[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2577 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2577

To amend the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to improve the 
  Gus Schumacher nutrition incentive program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 27, 2023

  Ms. Hirono (for herself, Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Brown, Mr. Wyden, Mrs. 
  Gillibrand, Mr. Welch, and Mr. Blumenthal) introduced the following 
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to improve the 
  Gus Schumacher nutrition incentive 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 ``Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive 
Program Improvement Act of 2023'' or the ``GusNIP Improvement Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. GUS SCHUMACHER NUTRITION INCENTIVE PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Section 4405 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy 
Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 7517) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``subsection 
                (c)'' and inserting ``subsection (g)(1)'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (C)--
                            (i) by striking ``Except as provided in 
                        subparagraph (D)(iii)'' and inserting the 
                        following:
                            ``(i) In general.--Except as provided in 
                        clause (ii) and subparagraph (D)(iii)'';
                            (ii) in clause (i) (as so designated), by 
                        striking ``50'' and inserting ``90''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(ii) Small projects.--The Federal share 
                        of the cost of carrying out an activity under 
                        this subsection the total cost of which is less 
                        than $100,000 may be 100 percent.''; and
                    (C) in subparagraph (D)(i)(I), by striking ``or 
                services'' and inserting ``services, or retailer 
                associate wages'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (c) through (f) as 
        subsections (d) through (g), respectively;
            (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) Scaling Grants.--
            ``(1) Definition of covered eligible entity.--In this 
        subsection, the term `covered eligible entity' means an 
        eligible entity that--
                    ``(A) has previously received a large-scale grant 
                under subsection (b); and
                    ``(B) has--
                            ``(i) a demonstrated record for launching 
                        and maintaining projects described in 
                        subsection (b) that have gone through an 
                        evaluation within a State, region, or Tribal 
                        Nation; and
                            ``(ii) the project design, infrastructure, 
                        and administrative support necessary for 
                        project implementation in a State, region, or 
                        Tribal Nation, as applicable.
            ``(2) Establishment.--The Secretary shall award grants to 
        covered eligible entities to scale existing participation and 
        access levels in the project carried out by the covered 
        eligible entity using a grant received under subsection (b).
            ``(3) Streamlined application.--The Secretary may 
        streamline the application process for covered eligible 
        entities applying for a grant under this subsection.
            ``(4) Priority.--In awarding grants under this subsection, 
        the Secretary shall give priority to projects that may be 
        carried out in a variety of retail settings, including at 
        independent retailers, farmers markets, and food hubs.
            ``(5) Project requirements.--A project carried out using a 
        grant received under this subsection shall meet the following 
        requirements:
                    ``(A) The project shall adhere to the criteria for 
                projects described in subsection (b)(2).
                    ``(B) The project shall have a term of 4 years.
                    ``(C) The covered eligible entity carrying out the 
                project shall--
                            ``(i) use not less than $3,000,000 per 
                        year; and
                            ``(ii) by the end of the 4-year term of the 
                        project, use not less than 75 percent of 
                        project funds on redeemed incentives.'';
            (4) in subsection (d) (as so redesignated)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 
                        through (C) as clauses (i) through (iii), 
                        respectively, and indenting appropriately;
                            (ii) in the matter preceding clause (i) (as 
                        so redesignated), by striking ``entities to 
                        conduct projects that demonstrate'' and 
                        inserting the following: ``entities--
                    ``(A) to conduct projects described in paragraph 
                (3) that demonstrate'';
                            (iii) in subparagraph (A)(iii) (as so 
                        redesignated), by striking the period at the 
                        end and inserting ``; and''; and
                            (iv) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) to conduct projects that scale up projects 
                carried out using a grant under subparagraph (A), or to 
                conduct other large-scale projects, by expanding 
                advanced rigor clinical research through program 
                delivery through clinical practice.'';
                    (B) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 
                paragraphs (6) and (7), respectively;
                    (C) in paragraph (3), by striking the paragraph 
                designation and heading and all that follows through 
                ``An application shall--'' in subparagraph (B) in the 
                matter preceding clause (i), and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(3) Projects.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A project carried out using a 
                grant awarded under paragraph (1)(A) shall--
                            ``(i) prescribe fresh fruits and vegetables 
                        to members; and
                            ``(ii) may--
                                    ``(I) provide financial or 
                                nonfinancial incentives for members to 
                                purchase or procure fresh fruits and 
                                vegetables;
                                    ``(II) provide educational 
                                resources on nutrition to members; and
                                    ``(III) establish additional 
                                accessible locations for members to 
                                procure fresh fruits and vegetables.
                    ``(B) Other activities.--A project described in 
                subparagraph (A) shall be required to carry out at 
                least 1 of the following activities:
                            ``(i) Study previously unknown facts about 
                        the program design.
                            ``(ii) Establish or validate best 
                        practices.
                            ``(iii) Establish infrastructure that aids 
                        community health centers and independent 
                        produce retail outlets.
            ``(4) Applications.--
                    ``(A) In general.--To be eligible to receive a 
                grant under paragraph (1), an eligible entity shall 
                submit to the Secretary an application containing such 
                information as the Secretary may require, including the 
                information described in subparagraph (B).
                    ``(B) Application.--An application shall--''; and
                    (D) in paragraph (4) (as so designated), by adding 
                at the end the following:
                    ``(C) Priority.--In awarding grants under paragraph 
                (1), the Secretary shall give priority to projects that 
                offer a variety of retail settings, including produce 
                prescription redemption at independent grocers.
            ``(5) Grant amounts.--A grant awarded under paragraph (1) 
        shall be in an amount that--
                    ``(A) in the case of a grant awarded under 
                subparagraph (A) of that paragraph, does not exceed 
                $400,000; and
                    ``(B) in the case of a grant awarded under 
                subparagraph (B) of that paragraph, is not less than 
                $1,000,000 and not more than $2,500,000.'';
            (5) in subsection (e) (as so redesignated)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``(b) or (c)'' 
                and inserting ``(b), (c), or (d)''; and
                    (B) by striking ``(b) and (c)'' each place it 
                appears and inserting ``(b), (c), and (d)'';
            (6) in subsection (f) (as so redesignated), in paragraph 
        (2), in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 
        ``(b) and (c)'' and inserting ``(b), (c), and (d)''; and
            (7) in subsection (g) (as so redesignated)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``2023'' and 
                inserting ``2028'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) 
                        through (G) as subparagraphs (E) through (H), 
                        respectively;
                            (ii) by redesignating the second 
                        subparagraph (C) (relating to fiscal year 2019) 
                        as subparagraph (D);
                            (iii) in subparagraph (G) (as so 
                        redesignated), by striking ``and'' at the end 
                        after the semicolon; and
                            (iv) by striking subparagraph (H) (as so 
                        redesignated) and inserting the following:
                    ``(H) $56,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; and
                    ``(I) $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 
                through 2028.''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
                        ``and'' after the semicolon at the end;
                            (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 
                        clause (ii) and inserting the following:
                            ``(ii) $8,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
                        2024 through 2028; and''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) for each fiscal year the Secretary shall use 
                not less than $75,000,000 of such funds available for 
                such fiscal year for awarding grants under subsection 
                (c).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 4405 of the Food, Conservation, 
and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 7517) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``subsection (c)'' each place it appears 
        and inserting ``subsection (d)'';
            (2) by striking ``(e)(2)(B)(iii)'' each place it appears 
        and inserting ``(f)(2)(B)(iii)''; and
            (3) by striking ``subsection (e)'' each place it appears 
        and inserting ``subsection (f)''.
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