[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4366 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4366

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into an agreement with 
the Commissioner of Social Security to take certain actions ensure that 
 food stamp benefits are not provided for deceased individuals; and to 
 amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to require State agencies to verify 
       that such benefits are not provided for such individuals.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 31, 1998

Mr. Goodlatte introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and 
 Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into an agreement with 
the Commissioner of Social Security to take certain actions ensure that 
 food stamp benefits are not provided for deceased individuals; and to 
 amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to require State agencies to verify 
       that such benefits are not provided for such individuals.

    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 Verification Act of 
1998''.

SEC. 2. AGREEMENT TO BE ENTERED INTO BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.

    The Secretary of Agriculture (in this section referred to as the 
``Secretary'') shall enter into an agreement with the Commissioner of 
Social Security (in this section referred to as the ``Commissioner'') 
that provides that the Commissioner shall establish a cooperative 
arrangement that meets the requirements of section 205(r)(3)(A) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)(3)(A)), with each State agency 
(as defined in section 3(n) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 
2012(n))) that administers the food stamp program (as defined in 
section 3(h) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2012(h))) under 
which--
            (1) the State agency shall provide information to the 
        Commissioner, in such form and manner as the Commissioner 
        determines necessary, regarding individuals receiving benefits 
        under the food stamp program; and
            (2) the Commissioner shall compare information received 
        under section 205(r)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
        405(r)(1)) with information obtained under paragraph (1) and 
        shall notify the State agency of the individuals who are 
        deceased.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 180 days, 1 year, and 18 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall 
submit to--
            (1) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
        Representatives;
            (2) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 
        of the Senate;
            (3) the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
        Representatives;
            (4) the Committee on Finance of the Senate; and
            (5) the Secretary of the Treasury;
a report regarding the progress and effectiveness, during the 
respective period for which such report is submitted, of the 
cooperative arrangements established under subsection (a) with State 
agencies.

SEC. 3. PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO ENSURE NONISSUANCE OF FOOD STAMP 
              COUPONS FOR DECEASED INDIVIDUALS.

    Section 11(e)(20) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 
2020(e)(20)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) to provide such information to the 
                Commissioner of Social Security as the Commissioner 
                determines is necessary to enable the Commissioner to 
                use the information provided under the arrangement 
                established under section 2 of the Food Stamp 
                Verification Act of 1998 to verify and otherwise ensure 
                that coupons are not issued for deceased 
                individuals;''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act take effect 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act.
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