HR-3903 : Still Just a Bill

The "Keeping SNAP in our Communities Act of 2023" (H.R. 3903) proposes amendments to the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, focusing on enhancing the administrative and judicial processes for retailers participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Key provisions include:

• Enhanced Notification: Requires the Secretary to notify a firm's owners, officers, and managers via email and any other means.
• Extended Response Time: Increases the time for stores to respond to adverse actions from ten to 30 days.
• Clarified Determination Process: States that administrative determinations become final if a store fails to request or submit information, subject to judicial review.
• Revised Review Process: Mandates the Secretary to review information submitted by the store and make a determination within 60 days. The agency bears the burden of proof based on a "preponderance of the evidence."
• Record Access: Requires the agency to produce all records reviewed or relied upon within 10 days of a store's request and allows disclosure of otherwise prohibited information to the store's counsel under a nondisclosure agreement.
• Reporting Requirements: Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a study within 180 days on:
  • The frequency of permanent disqualification penalties for first-time trafficking offenders, disaggregated by employee number, revenue, race, and ethnicity of owners.
  • An analysis of the Anti-Fraud Locator Using Electronic Benefits Transfer System (ALERT), including metrics for detecting fraudulent activity and how those metrics are determined and updated.
• Effective Date: The Act takes effect one year after enactment, except for the reporting requirements in Section 3, which take effect immediately.