NUTRITION LEGISLATION
TJC tracks state and federal legislation that impacts Tennesseans' access to food. Stay up to date and get involved in passing legislation to end hunger in Tennessee.
FEDERAL LEGISLATION
FARM BILL 2023
Sponsor: Rep. Pramila Jayapal
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This bill would remove harmful barriers to federal public benefits for immigrants. The Lifting Immigrant Families Through Benefits Access Restoration (LIFT the BAR) Act eliminates the current five-year waiting period for access to Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. This will restore access to critical aid for Green Card holders, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, individuals granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), and other lawfully present immigrants.
Sponsor: Rep. Barbara Lee
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This bill would abolish the 3-month time limit for most SNAP recipients who don’t meet work requirements. Currently, individuals ages 18-52 with no dependents who can work and do not meet other exemptions must prove that they work at least 20 hours per week to receive SNAP, otherwise they are limited to just 3 months of SNAP benefits in a three-year time period.
Sponsor: Rep. Jimmy Gomez
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Called the "EATS Act", this bill would remove the 20-hour-per-week work requirement for students enrolled in full time college that is currently required for SNAP benefits. This change would allow millions of college students to focus on learning instead of working in order to maintain their ability to eat. Hunger should not be a part of the college experience. ​
Sponsor: Rep. Grace Meng
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This bill would allow SNAP dollars to be spent on hot, prepared foods. This is a massive barrier to those without the ability to store or cook foods, effectively limiting their ability to use their SNAP benefits. ​
Sponsor: Rep. Steve Cohen
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This bill does two things: 1) it removes the lifetime ban to accessing SNAP for people with drug felonies and 2) allows them to begin the application process 30 days before their release date so they have access to benefits on Day One. This ban has been in place for almost 30 years and can contribute to recidivism.
Sponsor: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
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SNAP benefits will be calculated with a new low-cost food plan, which is a better model for current-day family needs. It would also eliminate the cap on the SNAP Excess Shelter Deduction and streamline SNAP Standard Excess Medical Deductions for persons who are older or have disabilities (with a minimum standard of $140). With these changes, people participating in SNAP would no longer have to choose between paying for food, housing, and things like medicine.
​For Tennessee Residents:
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Contact the Tennessee legislators who are serving on the House Agriculture Committee overseeing the Farm Bill. They are Rep. Scott DesJarlais (TN-04) and Rep. John Rose (TN-06). Let them know that you support bills that improve access to the SNAP program for eligible Tennesseans.
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Contact your Senators Blackburn and Hagerty and let them know you support a Farm Bill that protects the SNAP program and improves access for Tennesseans with low incomes. These bills will be voted on by both the U.S. House and Senate and your elected officials should know your position.
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For Everyone:
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Contact your elected officials directly by mail, email, phone, or in person. Whether you live in Tennessee or not, this is an option because these are federal bills and therefore all voters have a voice. To find your elected officials, you can search your address HERE.
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For information on bills that TJC opposes, please reach out to us at nutrition@tnjustice.org.
The Farm Bill is an "omnibus" legislation that is reauthorized every 5 years. An omnibus is a bill that includes many separate bills passed as one piece of legislation, and the Farm Bill is the omnibus where programs like SNAP (Food Stamps) come from, among other things. While this is federal legislation, we have separated it out because it is up for renewal this year. Every time the Farm Bill is up for reauthorization, federal legislators have the opportunity to make changes to it by introducing bills like the ones in this section.
Sponsor: Sen. Mazie Hirono
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This comprehensive bill would transform GusNIP with much-needed resources to scale up the program across the country and enable more partners to participate. Additionally, the bill provides win-win impacts for both public health and farmers with increased funding and reductions to matching requirements.
Sponsor: Reps. Rick Crawford and Dan Kildee
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This bipartisan bill will reduce program barriers to enable more partners to participate and will allow projects to expand statewide to improve access to nutrition incentives.​
Sponsor: Rep. Chellie Pingree
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This bill would simplify labels on food like "expiration" and "use by" to make them easier to understand and reduce food waste, saving Americans money on their food expenses.
OTHER SNAP LEGISLATION
​For Tennessee Residents:​
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Contact your Senators Blackburn and Hagerty and let them know you support bills that protects the SNAP program and improve access for Tennesseans with low incomes. These bills will be voted on by both the U.S. House and Senate and your elected officials should know your position.
For Everyone:
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Contact your elected officials directly by mail, email, phone, or in person. Whether you live in Tennessee or not, this is an option because these are federal bills and therefore all voters have a voice. To find your elected officials, you can search your address HERE.
This section contains bills up for consideration that affect the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, previously known as "Food Stamps") in some way, but that are not associated with the Farm Bill 2023.
Sponsor: Rep. Jasmine Crockett
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This bill would alter the language associated with the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Initiative Program (GusNIP) to include frozen vegetables as purchasing options. Currently the funds for this program can only be spent on fresh fruits and vegetables. This would increase nutrition opportunities for many citizens.
This bill is a yearly reauthorization of spending for programs like SNAP, WIC, and many more. This year's bill has several amendments that would knock thousands of Tennesseans from these programs and severely defund them. This bill has been tabled until after Labor Day, 2023, but it will likely be returning to the docket. Contact your officials and tell them that this bill must not be allowed to pass while it contains amendments that will hurt Tennesseans. ​
WIC (WOMEN, INFANTS, AND CHILDREN)
​For Tennessee Residents:​
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Contact your Senators Blackburn and Hagerty and let them know you support bills that protect the WIC program and improve access for Women, Infants, and Children in Tennessee. These bills will be voted on by both the U.S. House and Senate and your elected officials should know your position.
For Everyone:
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Contact your elected officials directly by mail, email, phone, or in person. Whether you live in Tennessee or not, this is an option because these are federal bills and therefore all voters have a voice. To find your elected officials, you can search your address HERE.
This section contains bills up for consideration that affect the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program in some way.
Sponsor: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
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This bill would allow applicants to the WIC program to conduct interviews and recertification appointments over video or phone calls instead of coming into an office.
Sponsor: Rep. Gerald Connolly
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This bill, passed in 2022, created a budget to allow WIC recipients to receive funds specifically for purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables. Through the end of September, 2023, all WIC state agencies must maintain the same increased Cash-Value Voucher/Benefit (CVB) amounts of $25 for child participants, $44 for pregnant and postpartum participants, and $49 for fully and partially breastfeeding participants. This legislation has been instrumental in ensuring Women, Infants, and Children in Tennessee have access to healthy, nutritious produce. Contact your representatives and urge them to continue this benefit moving forward.
SCHOOL MEALS
​For Tennessee Residents:​
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Contact your Senators Blackburn and Hagerty and let them know you support bills that protect and strengthen programs like NSLP (National School Lunch Program) that keep children fed and ready to learn at school. These bills will be voted on by both the U.S. House and Senate and your elected officials should know your position.
For Everyone:
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Contact your elected officials directly by mail, email, phone, or in person. Whether you live in Tennessee or not, this is an option because these are federal bills and therefore all voters have a voice. To find your elected officials, you can search your address HERE.
This section contains bills up for consideration that affect programs that feed children during school hours, such as the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).
SUMMER AND AFTER SCHOOL MEALS
​For Tennessee Residents:​
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Contact your Senators Blackburn and Hagerty and let them know you support bills that protect and strengthen programs programs like Summer EBT, SFSP (Summer Food Service Program) and CACFP (Child and Adult Care Food Program). These bills will be voted on by both the U.S. House and Senate and your elected officials should know your position.
For Everyone:
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Contact your elected officials directly by mail, email, phone, or in person. Whether you live in Tennessee or not, this is an option because these are federal bills and therefore all voters have a voice. To find your elected officials, you can search your address HERE.
This section contains bills up for consideration that affect the programs that feed children outside of school hours, such as Summer EBT, the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and others.
Sponsor: Rep. Andy Kim
This bill would make certain pandemic flexibilities to the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) permanent, including:
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Eliminating the area eligibility requirement, allowing all sites to serve free meals to all children (currently, 50% or more of an area's children must receive free/reduced school meals for this to be available);
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Eliminating the congregate feeding requirement, allowing grab-and-go meal service to continue;
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Modifying the monitoring requirements to allow sponsors to continue to monitor sites remotely, a flexibility that has allowed more community partners, like local YMCAs, to operate summer meal sites for the first time.
TENNESSEE STATE LEGISLATION
113th General Assembly
​For Tennessee Residents:​
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Contact your Representatives and Senators by clicking HERE. Urge them to support bills that strengthen the nutrition safety net programs like SNAP, WIC, or Child Nutrition, and urge them to reject bills that would harm them or introduce barriers to access.
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This section contains bills up for consideration by the Tennessee State General Assembly during the 2024 session. These are bills that, if they become law, would be specific to the state of Tennessee.
Sponsor: Rep. Fritts & Sen. Yager
This bill would exempt WIC-eligible foods from state sales tax.​
Sponsor: Rep. Raper & Sen. Lowe
THIS BILL DID NOT PASS
This bill would provide breakfast and lunch in schools to all children in Tennessee at no cost to students or their families. ​
Sponsor: Rep. McKenzie & Sen. Akbari
This bill would ensure that state employees are paid enough so that they do not qualify for state or federal benefits programs like SNAP and TANF.
Sponsor: Rep. Lamberth & Sen. Johnson
THIS BILL HAS PASSED INTO LAW
This bill would amend two programs: the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.
The TANF sections would repeal the "cap" that limits cash assistance for TANF recipients, remove an exemption to the work requirement, and would implement penalties for drug offenses and for misusing funds from the program. The SNAP sections would implement penalties for drug offenses and for misusing funds from the program.
Sponsor: Rep. Hale & Sen. Massey
This bill would create a hunger-free grant program for colleges and universities to address hunger on their campuses. ​
Sponsor: Rep. Lafferty & Sen. Lundberg
This bill would require Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) to submit annual reports about the state of hunger on college and university campuses.
Sponsor: Rep. Littleton & Sen. Stevens
This bill would do three things:
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TN Department of Human Services (the agency that administers SNAP in Tennessee) would have to seek approval from the state legislature in order to apply for federal waivers for the SNAP program.
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TDHS would no longer be allowed to exercise its option to exempt individuals from work requirements.
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SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) would become mandatory for some SNAP recipients.
Sponsor: Rep. Hawk & Sen. Watson
This bill would allow DHS to renew and alter grants made to the organization through the TANF Opportunity Act.
Sponsor: Rep. McKenzie & Sen. Yarbro
This bill would require the TN Department of Human Services (TDHS) ​to identify federal and state regulations that make processing SNAP applications and delivering SNAP benefits inefficient. It would require the department to apply for any waivers by October 31st, 2024. It would also require the department to submit a report with its findings by December 31, 2024 to the General Assembly.