HR6252-119

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Food Assurance and Security Act.

2. Interagency food security measurement program The Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the Director of the Census Bureau, shall establish and maintain an interagency food security measurement program to coordinate the annual collection, analysis, and reporting of data on food insecurity and hunger. The Current Population Survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census shall include a food security supplement consistent with the questionnaire issued in 2023 that includes the questions described in paragraph (3) for the years 2026 through 2028 and continuing thereafter with questions substantially similar to those described in paragraph (3) with any amendments to the questions predicated upon robust testing, and thorough review, public input, and Office of Management and Budget clearance. The Secretary of Agriculture shall, with respect to the annual report issued pursuant to subsection (a)— include the findings related to the questions described in paragraph (3); make the report publicly available on the website of the Department; and submit such report to Congress. The questions described in this paragraph are as follows: Was the answer often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months for each of the following: We worried whether our food would run out before we got money to buy more. The food that we bought just didn’t last and we didn’t have money to get more. We couldn’t afford to eat balanced meals. In the last 12 months, did you or other adults in the household ever cut the size of your meals or skip meals because there wasn’t enough money for food? If the answer is yes with respect to subparagraph (B), how often did this happen—almost every month, some months but not every month, or in only 1 or 2 months? In the last 12 months, did you ever eat less than you felt you should because there wasn’t enough money for food? In the last 12 months, were you ever hungry, but didn’t eat, because there wasn’t enough money for food? In the last 12 months, did you lose weight because there wasn’t enough money for food? In the last 12 months, did you or other adults in your household ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn’t enough money for food? If the answer is yes to subparagraph (G), how often did this happen—almost every month, some months but not every month, or in only 1 or 2 months? In the case of a household that includes children ages 0 to 17, the following additional questions: Was the answer often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months for each of the following: We relied on only a few kinds of low-cost food to feed our children because we were running out of money to buy food. We couldn’t feed our children a balanced meal, because we couldn’t afford that. The children were not eating enough because there wasn’t enough money for food. In the last 12 months, did you ever cut the size of any of the children’s meals because there wasn’t enough money for food? In the last 12 months, were the children ever hungry because there wasn’t enough money for food? In the last 12 months, did any of the children ever skip a meal because there wasn’t enough money for food? If the answer is yes to clause (iv), how often did this happen—almost every month, some months but not every month, or in only 1 or 2 months? In the last 12 months, did any of the children ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn’t enough money for food? There is appropriated to the Secretary of Agriculture such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. Of the funds appropriated under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Agriculture shall provide funding for the costs incurred by the Census Bureau in conducting the annual food security supplement.