Title: Closing the Meal Gap Act of 2017
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Closing the Meal Gap Act of 2017
This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to revise the requirements for calculating Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) benefits.
The bill increases the minimum SNAP benefit and requires benefits to be calculated using a low-cost food plan. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) must determine the requirements for the low-cost food plan, which is the diet required to feed a family of four, consisting of:
USDA must make adjustments to the plan to account for household size, changes in the cost of the diet, and the costs of food in specified areas.
The bill revises the amounts authorized for nutrition assistance block grants for Puerto Rico and American Samoa and requires the amounts to be modified based on adjustments to the low-cost food plan.
The bill modifies the requirements for calculating household income to determine SNAP eligibility by: (1) authorizing a standard medical expense deduction for households containing an elderly or disabled member, and (2) eliminating the cap on the deduction for excess shelter expenses.
The bill exempts from SNAP work requirements able-bodied adults without dependents who are not offered a position in a SNAP Employment and Training Program.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1276 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1276

      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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 1, 2017

   Ms. Adams (for herself, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Fudge, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. 
Evans, Ms. Plaskett, Ms. DelBene, Ms. Norton, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. Lee, Mr. 
 Larsen of Washington, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. 
  Moore, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Shea-Porter, Mr. Deutch, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. 
  Meeks, Mr. Norcross, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Butterfield, Mrs. Watson 
Coleman, Mr. Rush, Mr. Richmond, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. 
    Lewis of Georgia, Ms. Jayapal, and Mr. Langevin) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 Representatives 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 2017''.

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), respectively, 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 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, except that the 
Secretary shall--
            ``(1) make household-size adjustments (based on the 
        unrounded cost of such diet) taking into account 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 Islands 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, 2017, and each October 1 thereafter, 
        adjust the cost of the diet to reflect the cost of the diet in 
        the preceding June, and round the result to the nearest lower 
        dollar increment 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
                    (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 2017, at an amount not greater than 
                $50'', and
                    (B) in subclause (II)--
                            (i) by striking ``June 30, 2013'' and 
                        inserting ``June 30, 2017'', 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 
                        thereafter'' and inserting ``each of the fiscal 
                        years 2004 through 2017'', and
                            (ii) by striking the period at the end and 
                        inserting a semicolon, and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iii) for fiscal year 2018, 
                        $2,650,000,000; and
                            ``(iv) subject to the availability of 
                        appropriations under section 18(a), for fiscal 
                        year 2018 and each fiscal year thereafter, the 
                        amount determined 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, 2018, 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 deduction 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 deduction shall 
                be equal to $140 for fiscal year 2018, and for each 
                subsequent fiscal year shall be equal to the applicable 
                amount for the preceding fiscal year as adjusted to 
                reflect 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 established by 
                the Secretary for such fiscal year.''.
    (c) Elimination of Cap of Excess Shelter Expenses.--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) Work Requirement.--Section 6(o)(3) of the Food and Nutrition 
Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015(o)(3)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (D) by striking ``or'' at the end,
            (2) in subparagraph (E) by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; or'', and
            (3) by adding at end the following:
                    ``(F) not offered a position in a program described 
                in subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph (2).''.
    (e) Funding of Employment and Training Programs.--Section 
16(h)(1)(E)(ii)(II) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 
2025(h)(1)(E)(ii)(II)) is amended by inserting ``subparagraphs (A) 
through (E) of'' after ``under''.
    (f) 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 striking 
                ``3(p)'' and inserting ``3(q)'',
                    (B) in section 11 (7 U.S.C. 2012)--
                            (i) in subsection (a)(2) by striking 
                        ``3(t)(1)'' and inserting ``3(u)(1)'', and
                            (ii) in subsection (d)--
                                    (I) by striking ``3(t)(1)'' each 
                                place it appears and inserting 
                                ``3(u)(1)'', and
                                    (II) by striking ``3(t)(2)'' each 
                                place it appears and inserting 
                                ``3(u)(2)'',
                    (C) in section 19(a)(2)(A)(ii) (7 U.S.C. 
                (a)(2)(A)(ii)) by striking ``3(u)(4)'' and inserting 
                ``3(n)(4)'', and
                    (D) in section 27(a)(2) (7 U.S.C. 2036(a)(2))--
                            (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-Income 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 inserting 
                ``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))''.
    (g) Technical Corrections.--The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 
U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 5(a) (7 U.S.C. 2014(a)) by striking 
        ``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)''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Effective Date.--Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act 
and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on October 1, 
2017.
    (b) Application of Amendments.--The amendments made by subsections 
(b), (c), and (f)(2) shall not apply with respect to certification 
periods that begin before October 1, 2017.
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