Title: Closing the Meal Gap Act of 2019
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Closing the Meal Gap Act of 2019
This bill revises the requirements for calculating Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) benefits.
Specifically, the bill

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1368 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1368

      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

                           February 26, 2019

     Ms. Adams (for herself, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. Lee of 
  California, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mrs. Watson 
  Coleman, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Khanna, Mr. McEachin, Mr. Welch, Mrs. 
 Davis of California, Mr. Deutch, Mr. Cummings, Ms. Wilson of Florida, 
   Ms. Norton, Mr. Lawson of Florida, Ms. Moore, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. 
  Langevin, Mr. Ruppersberger, Ms. Lofgren, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Ms. 
 DeLauro, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Evans, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. DeGette, Mr. 
Brown of Maryland, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Swalwell of California, 
Mr. Gomez, Mr. Aguilar, Mr. Price of North Carolina, Mr. Richmond, Mr. 
  Lewis, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Sean Patrick 
Maloney of New York, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Takano, Mr. Michael F. Doyle of 
 Pennsylvania, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Gonzalez of Texas, Mr. 
  Rush, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Eshoo, Ms. Omar, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Judy Chu of 
   California, Mr. Peters, Ms. Speier, Ms. Pingree, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. 
   DeSaulnier, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Mr. 
  Tonko, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Veasey, Mr. 
Gallego, Mr. Heck, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Mr. Rouda, Ms. Clarke of New 
  York, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Schiff, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Hastings, Ms. 
Pressley, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Ted Lieu of California, Mr. Levin of 
Michigan, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Haaland, Mr. Grijalva, Mrs. 
 Hayes, Mr. Neguse, Mr. Ryan, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mr. 
 Castro of Texas, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Bass, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Sherman, Mr. 
 Neal, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Keating, 
 Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. McNerney, 
     Miss Rice of New York, Mr. Cox of California, Ms. Brownley of 
  California, and Mr. Crist) 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 2019''.

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, 2019, and each October 1 thereafter, 
        adjust the cost of the diet to reflect the cost of the diet in 
        the immediately 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 2019, at an amount not greater than 
                $50'', and
                    (B) in subclause (II)--
                            (i) by striking ``June 30, 2013'' and 
                        inserting ``June 30, 2019'', 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 2019'', 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 2020, 
                        $2,650,000,000; and
                            ``(iv) subject to the availability of 
                        appropriations under section 18(a), for 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, 2019, 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 2020, and for each 
                subsequent fiscal year shall be equal to the applicable 
                amount for the immediately 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) Snap Eligibility for Full and Part-Time Students; Students' 
Responsible for Care of Disabled Members of Households.--Section 6 of 
the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015) is amended--
            (1) by striking subsection (e); and
            (2) in subsection (d)(2)(C) by striking ``(except that any 
        such person enrolled in an institution of higher education 
        shall be ineligible to participate in the supplemental 
        nutrition assistance program unless he or she meets the 
        requirements of subsection (e) of this section)''.
    (e) 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(o)(4)'' and inserting ``3(p)(4)'',
                    (B) in section 11 (7 U.S.C. 2012)--
                            (i) in subsection (a)(2) by striking 
                        ``3(s)(1)'' and inserting ``3(t)(1)'', and
                            (ii) in subsection (d)--
                                    (I) by striking ``3(s)(1)'' each 
                                place it appears and inserting 
                                ``3(t)(1)'', and
                                    (II) by striking ``3(s)(2)'' each 
                                place it appears and inserting 
                                ``3(t)(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))''.
    (f) 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, 
2019.
    (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, 2019.
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