To amend the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to allow certain States to directly purchase commodities, and for other purposes.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill amends the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 by adding a direct-purchase option. For an eligible state as defined by the 2018 Agriculture Improvement Act, entitlement funds are the dollar amount USDA would otherwise use to purchase commodities under section 27 of the Food and Nutrition Act for distribution to that state. The Secretary must allow an eligible state to elect to receive all of those entitlement funds as cash so the state can directly purchase commodities through the private commercial marketplace.
Who Benefits and How
Eligible states benefit from more control over commodity selection, timing, and vendors. Food banks and emergency feeding organizations may benefit if states can buy foods that better match local needs. Private commodity sellers may benefit from state purchases that otherwise would have been made centrally by USDA.
Who Bears the Burden and How
USDA must administer cash elections instead of only federal commodity purchasing for eligible states. Eligible states that elect cash must manage purchasing, procurement, vendor relationships, and commodity distribution responsibilities that USDA otherwise would handle.
Key Provisions
- Creates a TEFAP direct-purchase option for eligible states.
- Requires USDA to let eligible states receive all entitlement funds as cash instead of federally purchased commodities.
- Authorizes eligible states to buy commodities through the private commercial marketplace.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Allows eligible states under TEFAP to take their USDA commodity entitlement funds as cash and directly purchase commodities through the private commercial marketplace.
Key Policy Areas
Agriculture, Food Assistance, State & Local Government
Primary Purpose
Allows eligible states under TEFAP to take their USDA commodity entitlement funds as cash and directly purchase commodities through the private commercial marketplace.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Eligible states
- Food banks
- Emergency feeding organizations
- Private commodity sellers
Identified Costs
- Department of Agriculture
- Eligible states
- State food assistance agencies
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture.
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Introduced in House
Ms. Tokuda (for herself, Mr. Case, Mr. Moylan, Ms. King-Hinds, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The dollar amount USDA would otherwise use to purchase commodities for distribution to an eligible state.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology