Sponsors (29)
The bill increases and targets emergency food assistance and infrastructure—improving access and nutrition for low-income, rural, and territory residents—at the cost of several hundred million dollars per year, greater administrative complexity, and a risk that higher per-unit procurement costs could reduce the total food delivered without additional funding.
Low-income households (including rural and territory residents) will receive more and potentially more nutritious emergency food because TEFAP commodities are funded at $500M/year and procurement flexibilities expand access to fresh/domestic items.
Food banks, pantries, and state agencies get multi-year, predictable federal commodity funding plus strengthened infrastructure grants, improving planning and the ability to upgrade storage and distribution capacity.
Geographically isolated States and territories will have improved and more reliable delivery options (including authority to buy domestic food up to 20% of allocation and to order via DoD programs), increasing timeliness and appropriateness of shipments.
Taxpayers face roughly $2.5 billion in additional federal spending over five years to fund the increased TEFAP commodity purchases and expanded grants.
Allowing up to 20% of commodity value to be used for domestic purchases and valuing factors beyond lowest price could raise per-unit costs, which may reduce the total volume of food distributed to needy households unless additional funds are provided.
Increased commodities, new grant requirements, and cross-agency coordination (USDA–DoD–States) create administrative and logistical risks — storage/transport strain, delivery delays, and extra compliance burdens — that could disrupt services, especially for smaller organizations.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes $500M/year (FY2026–2030) for TEFAP commodities, revises emergency food infrastructure grant law, and adds delivery/procurement flexibilities for isolated States and territories.
Introduced June 5, 2025 by Andrea Salinas · Last progress June 5, 2025
Provides a dedicated funding authorization of $500 million per year for fiscal years 2026–2030 to buy commodities for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), changes rules for emergency food program infrastructure grants, and adds delivery and procurement flexibilities for geographically isolated States and territories. It also allows coordination with the Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program and permits up to 20% of a geographically isolated State’s commodity allocation to be converted to cash-equivalent for local food purchases, while allowing produce purchases to be evaluated on factors beyond lowest price.