[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4280 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4280

To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide that Puerto Rico 
may be treated in the same manner as the several States for the purpose 
  of carrying out the supplemental nutrition assistance program under 
                               such Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 28, 2012

   Mr. Pierluisi (for himself, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Farr, Mr. Baca, Mr. 
Rangel, Mr. Towns, Ms. Norton, Mr. Faleomavaega, Mrs. Christensen, Ms. 
   Lee of California, Ms. Bordallo, and Mr. Grijalva) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide that Puerto Rico 
may be treated in the same manner as the several States for the purpose 
  of carrying out the supplemental nutrition assistance program under 
                               such Act.

    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 Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program Restoration Act of 2012''.

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 (s) by inserting ``Puerto Rico,'' after 
        ``Guam,'', and
            (2) in subsection (u)(3) by inserting ``Puerto Rico,'' 
        after ``Guam,''.
    (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,''.
    (c) Consolidated Block Grants.--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 
                effective date of the amendments made by the Puerto 
                Rico Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 
                Restoration Act of 2012,'' 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 ``ending 
                                        before the effective date of 
                                        the amendments made by the 
                                        Puerto Rico Supplemental 
                                        Nutrition Assistance Program 
                                        Restoration Act of 2012'' 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 on or after the effective 
                        date of the amendments made by the Puerto Rico 
                        Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 
                        Restoration Act of 2012, 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 before the effective date of the 
                        amendments made by the Puerto Rico Supplemental 
                        Nutrition Assistance Program Restoration Act of 
                        2012'' after ``thereafter'', and
                            (iii) in subparagraph (C)--
                                    (I) by inserting ``(i)'' before 
                                ``For'',
                                    (II) by inserting ``ending before 
                                the effective date of the amendments 
                                made by the Puerto Rico Supplemental 
                                Nutrition Assistance Program 
                                Restoration Act of 2012'' after 
                                ``thereafter'', and
                                    (III) by adding at the end the 
                                following:
                    ``(ii) For each fiscal year beginning on or after 
                the effective date of the amendments made by the Puerto 
                Rico Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 
                Restoration Act of 2012, 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 ``ending before 
                the effective date of the amendments made by the Puerto 
                Rico Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 
                Restoration Act of 2012'' after ``year'', and
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)(A) by inserting ``ending before 
        the effective date of the amendments made by the Puerto Rico 
        Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Restoration Act of 
        2012'' after ``year'' the first place it appears.

SEC. 3. SUBMISSION OF PLAN; APPROVAL OF RETAIL FOOD STORES; 
              CERTIFICATION BY SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.

    (a) Submission of Plan by Puerto Rico.--
            (1) Submission and review of plan of operation.--If an 
        agency of the kind described in section 3(t)(1) of the Food and 
        Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(t)(1)) is designated by 
        Puerto Rico and submits to the Secretary of Agriculture 
        (hereinafter in this section referred to as the Secretary) a 
        request to participate in the supplemental nutrition program 
        under such Act and a plan of operation of the kind described in 
        section 11 of such Act, the Secretary shall determine whether 
        Puerto Rico and such agency satisfy the requirements that would 
        apply under such Act for approval of such plan if Puerto Rico 
        were 1 of the several States.
            (2) Determination by secretary.--The Secretary shall 
        approve such plan if Puerto Rico and such agency satisfy such 
        requirements. If the Secretary does not approve such plan, the 
        Secretary shall provide a statement that specifies each of such 
        requirements that is not satisfied by such plan.
    (b) Approval of Retail Food Stores in Puerto Rico.--If the 
Secretary approves the plan of operation submitted under subsection 
(a), then the Secretary shall accept from retail food stores located in 
Puerto Rico applications of the kind described in section 9 of the Food 
and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2018) for approval to participate 
in the supplemental nutrition assistance program proposed in such plan.
    (c) Submission of Certification to the Congress.--If the 
Secretary--
            (1) approves the plan of operation submitted under 
        subsection (a), and
            (2) approves under subsection (b) the applications of a 
        number of retail food stores located in Puerto Rico requesting 
        to participate in the supplemental nutrition assistance program 
        that would be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the 
        Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) if 
        Puerto Rico were 1 of the several States requesting to 
        participate in the supplemental nutrition assistance program 
        under such Act,
then the Secretary shall submit to the Congress a certification that 
Puerto Rico qualifies to participate in such program as if Puerto Rico 
were a State as defined in section 3(s) of such Act.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATES.

    (a) General Effective Date.--Except as provided in subsection (b), 
this Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Special Effective Date.--The amendments made by section 2 shall 
take effect on October 1 of the 1st fiscal year that begins more than 1 
year after the Secretary of Agriculture submits to the Congress the 
certification described in section 3(c).
                                 <all>