An Act to amend the Food Stamp Act of 1964, as amended
PL 91-671 (H.R.18582), enacted 01/11/1971

2048 
PUBLIC LAW 91-671-JAN. 11, 1971 
[84 STAT. 
January 11, 1971 
[H. R. 18582] 
Public Law 91-671 
AN ACT 
To amend the Food Stamp Act of 1964, as amended. 
Food Stamp Act 
of 1964, amend-
ments, 
78 Stat. 703. 
7 u s e 2011. 
Definitions. 
7 u s e 2012. 
"Household." 
Post, 
p. 2051. 
"State.' 
'Elderly per-
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representati'ves of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That section 2 of 
the Food Stamp Act of 1964, as amended, is amended to read as 
follows: 
"SEC. 2. It is hereby declared to be the policy of Congress, in order 
to promote the general welfare, that the Nation's abundance of food 
should be utilized cooperatively by the States, the Federal Govern-
ment, local governmental units, and other agencies to safeguard the 
health and well-being of the Nations population and raise levels of 
nutrition among low-income households. The Congress hereby finds 
that the limited food purchasing power of low-income households 
contributes to hunger and malnutrition among members of such house-
holds. The Congress further finds that increased utilization of food 
in establishing and maintaining adequate national levels of nutrition 
will promote the distribution in a beneficial manner of our agri-
cultural abundances and will strengthen our agricultural economy, 
as well as result in more orderly marketing and distribution of food. 
To alleviate such hunger and malnutrition, a food stamp program is 
herein authorized which will permit low-income households to pur-
chase a nutritionally adequate diet through normal channels of trade." 
SEC. 2. (a) Section 3(e) of the Food Stamp Act of 1964, as amended, 
is amended to read as follows: 
"(e) The term 'household' shall mean a group of related individ-
uals (including legally adopted children and legally assigned foster 
children) or non-related individuals over age 60 who are not resi-
dents of an institution or boarding house, but are living as one eco-
nomic unit sharing common cooking facilities and for whom food is 
customarily purchased in common. The term 'household' shall also 
mean (1) a single individual living alone who has cooking facilities 
and who purchases and prepares food for home consumption, or (2) 
an elderly person who meets the requirements of section 10(h) of 
this Act." 
(b) Add the following sentence at the end of subsection 3(f) of 
the Food Stamp Act of 1964, as amended: "It shall also mean a 
political subdivision or a private nonprofit organization that meets 
the requirements of section 10(h) of this Act." 
(c) Subsection (j) of section 3 of the Food Stamp Act of 1964, as 
amended, is amended to read as follows: 
"(j) The term 'State' means the fifty States and the District of 
Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands of the United 
States.". 
(d) Add the following new subsection at the end of section 3 of 
the Food Stamp Act of 1964, as amended: 
"(1) The term 'elderly person' shall mean a person sixty years of 
age or over who is not a resident of an institution or boarding house, 
and who is living alone, or with spouse, whether or not he has cooking 
facilities in his home." 
84 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 91-671-JAN. 11, 1971 
2049 
(e) Section 3 of the Food Stamp Act of 1964, as amended, is 
amended by adding the following new subsection: 
"(m) The term 'authorization to purchase card' means any docu-
ment issued by the State agency to an eligible household which shows 
the face value of the coupon allotment the household is entitled to be 
issued on presentment of such document and the amount to be paid 
by such household for such allotment." 
SEC. 3. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 4 of the Food Stamp Act 
of 1964, as amended, are amended to read as follows: 
"(a) The Secretary is authorized to formulate and administer a 
food stamp program under which, at the request of the State agency, 
eligible households within the State shall be provided with an oppor-
tunity to obtain a nutritionally adequate diet through the issuance to 
them of a coupon allotment which shall have a greater monetary value 
than the charge to be paid for such allotment by eligible households. 
The coupons so received by such households shall be used only to pur-
chase food from retail food stores which have been approved for par-
ticipation in the food stamp program. Coupons issued and used as 
provided in this Act shall be redeemable at face value by the Sec-
retary through the facilities of the Treasury of the United States. 
"(b) In areas where the food stamp program is in operation, there 
shall be no distribution of federally donated foods to households under 
the authority of any other law except that distribution thereunder 
may be made: (1) during temporary emergency situations when the 
Secretary determines that commercial channels of food distribution 
have been disrupted; (2) for such period of time as the Secretary 
determines necessary, to effect an orderly transition in an area in 
which the distribution of federally donated foods to households is 
being replaced by a food stamp program; or (3) on request of the 
State agency: Provided. That the Secretary shall not approve any 
plan established under this Act which permits any household to simul-
taneously participate in both the food stamp program and the dis-
tribution of federally donated foods under this clause (3). 
SEC. 4. Section 5 of the Food Stamp Act of 1964, as amended, is 
amended to read as follows: 
"SEC. 5. (a) Except for the temporary participation of households 
that are victims of a disaster as provided in subsection (b) of this 
section, participation in the food stamp program shall be limited to 
those households whose income and other financial resources are deter-
mined to be substantial limiting factors in permitting them to pur-
chase a nutritionally adequate diet. 
"(b) The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Health, 
Education, and Welfare, shall establish uniform national standards 
of eligibility for participation by households in the food stamp pro-
gram and no plan of operation submitted by a State agency shall be 
approved unless the standards of eligibility meet those established by 
the Secretary. The standards established by the Secretary, at a mini-
mum, shall prescribe the amounts of household income and other finan-
cial resources, including both liquid and nonliquid assets, to be used 
as criteria of eligibility. Any household which includes a member who 
has reached his eighteenth birthday and who is claimed as a dependent 
child for Federal income tax purposes by a taxpayer who is not a mem-
ber of an eligible household, shall be ineligible to participate in any 
food stamp program established pursuant to this Act during the tax 
period such dependency is claimed and for a period of one year after 
expiration of such tax period. The Secretary may also establish tem-
porary emergency standards of eligibility, without regard to income 
78 Stat. 7 03. 
7 u s e 2012. 
"Authorization 
to purchase card," 
Coupon allot-
ment program , 
7 use 2013. 
Redemption, 
Emergency dis-
tribution. 
Eligibility stand-
ards, 
7 use 2014. 
2050 
PUBLIC LAW 91-671-JAN. 11, 1971 
[84 STAT. 
and other financial resources, for households that are victims of a 
disaster which disrupted commercial channels of food distribution 
when he determines that such households are in need of temporary 
food assistance, and that commercial channels of food distribution 
have again become available to meet the temporary food needs of such 
households: Provided, That the Secretary shall in the case of Puerto 
Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands, establish special standards of 
eligibility and coupon allotment schedules which reflect the average 
per capita income and cost of obtaining a nutritionally adequate diet 
in Puerto Eico and the respective territories; except that in no event 
shall the standards of eligibility or coupon allotment schedules so 
used exceed those in the fifty States. 
Ineligibility. 
a^^^ Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the Secretary 
shall include in the uniform national standards of eligibility to be 
prescribed under subsection (b) of this section a provision that each 
State agency shall provide that a household shall not be eligible for 
assistance under this Act if it includes an able-bodied adult person 
between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five (except mothers or other 
members of the household who have the responsibility of care of 
dependent children or of incapacitated adults, bona fide students in 
any accredited school or training program, or persons employed and 
working at least 30 hours per week) who either (a) fails to register 
for employment at a State or Federal employment office or, when 
impractical, at such other appropriate State or Federal office desig-
nated by the Secretary, or (b) has refused to accept employment or 
public work at not less than (i) the applicable State minimum wage, 
(ii) the applicable Federal minimum wage, (iii) the applicable wage 
established by a valid regulation of the Federal Government author-
ized by existing law to establish such regulations, or (iv) $1.30 per 
hour if there is no applicable wage as described in (i), (ii), or (iii) 
above. Refusal to work at a plant or site subject to a strike or a lockout 
for the duration of such strike or lockout shall not be deemed to be a 
refusal to accept employment." 
Coupon allot- 
SEC. 5. Subsectious (a) and (b) of section 7 of the Food Stamp 
cha"Ve?.^ ^^^"^' 
Act of 1964, as amended, are amended to read as follows: 
7 8 Stat. 705. 
"(a) The face value of the coupon allotment which State agencies 
7 use 2016. 
shall be authorized to issue to any households certified as eligible to 
participate in the food stamp program shall be in such amount as the 
Secretary determines to be the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet, 
adjusted annually to reflect changes in the prices of food published 
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Department of Labor. 
"(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, households shall 
be charged for the coupon allotment issued to them, and the amount 
of such charge shall represent a reasonable investment on the part of 
the household, but in no event more than 30 per centum of the 
household's income: Provided^ That coupon allotments may be issued 
without charge to households with income of less than $30 per month 
for a family of four under standards of eligibility prescribed by the 
Secretary: Provided further^ That the Secretary shall provide a rea-
sonable opportunity for any eligible household to elect to be issued 
a coupon allotment having a face value which is less than the face 
value of the coupon allotment authorized to be issued to them under 
subsection (a) of this section. The charge to be paid by eligible house-
holds electing to exercise the option set forth in this subsection shall 
be an amount which bears the same ratio to the amount which would 
have been charged under subsection (b) of this section as the face 
value of the coupon allotment actually issued to them bears to the face 
value of the coupon allotment that would have been issued to them 
under subsection (a) of this section." 
84 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 91-671-JAN. 11, 1971 
2051 
SEC, 6. (a) Subsection (c) of section 10 of the Food Stamp Act of 
1964, as amended, is amended by inserting immediately preceding the 
first sentence the following: "Any household which is receiving public 
assistance and which makes application for the benefits of this Act 
shall be certified for eligibility solely by execution of an affidavit, in 
such form as the Secretary may prescribe, by the member of such 
household making application. Certification of a household as eligible 
in any political subdivision shall, in the event of removal of such 
household to another political subdivision in which the food stamp 
program is operating, remain valid for participation in the food stamp 
program for a period of sixty days from the date of such removal." 
(b) Subsection (e) of section 10 of the Food Stamp Act of 1964, 
as amended, is amended to read as follows: 
"(e) The State agency of each State desiring to participate in the 
food stamp program shall submit for approval a plan of operation 
specifying the manner in which such program will be conducted within 
the State, the political subdivisions within the State in which the 
State desires to conduct the program, and the effective dates of par-
ticipation by each such political subdivision. In addition, such plan 
of operation shall provide, among such other provisions as may by 
regulations be required, the following: (1) the specific standards 
to be used in determining the eligibility of applicant households; (2) 
that the State agency shall undertake the certification of applicant 
households in accordance with the general procedures and personnel 
standards used by them in the certification of applicants for benefits 
under the federally aided public assistance programs; (3) safeguards 
which restrict the use or disclosure of information obtained from 
applicant households to persons directly connected with the adminis-
tration or enforcement of the provisions of this Act or the regulations 
issued pursuant to this Act; (4) for the submission of such reports 
and other information as from time to time may be required; (5) that 
the State agency shall undertake effective action, including the use 
of services provided by other federally funded agencies and organiza-
tions, to inform low-income households concerning the availability and 
benefits of the food stamp program and insure the participation of 
eligible households; and (6) for the granting of a fair hearing and a 
prompt determination thereafter to any household aggrieved by the 
action of a State agency under any provision of its plan of operation 
as it affects the participation of such household in the food stamp 
program. The State agency shall, notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, institute procedures under which any household partici-
pating in the food stamp program shall be entitled, if it so elects, to 
have the charges, if any, for its coupon allotment deducted from any 
grant or payment such household may be entitled to receive under 
any federally aided public assistance program and have its coupon 
allotment distributed to it wdth such grant or payment. In apjDroving 
the participation of the subdivisions requested by each State in its 
plan of operation, the Secretary shall provide for an equitable and 
orderly expansion among the several States in accordance wnth their 
relative need and readiness to meet their requested effective dates of 
participation." 
(c) Add the following new subsection to section 10 of the Food 
Stamp Act of 1964, as amended: 
"(h) Subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by 
the Secretary in the regulations issued pursuant to this Act, members 
of an eligible household who are sixty years of age or over or an elderly 
person and his spouse may use coupons issued to them to purchase 
Eligibility, 
certification. 
78 Stat. 706. 
7 u s e 2019. 
State plan of 
operation, sub-
mission. 
Reports. 
Hearing. 
Elderly persons, 
meal purchases. 
47-348 O - 72 - 46 (Pt. 2) 
2052 
PUBLIC LAW 91-671-JAN. 11, 1971 
[84 STAT. 
Enforcement. 
78 Stat. 708. 
7 u s e 2023. 
Penalty. 
Ante, p. 2051. 
Federal as-
sistance to States. 
7 u s e 2024. 
Appropriations. 
82 Stat. 958. 
7 use 2025. 
meals prepared for and delivered to them by a political subdivision or 
by a private nonprofit organization which: (1) is not receiving fed-
erally donated foods from the United States Department of Agricul-
ture for use in the preparation of such meals; (2) is operated in a 
manner consistent with the purposes of this Act; and (3) is recognized 
as a tax exempt organization by the Internal Revenue Service: Pro-
inded, That household members or elderly persons to whom meals are 
delivered are housebound, feeble, physically handicapped, or other-
wise disabled, to the extent that they are unable to adequately prepare 
all of their meals. Meals served pursuant to this subsection shall be 
deemed 'food' for the purposes of this Act." 
SEC. 7(a). Subsections (a) and (b) of section 14 of the Food Stamp 
Act of 1964, as amended, are amended as follows: 
"(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, the Secre-
tary may provide for the purchase, issuance or presentment for 
redemption of coupons to such person or persons, and at such times 
and in such manner, as he deems necessary or appropriate to protect 
the interests of the United States or to insure enforcement of the 
provisions of this Act or the regulations issued pursuant to this Act. 
"(b) Whoever knowingly uses, transfers, acquires, alters, or pos-
sesses coupons or authorization to purchase cards in any manner not 
authorized by this Act or the regulations issued pursuant to this Act 
shall, if such coupons or authorization to purchase cards are of the 
value of $100 or more, be guilty of a felony and shall, upon conviction 
thereof, be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more 
than five years or both, or, if such coupons or authorization to purchase 
cards are of a value of less than $100, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor 
and shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not more than $5,000 or 
imprisoned for not more than one year, or both." 
SEC. 7(b). Section 14 of the Food Stamp Act of 1964, as amended, 
is amended by adding the following new subsection: 
"(e) No person shall be charged with a violation of this or any other 
Act, or of any regulation issued under this or any other Act, or of 
any State plan of operation on the basis of any statements or infor-
mation contained in an affidavit filed pursuant to section 10(c) of 
this Act, except for fraud." 
SEC. 8. Subsection (b) of section 15 of the Food Stamp Act of 1964 
as amended, is amended to read as follows: 
"(b) The Secretary is authorized to pay to each State agency an 
amount equal to 62% per centum of the sum of (1) the direct salary, 
travel, and travel-related cost (including such fringe benefits as are 
normally paid) of personnel, including the immediate supervisors of 
such personnel, for such time as they are employed in taking the action 
required under the provisions of subsection 10(e) (5) of this Act and 
in making certification determinations for households other than those 
which consist solely of recipients of welfare assistance; (2) the direct 
salary, travel, and travel-related costs (including such fringe benefits 
as are normally paid) of personnel for such time as they are employed 
as hearing officials under section 10(e) of the Act." 
SEC. 9. Section 16(a) of the Food Stamp Act of 1964, as amended, 
is amended by striking "$170,000,000 for the six months ending 
December 31,1970" and inserting in lieu thereof "$1,750,000,000 for the 
fiscal year ending June 30, 1971; and for the fiscal years ending 
June 30, 1972 and June 30, 1973 such sums as the Congress may 
appropriate". 
Approved January 11, 1971.