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S 2578 118th Congress Senate Agriculture and Food Alaska American Samoa Food assistance and relief Food supply, safety, and labeling Guam Hawaii Marshall Islands Micronesia Northern Mariana Islands Nutrition and diet Palau Poverty and welfare assistance Puerto Rico State and local government operations Virgin Islands

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

Introduced: July 27, 2023 Introduced by: Hirono, Mazie K. Democratic · Hawaii See on congress.gov
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 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jul 27, 2023
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Jul 27, 2023
Introduced in Senate
 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

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. 

What's happening now July 27, 2023

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1