Sponsors (17)
The bill increases and targets federal nutrition support for U.S. territories—improving benefit adequacy and program capacity for territory residents—while raising federal costs, adding administrative burdens, and (as written) delaying the changes for most Americans for ten years.
Low-income residents of Puerto Rico would gain access to SNAP benefits and receive federal training, technical assistance, and deadline-driven oversight to speed program approval and enrollment.
Low-income households in Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico would have SNAP benefit calculations adjusted to better reflect higher local food costs, improving benefit adequacy for those areas.
Residents of American Samoa would have specified nutrition-assistance expenditures fully covered by federal payments (providing budget predictability) and clarifying statutory text would reduce administrative confusion when implementing territorial payments.
All Americans: The Act’s amendments are delayed for 10 years, postponing any benefits, protections, or new obligations the changes would create.
Taxpayers would likely face increased federal spending to expand SNAP eligibility, adjust benefit calculations for higher local costs, and cover 100% of certain territorial nutrition expenditures.
State, territorial, and federal administrators — and some residents — could face increased administrative burden and uncertainty from new or unspecified eligibility/definition text, state-plan compliance requirements, and USDA reporting and transition management.
Based on analysis of 14 sections of legislative text.
Requires Puerto Rico to seek transition to SNAP with specific deadlines, allows up to a 5-year block-grant continuation, and delays statutory amendments for 10 years.
Introduced March 2, 2026 by Kirsten Gillibrand · Last progress March 2, 2026
Directs Puerto Rico to seek transition from its current nutrition block-grant program to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), sets specific submission and approval deadlines, allows temporary continuation of Puerto Rico’s block grant for up to five years, and requires USDA reporting on funding needs. The bill also amends the Food and Nutrition Act to adjust cost-of-living language and to add Puerto Rico into certain program provisions, but it delays the legal effect of those statutory amendments for 10 years after enactment.