S 2667 117th Congress Senate Social Welfare Drug trafficking and controlled substances Food assistance and relief Poverty and welfare assistance State and local government operations

Making Essentials Available and Lawful (MEAL) Act of 2021

Introduced: August 5, 2021 Introduced by: Booker, Cory A. Democratic · New Jersey See on congress.gov

Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Aug 5, 2021

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Aug 5, 2021

Introduced in Senate

Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Making Essentials Available and Lawful (MEAL) Act of 2021

This bill repeals a lifetime ban that prohibits individuals convicted of certain offenses related to the possession, use, or distribution of a controlled substance from receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits or assistance under programs funded by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grants. Any state law that imposes conditions on eligibility for SNAP benefits or TANF assistance based on an individual's conviction of such an offense shall have no force or effect.

In addition, individuals who are incarcerated and scheduled to be released within 30 days shall qualify as individual households for purposes of SNAP eligibility. Under current law, unless specifically excepted, individuals residing in institutions do not constitute a household.

What's happening now August 5, 2021

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Committees of jurisdiction 1