section 115 of the Personal 
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act 
of 1996 (21 U.S.C. 862a), and any State law, policy, or 
regulation that imposes conditions on eligibility for the 
supplemental nutrition assistance program and temporary 
assistance for needy families program based on an individ-
ual’s conviction of an offense related to a controlled sub-
stance, shall have no force or effect until the date specified 
in subsection (c). 
(c) SUNSET.—The authority under this section shall 
be in effect beginning on the date of enactment of this 
Act and until December 31, 2022. 
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(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean-
ing given such term in section 3(r) of the Food and 
Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(r)). 
(2) SUPPLEMENTAL
NUTRITION
ASSISTANCE 
PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘supplemental nutrition as-
sistance program’’ has the meaning given such term 
in section 3(t) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 
2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(t)). 
(3) TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMI-
LIES
PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘temporary assistance 
for needy families program’’ has the meaning given 
such term in section 401 of Personal Responsibility 
and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 
(42 U.S.C. 601(a)). 
Æ 
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