Sponsors (24)
The bill provides modest, dedicated federal funding and evaluation to incentivize dairy purchases among SNAP participants—potentially improving access to nutrient-rich foods—while narrowing benefit flexibility to dairy products and creating modest costs for taxpayers and small vendors.
SNAP households (low-income individuals and families) will receive targeted incentives to buy nutrient-rich dairy, increasing access to nutrient-dense foods.
State agencies and program operators will have $10 million per year in dedicated funding to run incentive projects, supporting nationwide availability and predictable program support.
Retailers, nonprofits, and site operators will be able to use funds to adopt EBT-compatible point-of-sale systems, enabling broader electronic incentive delivery and participation.
SNAP beneficiaries and low-income households will have incentives limited to dairy, steering purchases toward specific products and reducing recipient choice among healthy foods.
People with dairy intolerance or who prefer non-dairy alternatives (including some parents and families) may be excluded from benefits because the program narrows promoted items to cow's-milk dairy products.
Taxpayers will fund $10 million per year, increasing federal spending and potentially adding to budget pressures absent offsets.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a USDA grant program to fund point-of-purchase incentives for SNAP households to buy specified "naturally nutrient-rich" dairy and to support EBT‑compatible POS upgrades.
Introduced March 31, 2025 by Jim Costa · Last progress March 31, 2025
Creates a new USDA grant program requiring the Secretary of Agriculture to set up a Dairy Nutrition Incentive Program within 180 days that funds competitive projects to increase purchases and consumption of “naturally nutrient-rich dairy” (fluid milk, yogurt and other cultured cow’s milk dairy products, and cheese) by SNAP households. Grants and cooperative agreements will be awarded to state or local governments and nonprofit organizations to run point-of-purchase incentive projects that use EBT‑compatible point-of-sale systems and prioritize directing funds to immediate incentives redeemable only for eligible dairy products.