Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act

What it does

If Congress passes it, the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act would address inequalities in food assistance to Puerto Ricans and would enable Puerto Rico to fully participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP. Puerto Rico was excluded from SNAP in 1981, which has resulted in the loss of billions of dollars in aid and reduced nutrition benefits; the transition resulted in an immediate 25% reduction in nutrition aid for Puerto Ricans and reduced Puerto Rico’s ability to provide nutrition assistance during natural disasters. This bill would require USDA to provide appropriate training and technical assistance to enable Puerto Rico to participate in SNAP.

Who supports this bill?

The Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act is a bicameral, bipartisan bill, which means that it has some support both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, as well as both among Democrats and Republicans. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Chuck Schumer, Richard Blumenthal and Representative Jenniffer González-Colón introduced this bill. In the Senate, this bill is referred to as S. 949 and these Senators are already supporting the bill. In the House, this bill is referred to as H.R. 253 and these Representatives are already supporting the bill.

This bill is endorsed by the Hispanic Federation and Food Research & Action Center.

Want to support this bill?

If your Senators and House Representative aren’t already on the list of cosponsors for the bill:

• Ask your two Senators to “cosponsor the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act, S.949.”
• Ask your House Representative to “cosponsor the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act, H.R.253.”

If your elected officials are already supporting this bill, you can always contact them to thank them and help spread the word among your networks.

Resources

If you’d like to learn more about the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act, you can:

• Find instructions for calling or writing your Senators and Representative (tip: enter your address)
• Track the bill’s progress on Congress.gov or GovTrack
• Learn why lawmakers are supporting this bill (Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s press release)
• Read the full bill text

See more bills worthy of your support in the 2023 Farm Bill.