Appendix I Legal Authority

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(II) used to match Federal funds under a Federal program other than the supplemental nutrition assistance program.
RESEARCH, DEMONSTRATION, AND EVALUATIONS

SEC. 17. ø7 U.S.C. 2026¿ (a)(1) The Secretary may enter into
contracts with or make grants to public or private organizations or
agencies under this section to undertake research that will help improve the administration and effectiveness of the supplemental nutrition assistance program in delivering nutrition-related benefits.
The waiver authority of the Secretary under subsection (b) shall extend to all contracts and grants under this section.
(2) The Secretary may, on application, permit not more than
two State agencies to establish procedures that allow households
whose monthly supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits
do not exceed $20, at their option, to receive, in lieu of their supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits for the initial period
under section 8 and their regular allotment in following months,
and at intervals of up to 3 months thereafter, aggregate allotments
not to exceed $60 and covering not more than 3 months’ benefits.
The allotments shall be provided in accordance with paragraphs (3)
and (9) of section 11(e) (except that no household shall begin to receive combined allotments under this section until it has complied
with all applicable verification requirements of section 11(e)(3)) and
(with respect to the first aggregate allotment so issued) within 40
days of the last benefit issuance.
(b)(1)(A) The Secretary may conduct on a trial basis, in one or
more areas of the United States, pilot or experimental projects designed to test program changes that might increase the efficiency
of the supplemental nutrition assistance program and improve the
delivery of supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits to
eligible households, and may waive any requirement of this Act to
the extent necessary for the project to be conducted.
(B) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—
(i) PROGRAM GOAL.—The Secretary may not conduct a project under subparagraph (A) unless—
(I) the project is consistent with the goal of
the supplemental nutrition assistance program of
providing food assistance to raise levels of nutrition among low-income individuals; and
(II) the project includes an evaluation to determine the effects of the project.
(ii) PERMISSIBLE PROJECTS.—The Secretary may
conduct a project under subparagraph (A) to—
(I) improve program administration;
(II) increase the self-sufficiency of supplemental nutrition assistance program recipients;
(III) test innovative welfare reform strategies;
or
(IV) allow greater conformity with the rules of
other programs than would be allowed but for this
paragraph.
(iii) RESTRICTIONS ON PERMISSIBLE PROJECTS.—If
the Secretary finds that a project under subparagraph
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(A) would reduce benefits by more than 20 percent for
more than 5 percent of households in the area subject
to the project (not including any household whose benefits are reduced due to a failure to comply with work
or other conduct requirements), the project—
(I) may not include more than 15 percent of
the number of households in the State receiving
supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits; and
(II) shall continue for not more than 5 years
after the date of implementation, unless the Secretary approves an extension requested by the
State agency at any time.
(iv) IMPERMISSIBLE PROJECTS.—The Secretary may
not conduct a project under subparagraph (A) that—
(I) involves the payment of the value of an allotment in the form of cash or otherwise providing
benefits in a form not restricted to the purchase
of food, unless the project was approved prior to
the date of enactment of this subparagraph øAugust 22, 1996¿;
(II) has the effect of substantially transferring
funds made available under this Act to services or
benefits provided primarily through another public assistance program, or using the funds for any
purpose other than the purchase of food, program
administration, or an employment or training program;
(III) is inconsistent with—
(aa) paragraphs (4) and (5) of section 3(n);
(bb) the last sentence of section 5(a), insofar as a waiver denies assistance to an otherwise eligible household or individual if the
household or individual has not failed to comply with any work, behavioral, or other conduct requirement under this or another program;
(cc) section 5(c)(2);
(dd) paragraph (2)(B), (4)(F)(i), or (4)(K) of
section 6(d);
(ee) section 8(b);
(ff) section 11(e)(2)(B);
(gg) the time standard under section
11(e)(3);
(hh) subsection (a), (c), (g), (h)(1)(F),
(h)(2), or (h)(3) of section 16;
(ii) this paragraph; or
(jj) subsection (a)(1) or (g)(1) of section 20;
(IV) modifies the operation of section 5 so as
to have the effect of—
(aa) increasing the shelter deduction to
households with no out-of-pocket housing
costs or housing costs that consume a low percentage of the household’s income; or
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(bb) absolving a State from acting with
reasonable promptness on substantial reported changes in income or household size
(except that this subclause shall not apply
with regard to changes related to supplemental nutrition assistance program deductions);
(V) is not limited to a specific time period;
(VI) waives a provision of section 26; or
(VII) waives a provision of section 7(i).
(v) ADDITIONAL INCLUDED PROJECTS.—A pilot or
experimental project may include projects involving
the payment of the value of allotments or the average
value of allotments by household size in the form of
cash to eligible households all of whose members are
age sixty-five or over or any of whose members are entitled to supplemental security income benefits under
title XVI of the Social Security Act ø(42 U.S.C. 1381
et seq.)¿ or are receiving assistance under a State program funded under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), the use of identification mechanisms that do not invade a household’s privacy, and the use of food checks or other voucher-type
forms in place of EBT cards.
(vi) CASH PAYMENT PILOT PROJECTS.—Subject to
the availability of appropriations under section 18(a),
any pilot or experimental project implemented under
this paragraph and operating as of October 1, 1981,
involving the payment of the value of allotments in
the form of cash to eligible households all of whose
members are either age sixty-five or over or entitled to
supplemental security income benefits under title XVI
of the Social Security Act ø(42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.)¿
shall be continued if the State so requests.
(C)(i) No waiver or demonstration program shall be approved
under this Act after the date of enactment of this subparagraph
unless—
(I) any household whose food assistance is issued in a form
other than EBT cards has its allotment increased to the extent
necessary to compensate for any State or local sales tax that
may be collected in all or part of the area covered by the demonstration project, the tax on purchases of food by any such
household is waived, or the Secretary determines on the basis
of information provided by the State agency that the increase
is unnecessary on the basis of the limited nature of the items
subject to the State or local sales tax; and
(II) the State agency conducting the demonstration project
pays the cost of any increased allotments.
(ii) Clause (i) shall not apply if a waiver or demonstration
project already provides a household with assistance that exceeds
that which the household would otherwise be eligible to receive by
more than the estimated amount of any sales tax on the purchases
of food that would be collected from the household in the project
area in which the household resides.
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(D) RESPONSE TO WAIVERS.—
(i) RESPONSE.—Not later than 60 days after the
date of receiving a request for a waiver under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall provide a response
that—
(I) approves the waiver request;
(II) denies the waiver request and describes
any modification needed for approval of the waiver request;
(III) denies the waiver request and describes
the grounds for the denial; or
(IV) requests clarification of the waiver request.
(ii) FAILURE TO RESPOND.—If the Secretary does
not provide a response in accordance with clause (i),
the waiver shall be considered approved, unless the
approval is specifically prohibited by this Act.
(iii) NOTICE OF DENIAL.—On denial of a waiver request under clause (i)(III), the Secretary shall provide
a copy of the waiver request and a description of the
reasons for the denial to the Committee on Agriculture
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate.
(2) The Secretary shall, jointly with the Secretary of Labor, implement two pilot projects involving the performance of work in return for supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits in
each of the seven administrative regions of the Food and Nutrition
Service of the Department of Agriculture, such projects to be (A)
appropriately divided in each region between locations that are
urban and rural in characteristics and among locations selected to
provide a representative cross-section of political subdivisions in
the States and (B) submitted for approval prior to project implementation, together with the names of the agencies or organizations that will be engaged in such projects, to the Committee on
Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate. Under such
pilot projects, any person who is subject to the work registration
requirements pursuant to section 6(d) of this Act, and is a member
of a household that does not have earned income equal to or exceeding the allotment to which the household is otherwise entitled
pursuant to section 8(a) of this Act, shall be ineligible to participate
in the supplemental nutrition assistance program as a member of
any household during any month in which such person refuses,
after not being offered employment in the private sector of the
economy for more than thirty days (ten days in at least one pilot
project area designated by the Secretary) after the initial registration for employment referred to in section 6(d)(1)(A)(i) of this Act,
to accept an offer of employment from a political subdivision or provider pursuant to a program carried out under title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 ø(29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.)¿ 25, for
25 Effective on July 1, 2015, section 512(l)(3) of Public Law 113–128 provides for an amendment to paragraph (2) as follows: by striking ‘‘a program carried out under title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998’’ and inserting ‘‘a program carried out under title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act’’.

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