[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4333 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4333

  To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to permit providers of 
eligible food purchasing and delivery services to be approved as retail 
 food stores that accept and redeem supplemental nutrition assistance 
                               benefits.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 29, 2012

Mr. Paulsen (for himself, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McGovern, and Mrs. Emerson) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                              Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to permit providers of 
eligible food purchasing and delivery services to be approved as retail 
 food stores that accept and redeem supplemental nutrition assistance 
                               benefits.

    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 ``Enhancing Nutrition Services to the 
Elderly and Disabled Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. ENHANCING SERVICES TO ELDERLY AND DISABLED SUPPLEMENTAL 
              NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM RECIPIENTS.

    Section 3(p) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 
2012(p)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3) by striking ``and'' at the end,
            (2) in paragraph (4) by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and'', and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
            ``(5) a public or private nonprofit food purchasing and 
        delivery service that--
                    ``(A) purchases food for, and delivers such food 
                to, individuals who are--
                            ``(i) unable to shop for food; and
                            ``(ii)(I) not less than 60 years of age; or
                            ``(II) physically or mentally handicapped 
                        or otherwise disabled;
                    ``(B) clearly notifies the participating household 
                at the time such household places a food order--
                            ``(i) of any delivery fee associated with 
                        the food purchase and delivery provided to such 
                        household by such service; and
                            ``(ii) that a delivery fee cannot be paid 
                        with benefits provided under the supplemental 
                        nutrition assistance program; and
                    ``(C) sells food purchased for such household at 
                the price paid by such service for such food and 
                without any additional cost markup.''.

SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION.

    (a) Issuance of Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall issue 
regulations that--
            (1) establish criteria to identify a food purchasing and 
        delivery service referred to in section 3(p)(5) of the Food and 
        Nutrition Act of 2008, and
            (2) establish procedures to ensure that such service--
                    (A) does not charge more for a food item than the 
                price paid by such service for such food item,
                    (B) offers food delivery service at no or low cost 
                to households under such Act,
                    (C) ensures that benefits provided under the 
                supplemental nutrition assistance program are used only 
                to purchase food, as defined in section 3 of such Act,
                    (D) limits the purchase of food, and the delivery 
                of such food, to households eligible to receive 
                services described in section 3(p)(5) of this Act,
                    (E) has established adequate safeguards against 
                fraudulent activities, including unauthorized use of 
                electronic benefit cards issued under such Act, and
                    (F) such other requirements as the Secretary deems 
                to be appropriate.
    (b) Limitation.--Before the issuance of regulations under 
subsection (a), the Secretary of Agriculture may not approve more than 
20 food purchasing and delivery services referred to in section 3(p)(5) 
of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to participate as retail food 
stores under the supplemental nutrition assistance program.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 30 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>