To amend the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to allow certain States to directly purchase commodities, and for other purposes.

This bill allows a state to receive cash funds under The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) to directly purchase agricultural commodities through the private commercial marketplace.

TEFAP is a federal program that helps supplement the diets of people with low income by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost. Through TEFAP, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) purchases a variety of commodities and makes those food products (e.g., canned, frozen, dried, and fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, meat, dairy, and whole-grain and enriched grain products) available to state distributing agencies.

Specifically, the bill allows an eligible state agency to elect to receive as cash the dollar amount used by USDA to purchase the commodities to distribute to the state.

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5059 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5059

  To amend the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to allow certain 
    States to directly purchase commodities, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 27, 2023

Ms. Tokuda (for herself, Mr. Moylan, Mrs. Peltola, Mr. Sablan, and Mr. 
    Case) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to allow certain 
    States to directly purchase commodities, 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. DIRECT PURCHASE OF COMMODITIES.

    Section 202 of the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 
7502) is amended by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
    ``(b) Direct Purchase of Commodities.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Eligible state.--The term `eligible State' 
                has the meaning given the term in section 4206(b) of 
                the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 
                7518(b)).
                    ``(B) Entitlement funds.--The term `entitlement 
                funds', with respect to an eligible State, means the 
                dollar amount used by the Secretary to purchase 
                commodities pursuant to section 27 of the Food and 
                Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2036) to distribute to 
                the eligible State in accordance with section 214.
            ``(2) Direct purchase.--The Secretary shall allow an 
        eligible State to elect to receive all of the entitlement funds 
        of the eligible State as cash to make direct purchases of 
        commodities through the private commercial marketplace.''.
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