Sponsors (11)
The bill clarifies and likely expands what foods count under SNAP—improving access and administrative clarity for participants and agencies—but could raise program costs and create short-term administrative uncertainty during implementation.
Low-income individuals who receive SNAP will have clearer access to a broader range of eligible foods because cross-references are broadened from clause-level to paragraph-level.
State agencies and the USDA will have clearer statutory guidance to administer SNAP, reducing legal ambiguity and helping produce more consistent benefit determinations.
Taxpayers and federal/state program budgets could face higher SNAP costs if the broadened definition of eligible food increases benefit redemptions or program outlays.
SNAP recipients, retailers, and state agencies may face short-term uncertainty and inconsistent benefit determinations during the transition as agencies interpret the changed cross-references.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Amends the SNAP statutory definition of eligible food by changing internal cross‑references and wording, likely broadening/clarifying which items count as SNAP‑eligible.
Official title: Amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to modify the definition of food.
Introduced April 21, 2026 by James Conley Justice · Last progress April 21, 2026
Amends the Food and Nutrition Act definition of eligible food for SNAP by changing wording and cross‑references in 7 U.S.C. § 2012(k)(1). The edits replace "clauses" with "paragraphs," remove a limiting phrase ("of this subsection"), and insert new text before an existing semicolon—together altering how the Secretary of Agriculture and state SNAP administrators read which items count as SNAP-eligible foods. The change is textual but substantive: it can broaden or clarify internal references and thus affect benefit eligibility determinations and program administration.