Increasing Access to SNAP Delivery During COVID–19 Act of 2020
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · May 14, 2020
Increasing Access to SNAP Delivery During COVID-19 Act of 2020
This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to increase access to food delivery under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) national emergency.
Specifically, the bill
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Read full official summaryShow less
requires USDA to notify authorized program retailers of existing opportunities through which they can deliver food to SNAP participants, including allowing an electronic benefit transfer card to be swiped on delivery of food to the home (with a mobile device);
authorizes public-private partnerships between USDA, authorized program retailers, and community-based organizations to support food delivery, including through the use of private funds;
provides funding, which USDA must use to reimburse certain retailers for the costs of delivering food to program participants who are seniors, immunocompromised individuals, or other individuals who are unable to travel safely to a program retailer; and
requires each state to submit a plan that describes how it will coordinate with program retailers and community-based partners to expand delivery, administer reimbursements, and ensure retailers meet eligibility requirements.
Authority for USDA to carry out the bill with respect to each state shall terminate on the later of (1) the date on which the national emergency declared by the President with respect to COVID-19 is terminated, and (2) the date on which the state emergency declared in such state with respect to COVID-19 is terminated.
Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
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.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.3736 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.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.3736 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.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.3736 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.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.3736 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.