[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1112 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1112

  To increase the integrity of the food stamp program, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               August 2 (legislative day, July 10), 1995

Mrs. Feinstein introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To increase the integrity of the food stamp 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 ``Food Stamp Anti-Fraud Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. EXPANDED DEFINITION OF COUPON.

    Section 3(d) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2012(d)) is 
amended by striking ``or type of certificate'' and inserting ``type of 
certificate, authorization card, cash or check issued as a coupon, or 
an access device, including an electronic benefits transfer card or a 
personal identification number,''.

SEC. 3. DOUBLED PENALTIES FOR VIOLATING FOOD STAMP PROGRAM 
              REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 6(b)(1) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2015(b)(1)) 
is amended--
            (1) in clause (i), by striking ``six months upon'' and 
        inserting ``1 year on''; and
            (2) in clause (ii), by striking ``1 year upon'' and 
        inserting ``2 years on''.

SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH AUTHORIZATION PERIODS.

    Section 9(a)(1) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2018(a)(1)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Authorization periods.--The Secretary is authorized 
        to issue regulations establishing specific time periods during 
        which authorization to accept and redeem coupons under the food 
        stamp program shall be valid.''.

SEC. 5. SPECIFIC PERIOD FOR PROHIBITING PARTICIPATION OF STORES BASED 
              ON LACK OF BUSINESS INTEGRITY.

    Section 9(a)(1) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2018(a)(1)) 
(as amended by section 4) is further amended by adding at the end the 
following:
            ``(4) Periods for participation of stores and concerns.--
        The Secretary may issue regulations establishing specific time 
        periods during which a retail food store or wholesale food 
        concern that has an application for approval to accept and 
        redeem coupons denied or that has an approval withdrawn on the 
        basis of business integrity and reputation cannot submit a new 
        application for approval. The periods shall reflect the 
        severity of business integrity infractions that are the basis 
        of the denials or withdrawals.''.

SEC. 6. INFORMATION FOR VERIFYING ELIGIBILITY FOR AUTHORIZATION.

    Section 9(c) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2018(c)) is 
amended--
            (1) in the first sentence, by inserting ``, which may 
        include relevant income and sales tax filing documents,'' after 
        ``submit information''; and
            (2) by inserting after the first sentence the following: 
        ``The regulations may require retail food stores and wholesale 
        food concerns to provide written authorization for the 
        Secretary to verify all relevant tax filings with appropriate 
        agencies and to obtain corroborating documentation from other 
        sources so that the accuracy of information provided by the 
        stores and concerns may be verified.''.

SEC. 7. WAITING PERIOD FOR STORES THAT INITIALLY FAIL TO MEET 
              AUTHORIZATION CRITERIA.

    Section 9(d) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2018(d)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: ``A retail food store or 
wholesale food concern that has an application for approval to accept 
and redeem coupons denied because the store or concern does not meet 
criteria for approval established by the Secretary by regulation may 
not submit a new application for 6 months from the date of the 
denial.''.

SEC. 8. MANDATORY CLAIMS COLLECTION METHODS.

    (a) Disclosure of Information.--Section 11(e)(8) of the Food Stamp 
Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2020(e)(8)) is amended by inserting before the 
semicolon at the end the following: ``or from refunds of Federal taxes 
under section 3720A of title 31, United States Code''.
    (b) Other Means of Collection.--Section 13(d) of the Act (7 U.S.C. 
2022(d)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``may be recovered'' and inserting ``shall 
        be recovered''; and
            (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 
        following: ``or a refund of Federal taxes under section 3720A 
        of title 31, United States Code.''.

SEC. 9. BASES FOR SUSPENSIONS AND DISQUALIFICATIONS.

    Section 12(a) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2021(a)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: ``Regulations issued 
pursuant to this Act shall provide criteria for the finding of a 
violation, and the suspension or disqualification of a retail food 
store or wholesale food concern, on the basis of evidence that may 
include facts established through on-site investigations, inconsistent 
redemption data, or evidence obtained through transaction reports under 
electronic benefits transfer systems.''.

SEC. 10. DISQUALIFICATION OF STORES PENDING JUDICIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE 
              REVIEW.

    (a) Authority.--Section 12(a) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 
U.S.C. 2021(a)) (as amended by section 9) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: ``The regulations may establish criteria under which 
the authorization of a retail food store or wholesale food concern to 
accept and redeem coupons may be suspended at the time the store or 
concern is initially found to have committed a violation of a 
requirement of the food stamp program. The suspension may coincide with 
the period of a review under section 14. The Secretary shall not be 
liable for the value of any sales lost during a suspension or 
disqualification period.''.
    (b) Review.--Section 14(a) of the Act (7 U.S.C. 2023(a)) is 
amended--
            (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``disqualified or 
        subjected'' and inserting ``suspended, disqualified, or 
        subjected'';
            (2) in the fifth sentence, by inserting before the period 
        at the end the following: ``, except that, in the case of the 
        suspension of a retail food store or wholesale food concern 
        under section 12(a), the suspension shall remain in effect 
        pending any judicial or administrative review of the proposed 
        disqualification action, and the period of suspension shall be 
        considered a part of any period of disqualification that is 
        imposed''; and
            (3) by striking the last sentence.

SEC. 11. DISQUALIFICATION OF RETAILERS WHO ARE DISQUALIFIED UNDER THE 
              WIC PROGRAM.

    Section 12 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2021) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Disqualification of Retailers Who Are Disqualified Under the 
WIC Program.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall issue regulations 
        providing criteria for the disqualification of an approved 
        retail food store and a wholesale food concern that is 
        disqualified from accepting benefits under the special 
        supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children 
        established under section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 
        (7 U.S.C. 1786).
            ``(2) Terms.--A disqualification under paragraph (1)--
                    ``(A) shall be for the same period as the 
                disqualification from the program referred to in 
                paragraph (1);
                    ``(B) may begin at a later date than the 
                disqualification from the program referred to in 
                paragraph (1); and
                    ``(C) notwithstanding section 14, shall not be 
                subject to judicial or administrative review.''.
SEC. 12. PERMANENT DEBARMENT OF RETAILERS WHO INTENTIONALLY SUBMIT 
              FALSIFIED APPLICATIONS.

    Section 12 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2021) (as 
amended by section 11) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Falsified Applications.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall issue regulations 
        providing for the permanent disqualification of a retail food 
        store, or wholesale food concern, that knowingly submits an 
        application for approval to accept and redeem coupons that 
        contains false information about a substantive matter that was 
        a basis for approving the application.
            ``(2) Review.--A disqualification under paragraph (1) shall 
        be subject to judicial and administrative review under section 
        14, except that the disqualification shall remain in effect 
        pending the review.''.

SEC. 13. CRIMINAL FORFEITURE.

    Section 15 of the Act (7 U.S.C. 2024) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
    ``(h) Criminal Forfeiture.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Any person convicted of 
                violating subsection (b) or (c) involving food stamp 
                benefits having an aggregate value of not less than 
                $5,000, shall forfeit to the United States--
                            ``(i) any food stamp benefits and any 
                        property constituting, or derived from, or 
                        traceable to any proceeds the person obtained 
                        directly or indirectly as a result of the 
                        violation; and
                            ``(ii) any food stamp benefits and any 
                        property of the person used, or intended to be 
                        used, in any manner or part, to commit, or to 
                        facilitate the commission of the violation.
                    ``(B) Sentence.--In imposing a sentence on a person 
                under subparagraph (A), a court shall order that the 
                person forfeit to the United States all property 
                described in this subsection.
                    ``(C) Procedures.--Any food stamp benefits or 
                property subject to forfeiture under this subsection, 
                any seizure or disposition of the benefits or property, 
                and any administrative or judicial proceeding relating 
                to the benefits or property, shall be governed by 
                subsections (b), (c), (e), and (g) through (p) of 
                section 413 of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention 
                and Control Act of 1970 (21 U.S.C. 853), if not 
                inconsistent with this subsection.
            ``(3) Excluded property.--This subsection shall not apply 
        to property referred to in subsection (g).''.

SEC. 14. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act shall become effective on October 1, 1995.
                                 <all>