Delivering for Rural Seniors Act of 2023

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4745 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4745

    To amend the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 to 
  establish a pilot grant program to award grants to facilitate home 
delivery of commodities under the commodity supplemental food program, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 19, 2023

Mr. Molinaro (for himself, Ms. Crockett, Ms. Salinas, Ms. Caraveo, Mr. 
   Sorensen, Ms. Budzinski, Mr. Costa, Ms. Craig, Mr. Davis of North 
Carolina, Mr. Duarte, Mr. Nunn of Iowa, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Lawler, Mr. Van 
    Orden, and Mrs. Hayes) introduced the following bill; which was 
                referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 to 
  establish a pilot grant program to award grants to facilitate home 
delivery of commodities under the commodity supplemental food 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 ``Delivering for Rural Seniors Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. COMMODITY SUPPLEMENTAL FOOD PROGRAM DELIVERY PILOT PROGRAM.

    The Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 (7 U.S.C. 612c 
note) is amended by inserting after section 5 the following:

``SEC. 5A. COMMODITY SUPPLEMENTAL FOOD PROGRAM DELIVERY PILOT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Purpose.--The purposes of this section are--
            ``(1) to award grants for the operation of projects that 
        increase the access of low-income elderly persons to 
        commodities through home delivery; and
            ``(2) to evaluate such projects.
    ``(b) In General.--The Secretary shall award, on a competitive 
basis, grants to State agencies to carry out the activities described 
in subsection (e).
    ``(c) Maximum Grant Award.--A grant awarded to a State agency under 
this section may be in an amount not greater than the lesser of--
            ``(1) the State's commodity supplemental food program 
        caseload at time of application multiplied by 60; or
            ``(2) $4,000,000.
    ``(d) Application.--A State agency seeking a grant under this 
section shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in 
such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 
require.
    ``(e) Grant Uses.--A State agency awarded a grant under this 
section shall distribute grant funds to eligible entities to operate 
projects that facilitate home delivery of commodities to participants 
in the commodity supplemental food program, including with respect to 
costs associated with--
            ``(1) transportation and distribution of commodities to 
        participants in the commodity supplemental food program, 
        including transportation and distribution services provided by 
        a third party;
            ``(2) staffing required to operate home delivery services; 
        and
            ``(3) outreach to participants or potential participants in 
        the commodity supplemental food program with respect to home 
        delivery.
    ``(f) Priority.--A State agency awarded a grant under this section 
shall prioritize eligible entities that serve participants in the 
commodity supplemental food program who reside in a rural area.
    ``(g) Report to the Secretary.--No later than 180 days after the 
end of the fiscal year in which a State agency is awarded a grant under 
this section and has distributed grant funds to eligible entities, and 
in each succeeding fiscal year until grant funds are expended, a State 
agency shall submit a report to the Secretary that includes--
            ``(1) a summary of the activities carried out under the 
        project, including the quantity of commodities delivered, 
        number of participants in the commodity supplemental food 
        program served, and total number of deliveries;
            ``(2) an assessment of the effectiveness of the project, 
        including--
                    ``(A) a calculation of the average cost per 
                delivery; and
                    ``(B) an evaluation of any services provided by a 
                third party; and
            ``(3) best practices regarding use of home delivery to 
        improve the effectiveness of the commodity supplemental food 
        program.
    ``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Commodity supplemental food program.--The term 
        `commodity supplemental food program' means the program 
        established under section 4.
            ``(2) CFR terms.--The terms `local agency', `State agency', 
        and `subdistributing agency' have the meanings given such terms 
        in section 247.1 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (or 
        successor regulations).
            ``(3) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means--
                    ``(A) a local agency; or
                    ``(B) a subdistributing agency.
            ``(4) Rural area.--The term `rural area' has the meaning 
        given such term in section 343(a) of the Consolidated Farm and 
        Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)).
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2024 through 2026, to remain available until expended.''.
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