[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2435 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2435

 To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to repeal the particular 
 work requirement that disqualifies able-bodied adults for eligibility 
 to participate in the supplemental nutrition assistance program, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 20, 2023

 Mr. Welch (for himself, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Padilla, Ms. Warren, Mr. 
 Blumenthal, Mr. Markey, Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Whitehouse, and 
 Mr. Sanders) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to repeal the particular 
 work requirement that disqualifies able-bodied adults for eligibility 
 to participate in the supplemental nutrition assistance 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 ``Improving Access to Nutrition Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) 35,000,000 people, including over 10,000,000 children, 
        suffered from hunger even before the COVID-19 pandemic began;
            (2) analyses show that 50,000,000 people, including 
        17,000,000 children, could go hungry due to the effects of the 
        COVID-19 pandemic;
            (3) as of December 2020, food insecurity among White 
        households with children was 24.2 percent, while 38.6 percent 
        of Latinx households and 40.6 percent of African-American 
        households with children suffered from food insecurity;
            (4) Black and Hispanic children were twice as likely as 
        White children to live in households without enough to eat, 
        entering the COVID-19 pandemic at a disproportionate risk of 
        going hungry;
            (5) adults who identify as American Indian, Alaska Native, 
        Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, or multiracial were twice as 
        likely as White adults to report that their household did not 
        get enough to eat;
            (6) while official national data for Native American 
        households is lacking, previous research in the State of 
        Washington showed food insecurity among Native households was 
        2.5 times higher than in White households;
            (7) the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened longstanding racial 
        disparities and food insecurity;
            (8) the supplemental nutrition assistance program 
        established under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 
        2011 et seq.) (referred to in this section as the 
        ``supplemental nutrition assistance program'') is the first 
        line of defense against hunger and especially vital for 
        vulnerable populations;
            (9) more than 85 percent of all benefits under the 
        supplemental nutrition assistance program go to households with 
        children, seniors, and persons with disabilities;
            (10) the supplemental nutrition assistance program helps 
        restore access to healthy food, improves overall health, and 
        reduces poverty;
            (11) participation in the supplemental nutrition assistance 
        program is associated with educational advancement of children 
        in poverty and improvements in math and reading scores;
            (12) the supplemental nutrition assistance program has a 
        proven record of effectiveness in promoting food security and 
        health and in providing economic stimulus;
            (13) each dollar of supplemental nutrition assistance 
        program benefits during a downturn generates between $1.50 and 
        $1.80 in economic activity;
            (14) studies have demonstrated that work requirements do 
        not reduce poverty;
            (15) about 6,100,000 individuals are subject to work 
        requirements under the supplemental nutrition assistance 
        program and are at risk of losing critical food assistance if 
        they cannot comply with those work requirements;
            (16) for individuals described in paragraph (15) who live 
        in households with school-aged children, supplemental nutrition 
        assistance program benefit reductions or terminations could 
        jeopardize the health, development, and future success of those 
        children;
            (17) children in poverty often depend on pooled resources 
        (including supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits) 
        from extended family members who do not claim them as 
        dependents;
            (18) studies show that health impediments are a primary 
        cause of many recipients of supplemental nutrition assistance 
        program benefits being unable to meet a work requirement;
            (19) work requirements cause an increase in the 
        administrative bureaucracy of the supplemental nutrition 
        assistance program, which some studies have shown cause a 
        significant reduction in participation in the supplemental 
        nutrition assistance program;
            (20) studies show that--
                    (A) Black people are particularly vulnerable to 
                barriers to accessing the supplemental nutrition 
                assistance program and most likely to face recent 
                unemployment; and
                    (B) work requirements would disproportionately 
                prevent Black people from having access to benefits 
                under that program;
            (21) families experiencing homelessness are most likely to 
        leave programs such as the supplemental nutrition assistance 
        program when there is a work requirement, thereby increasing 
        their vulnerability; and
            (22) the COVID-19 pandemic has made people more vulnerable, 
        and a work requirement under the supplemental nutrition 
        assistance program would serve to only further burden people 
        most at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF WORK REQUIREMENT UNDER SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION 
              ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Section 6 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 
U.S.C. 2015) is amended--
            (1) by striking subsection (o); and
            (2) by redesignating subsections (p) through (s) as 
        subsections (o) through (r), respectively.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 5(a) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 
        U.S.C. 2014(a)) is amended, in the second sentence, by striking 
        ``(r)'' and inserting ``(q)''.
            (2) Section 6(d)(4) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 
        (7 U.S.C. 2015(d)(4)) is amended--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B)(ii)(I)(bb)(DD), by striking 
                ``or subsection (o)''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (N), by striking ``or 
                subsection (o)'' each place it appears.
            (3) Section 7(i)(1) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 
        (7 U.S.C. 2016(i)(1)) is amended by striking ``section 6(o)(2) 
        of this Act or''.
            (4) Section 16(h) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 
        U.S.C. 2025(h)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (B), in the matter 
                        preceding clause (i), by striking ``that--'' 
                        and all that follows through the period at the 
                        end of clause (ii) and inserting ``that is 
                        determined and adjusted by the Secretary.'';
                            (ii) by striking subparagraph (E);
                            (iii) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 
                        subparagraph (E); and
                            (iv) in clause (ii)(III)(ee)(AA) of 
                        subparagraph (E) (as so redesignated), by 
                        striking ``, individuals subject to the 
                        requirements under section 6(o),''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (5)(C)--
                            (i) in clause (ii), by adding ``and'' at 
                        the end;
                            (ii) in clause (iii), by striking ``; and'' 
                        and inserting a period; and
                            (iii) by striking clause (iv).
            (5) Section 51(d)(8)(A)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
        1986 is amended--
                    (A) in subclause (I), by striking ``, or'' at the 
                end and inserting a period;
                    (B) in the matter preceding subclause (I), by 
                striking ``family--'' and all that follows through 
                ``receiving'' in subclause (I) and inserting ``family 
                receiving''; and
                    (C) by striking subclause (II).
            (6) Section 103(a)(2) of the Workforce Innovation and 
        Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3113) is amended--
                    (A) by striking subparagraph (D); and
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) through (K) 
                as subparagraphs (D) through (J), respectively.
            (7) Section 121(b)(2)(B) of the Workforce Innovation and 
        Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3151) is amended--
                    (A) by striking clause (iv); and
                    (B) by redesignating clauses (v) through (vii) as 
                clauses (iv) through (vi), respectively.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

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