PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 26, 2019
Closing the Meal Gap Act of 2019
This bill revises the requirements for calculating Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) benefits.
Specifically, the bill
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
increases the minimum SNAP benefit and requires that benefits be calculated using a low-cost food plan (i.e., the diet required to feed a family of four);
directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to determine the requirements for the low-cost food plan;
requires USDA to make adjustments to the plan to account for household size, changes in the cost of the diet, and the costs of food in specified areas;
revises the amounts authorized for nutrition assistance block grants for Puerto Rico and American Samoa and requires that the amounts be modified based on adjustments to the low-cost food plan;
modifies the requirements for calculating household income to determine SNAP eligibility by authorizing a standard medical expense deduction for households containing an elderly or disabled member and eliminating the cap on the deduction for excess shelter expenses; and
revises eligibility requirements under SNAP for certain students enrolled in institutions of higher education.
People & committees
Rep. Adams, Alma S. [D-NC-12] · D–NC
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations.
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Mar 21, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.1368 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.1368 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.1368 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.1368 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.