Sponsors (17)
Introduced March 2, 2026 by Kirsten Gillibrand · Last progress March 2, 2026
The bill expands and clarifies nutrition assistance for U.S. territories—improving benefit adequacy and administrative capacity for residents of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and other high-cost jurisdictions—at the cost of higher federal spending, some transition delays/uncertainty, and less-specified funding oversight.
Low-income residents of Puerto Rico will gain access to SNAP and maintain nutrition assistance during the transition, with training and predictable approval timelines to reduce interruptions and improve benefit delivery.
Residents of higher-cost jurisdictions (Puerto Rico, Hawaii, urban and rural Alaska) will see SNAP benefit amounts and income-standard rules better reflect local food costs, improving benefit adequacy for low-income households and reducing administrative ambiguity for territorial applicants.
American Samoa’s nutrition assistance program expenditures will be fully covered by federal funds after the statutory period, providing continuity of benefits and budgetary certainty for local program administrators.
Expanding SNAP eligibility and increasing benefit levels for territories and high-cost areas (plus 100% federal coverage for American Samoa) will raise federal program costs, increasing the burden on taxpayers or requiring offsets in other spending.
Section authorizations leave funding levels and responsible agencies unspecified, creating open-ended potential costs and reducing transparency and congressional oversight of spending.
Maintaining block grant payments and permitting delayed determinations can prolong the transition, delaying Puerto Ricans’ full access to SNAP’s benefit structure and administrative protections and creating uncertainty for affected households.
Based on analysis of 14 sections of legislative text.
Permits Puerto Rico to transition from a nutrition block grant into SNAP, adds Puerto Rico to Thrifty Food Plan cost adjustments, continues the block grant during transition, and mandates full funding for American Samoa after the period.
Allows Puerto Rico to move from its current nutrition block grant toward participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by adding Puerto Rico to several qualifying and cost-adjustment provisions of the Food and Nutrition Act, setting timelines and approval rules for a transition plan, and permitting temporary continuation of the existing block grant during the transition. Requires USDA to review and approve a Puerto Rico SNAP transition plan within specified timeframes, to provide technical assistance on request, and to report annually on funding needs during the transition. Also requires full federal funding for American Samoa’s extended nutrition assistance program after the transition period, authorizes “such sums as may be necessary” to carry out the Act during the transition period, and delays the effective date of the Act’s statutory amendments until 10 years after enactment while the Act otherwise takes effect at enactment.