[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[S. 1926 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
<DOC>
S.1926
One Hundred Third Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-
four
An Act
To amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to modify the requirements
relating to monthly reporting and staggered issuance of coupons for
households residing on Indian reservations, to ensure adequate access to
retail food stores by food stamp households, and to maintain the
integrity of the food stamp program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

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This Act may be cited as the ``Food Stamp Program Improvements Act
of 1994''.
TITLE I_REPORTING AND STAGGERED ISSUANCE FOR HOUSEHOLDS ON RESERVATIONS

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(a) In General._Section 6(c)(1) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7
U.S.C. 2015(c)(1)) is amended_
(1) in subparagraph (A)_
(A) by striking clause (ii); and
(B) by redesignating clauses (iii) and (iv) as clauses (ii)
and (iii), respectively; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(C) A State agency may require periodic reporting on a monthly
basis by households residing on a reservation only if_
``(i) the State agency reinstates benefits, without
requiring a new application, for any household residing on a
reservation that submits a report not later than 1 month after
the end of the month in which benefits would otherwise be
provided;
``(ii) the State agency does not delay, reduce, suspend, or
terminate the allotment of a household that submits a report not
later than 1 month after the end of the month in which the
report is due;
``(iii) on the date of enactment of this subparagraph, the
State agency requires households residing on a reservation to
file periodic reports on a monthly basis; and
``(iv) the certification period for households residing on a
reservation that are required to file periodic reports on a
monthly basis is 2 years, unless the State demonstrates just
cause to the Secretary for a shorter certification period.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments._
(1) The second sentence of section 3(c) of such Act (7 U.S.C.
2012(c)) is amended by striking ``For'' and inserting ``Except as
provided in section 6(c)(1)(C), for''.
(2) Section 5(f)(2)(C) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2014(f)(2)(C)) is
amended by striking ``clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv)'' and
inserting ``clauses (i), (ii), and (iii)''.

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Section 7(h)(1) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2016(h)(1))
is amended by striking the second sentence and inserting the following
new sentence: ``Upon the request of the tribal organization that
exercises governmental jurisdiction over the reservation, the State
agency shall stagger the issuance of benefits for eligible households
located on reservations for at least 15 days of a month.''.

6f2ba36988ff71f530680af345f6a832faf1102328d66feb3bfad907ab0023b5

PROGRAM BY TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS.
(a) Study._The Comptroller General of the United States shall
conduct a study of the feasibility and desirability of_
(1) increasing the opportunity for a tribal organization of an
Indian tribe to administer the food stamp program established under
the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) in connection
with members of the tribe by_
(A) modifying the requirements established under sections
3(n)(2) and 11(d) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2012(n)(2) and 2020(d));
(B) modifying or eliminating the cost-sharing requirements
established for the tribal organization under section 16(a) of
such Act (7 U.S.C. 2025); and
(C) taking such other actions as the Comptroller General
considers appropriate; and
(2) permitting the tribal organization to establish reasonable
and appropriate requirements with respect to issuance, reporting,
and certification requirements under the food stamp program for
members of the tribe.
(b) Report._Not later than December 1, 1994, the Comptroller General
shall report the results of the study required under subsection (a) to
the Committee on Agriculture, and the Subcommittee on Native American
Affairs of the Committee on Natural Resources, of the House of
Representatives, and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and
Forestry, and the Committee on Indian Affairs, of the Senate, so that
the results of the study may be considered by the Committee on
Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate during the
reauthorization of the food stamp program during 1995.

94d2e2863a3d7907124406304d91815b21d2d99c664dc44418ab4bb695064c1a

(a) Section 908 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade
Act Amendments of 1991 (Public Law 102-237; 7 U.S.C. 2015 note) is
repealed.
(b) Section 6(c)(4) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C.
2015(c)(4)) is amended by striking ``Any'' and inserting ``Except as
provided in paragraph (1)(C), any''.
TITLE II_ACCESS TO RETAIL FOOD STORES BY FOOD STAMP HOUSEHOLDS

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Section 3 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2012) is amended_
(1) in subsection (k)_
(A) by striking ``means (1) an establishment'' and all that
follows through ``spices, (2) an establishment'' and inserting
the following: ``means_
``(1) an establishment or house-to-house trade route that sells
food for home preparation and consumption and_
``(A) offers for sale, on a continuous basis, a variety of
foods in each of the 4 categories of staple foods specified in
subsection (u)(1), including perishable foods in at least 2 of
the categories; or
``(B) has over 50 percent of the total sales of the
establishment or route in staple foods,
as determined by visual inspection, sales records, purchase records,
counting of stockkeeping units, or other inventory or accounting
recordkeeping methods that are customary or reasonable in the retail
food industry;
``(2) an establishment'';
(B) by striking ``section, (3) a store'' and inserting the
following: ``section;
``(3) a store''; and
(C) by striking ``section, and (4) any private'' and
inserting the following: ``section; and
``(4) any private''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(u)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), `staple foods' means
foods (as defined in subsection (g)) in the following categories:
``(A) Meat, poultry, or fish.
``(B) Bread or cereals.
``(C) Vegetables or fruits.
``(D) Dairy products.
``(2) `Staple foods' do not include accessory food items, such as
coffee, tea, cocoa, carbonated and uncarbonated drinks, candy,
condiments, and spices.''.

2e146a8db72a69c249efcd5146d0bded42072d552d28e797e64b287d0ad112a2

Paragraph (2) of section 9(a) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7
U.S.C. 2018(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows:
``(2) The Secretary shall issue regulations providing for_
``(A) the periodic reauthorization of retail food stores and
wholesale food concerns; and
``(B) periodic notice to participating retail food stores and
wholesale food concerns of the definitions of `retail food store',
`staple foods', `eligible foods', and `perishable foods'.''.

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STORES AND WHOLESALE FOOD CONCERNS.
Section 9(c) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2018(c)) is
amended_
(1) in the second sentence, by inserting after ``disclosed to
and used by'' the following: ``Federal law enforcement and
investigative agencies and law enforcement and investigative
agencies of a State government for the purposes of administering or
enforcing this Act or any other Federal or State law and the
regulations issued under this Act or such law, and'';
(2) by inserting after the second sentence the following new
sentence: ``Any person who publishes, divulges, discloses, or makes
known in any manner or to any extent not authorized by Federal law
(including a regulation) any information obtained under this
subsection shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not
more than 1 year, or both.''; and
(3) in the last sentence, by striking ``Such purposes shall not
exclude'' and inserting the following: ``The regulations shall
establish the criteria to be used by the Secretary to determine
whether the information is needed. The regulations shall not
prohibit''.

1cea3dd9990e551489cb01168cee2a1c06f4bed2e05cd357dccc2b9fc823258c

TRAFFICKING IN COUPONS.
Section 17 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2026) is amended
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(l) The Secretary shall use up to $4,000,000 of the funds provided
in advance in appropriations Acts for projects authorized by this
section to conduct demonstration projects in which State or local food
stamp agencies test innovative ideas for working with State or local law
enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute coupon trafficking.''.

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An establishment or house-to-house trade route that is otherwise
authorized to accept and redeem coupons under the Food Stamp Act of 1977
(7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) on the day before the date of enactment of this
Act shall be considered to meet the definition of ``retail food store''
in section 3(k) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2012(k)) (as amended by section
201) until the earlier of_
(1) the periodic reauthorization of the establishment or route;
or
(2) such time as the eligibility of the establishment or route
for continued participation in the food stamp program is evaluated
for any reason.

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Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Secretary of Agriculture shall prepare and submit to the Committee
on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report on the
impact of the amendments made by sections 201 and 202 on the involvement
of retail food stores in the food stamp program established under the
Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), including a description
of_
(1) the numbers and types of stores that were newly authorized
to participate in the food stamp program after implementation of the
amendments;
(2) the numbers and types of stores that were withdrawn from the
food stamp program after implementation of the amendments;
(3) the procedures used by the Secretary, and the adequacy of
the procedures used, to determine the eligibility of stores to
participate in the food stamp program and to authorize and
reauthorize the stores to participate in the food stamp program;
(4) the adequacy of the guidance provided by the Secretary to
retail food stores concerning_
(A) the definitions of ``retail food store'', ``staple
foods'', ``eligible foods'', and ``perishable foods'' for
purposes of the food stamp program; and
(B) eligibility criteria for stores to participate in the
food stamp program; and
(5) an assessment of whether the amendment to the definition of
``retail food store'' under section 3(k) of such Act (as amended by
section 201(1)) has had an adverse effect on the integrity of the
food stamp program.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.

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Food Stamp Program Improvements Act of 1994 — S. 1926

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