Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5168 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5168

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 8, 2025

 Mr. Hernandez (for himself, Mr. Bacon, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Lawler, Mr.
 Soto, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Salazar, and Ms. Houlahan)
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
                              Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

     To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to transition the
 Commonwealth of 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)(2) by inserting ``, Puerto Rico,''
        after ``Hawaii''.
    (b) Eligible Households.--Section 5 of the Food and Nutrition Act
of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b) 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) 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)), the Commonwealth of 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 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
the Secretary shall provide appropriate training and technical
assistance to enable the Commonwealth of 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 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 the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the Congress,
not later than 90 days thereafter, a certification that the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico qualifies to participate in the
supplemental nutrition assistance program as a State as defined in
section 3(r) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(r)).

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 the Commonwealth of 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 the Commonwealth 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,'' after
                ``(A)'',
                    (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 ``, and
                                        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)(4) 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) 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) For'',
                                    (II) 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) 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 striking ``year,'' and
                inserting ``year ending at the end of the period
                described in section 4(a) of the Puerto Rico Nutrition
                Assistance Fairness Act, and'' after ``year'', and
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)(A) by inserting ``and ending at
        the end of the period described in section 4(a) of the Puerto
        Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act'' after ``year'' the
        first place it appears.

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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