Pandemic EBT Act of 2020 2020-03-11 Introduced in House Pandemic EBT Act of 2020

This bill expands authority in FY2020 for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) during a public health emergency based on COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019).

Specifically, the bill authorizes USDA to approve state agency plans to provide SNAP benefits to households that include at least one eligible child and may or may not be participating in SNAP. An eligible child is a child who would be receiving free or reduced-price school meals if the child's school had not been closed for at least five consecutive days due to the public health emergency based on COVID-19.

SNAP benefits provided must be no less than the value of school meals at the federal free rate over the course of five school days for each eligible child in the household.

A state agency may provide SNAP benefits in accordance with the bill through the electronic benefits transfer card system.

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