[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3958 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3958

 To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to transition Puerto Rico 
    to the supplemental nutrition assistance program, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 2, 2026

 Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself, Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Padilla, 
Mr. Schumer, Mr. Warnock, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Booker, Mr. Welch, 
 Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Markey, and Mr. Sanders) introduced the following 
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to transition Puerto Rico 
    to the supplemental nutrition assistance program, 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 ``Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance 
Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOOD AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2008.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 3 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 
(7 U.S.C. 2012) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (r), by inserting ``Puerto Rico,'' after 
        ``Guam,''; and
            (2) in subsection (u)(3), by striking subparagraph (A) and 
        inserting the following:
                    ``(A) make cost adjustments in the thrifty food 
                plan for Hawaii, the urban and rural parts of Alaska, 
                and Puerto Rico to reflect the cost of food in Hawaii, 
                the urban and rural parts of Alaska, and Puerto Rico, 
                respectively;''.
    (b) Eligible Households.--Section 5 of the Food and Nutrition Act 
of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), in the first sentence, by inserting 
        ``Puerto Rico,'' after ``Guam,'';
            (2) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ``and Guam'' and 
        inserting ``Guam, and Puerto Rico''; and
            (3) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ``Puerto 
                Rico,'' after ``Hawaii,'' each place it appears; and
                    (B) in paragraph (6)(B), in the matter preceding 
                clause (i), by inserting ``Puerto Rico,'' after 
                ``Guam,''.

SEC. 3. SUBMISSION OF PLAN OF OPERATION; TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE; 
              DETERMINATION AND CERTIFICATION BY SECRETARY OF 
              AGRICULTURE.

    (a) Submission of Plan of Operation.--On designating an agency of 
the kind described in section 3(s)(1) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 
2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(s)(1)), Puerto Rico shall have 180 days to submit 
to the Secretary of Agriculture (in this Act referred to as the 
``Secretary'') its plan of operation, including a plan to transition to 
the supplemental nutrition assistance program under section 4(a) of 
such Act (7 U.S.C. 2013(a)) as a request to participate in the 
supplemental nutrition assistance program under such Act.
    (b) Technical Assistance.--Within the 180-day period specified in 
subsection (a) and upon request from Puerto Rico, the Secretary shall 
provide appropriate training and technical assistance to enable Puerto 
Rico to formulate a plan of operation described in subsection (a).
    (c) Determination by the Secretary of Agriculture.--Not later than 
180 days after receiving a plan of operation described in subsection 
(a), the Secretary shall approve the plan of operation if such plan 
satisfies the requirements for a supplemental nutrition assistance 
program State plan in accordance with subsections (d) and (e) of 
section 11 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2020). If 
the Secretary does not approve such plan, the Secretary shall provide, 
not later than 30 days after disapproval, a statement that specifies 
each of the requirements that were not satisfied by such plan.
    (d) Certification by the Secretary of Agriculture.--If the 
Secretary approves the plan submitted by Puerto Rico under subsection 
(a), the Secretary shall submit to the Congress, not later than 90 days 
thereafter, a certification that Puerto Rico qualifies to participate 
in the supplemental nutrition assistance program as a State as defined 
in section 3 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012).

SEC. 4. TRANSITION FROM THE CONSOLIDATED BLOCK GRANT FOR PUERTO RICO.

    (a) Covered Period.--The Secretary may continue to implement the 
then most recent approved consolidated block grant specified in section 
19(b)(1)(A) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 
2028(b)(1)(A)) for an implementation period ending 5 years after the 
effective date of the amendments made by this Act, or on the date the 
Secretary determines that Puerto Rico no longer needs to operate the 
consolidated block grant to complete the transition described in 
section 3(a), whichever occurs first.
    (b) Report.--For each year a plan is continued under subsection 
(a), the Secretary shall submit to the Congress an annual report on the 
operation of such plan. The Secretary shall include in such report 
information related to increases in funding that are required to 
accommodate the transition of Puerto Rico from the receipt of block 
grant payments to the implementation of supplemental nutrition 
assistance program.

SEC. 5. CONSOLIDATED BLOCK GRANT FOR PUERTO RICO AND AMERICAN SAMOA.

    Section 19 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2028) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ``until the 
                end of the period described in section 4(a) of the 
                Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act,'' before 
                ``the Commonwealth'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)--
                                    (I) in clause (i), by striking 
                                ``and'' at the end, and
                                    (II) in clause (ii)--
                                            (aa) by inserting ``ending 
                                        at the end of the period 
                                        described in section 4(a) of 
                                        the Puerto Rico Nutrition 
                                        Assistance Fairness Act'' after 
                                        ``thereafter'';
                                            (bb) by striking the period 
                                        at the end and inserting ``; 
                                        and''; and
                                            (cc) by adding at the end 
                                        the following:
                            ``(iii) subject to the availability of 
                        appropriations under section 18(a), for each 
                        fiscal year beginning after the end of the 
                        period described in section 4(a) of the Puerto 
                        Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act, 0.4 
                        percent of the aggregate amount specified in 
                        clause (i) and adjusted under clause (ii), as 
                        further adjusted by the percentage by which the 
                        thrifty food plan has been adjusted under 
                        section 3(u)(3) between June 30 of the 
                        penultimate fiscal year preceding such 
                        effective date and June 30 of the fiscal year 
                        for which the adjustment is made under this 
                        clause.'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B)(i), in the matter 
                        preceding subclause (I), by inserting ``ending 
                        at the end of the period described in section 
                        4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance 
                        Fairness Act'' after ``thereafter''; and
                            (iii) in subparagraph (C)--
                                    (I) by striking ``For'' and 
                                inserting the following:
                            ``(i) In general.--For'';
                                    (II) in clause (i) (as so 
                                designated), by inserting ``ending at 
                                the end of the period described in 
                                section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico 
                                Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act'' 
                                after ``thereafter''; and
                                    (III) by adding at the end the 
                                following:
                            ``(ii) Full use of funds.--For each fiscal 
                        year beginning after the end of the period 
                        described in section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico 
                        Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act, the 
                        Secretary shall use 100 percent of the funds 
                        made available under subparagraph (A) for 
                        payment to American Samoa to pay 100 percent of 
                        the expenditures by American Samoa for a 
                        nutrition assistance program extended under 
                        section 601(c) of Public Law 96-597 (48 U.S.C. 
                        1469d(c)).''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``until the end 
                of the period described in section 4(a) of the Puerto 
                Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act,'' before ``pay 
                to''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)(A), in the first sentence, by 
        striking ``In order to receive payments under this Act for any 
        fiscal year'' and inserting ``Until the end of the period 
        described in section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition 
        Assistance Fairness Act, to receive payments under this Act for 
        a fiscal year''.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act such 
sums as may be necessary until the end of the period described in 
section 4(a).

SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATES.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act 
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Effective Date of Amendments.--The amendments made by this Act 
shall take effect on the date that is 10 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
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