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Affordable Food and Energy Act of 2026
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to expand benefits to households eligible for Federal and State energy assistance programs, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to expand Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for households receiving energy assistance. It allows households that received at least $20 annually in payments under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act or similar state energy assistance programs to access a standard utility allowance when calculating their SNAP benefits. The bill treats energy assistance payments as income available to households and treats energy assistance expenses paid on behalf of households as deductible out-of-pocket expenses for SNAP calculation purposes. These changes effectively increase SNAP benefits for households receiving energy assistance.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Actions (3)
- May 20, 2026 Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture. · house
- Jan 14, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. · house
- Jan 14, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 14, 2026
Ms. McDonald Rivet introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to expand benefits to households eligible for Federal and State energy assistance programs, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Affordable Food and Energy Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. HOUSEHOLD ASSISTANCE.
Section 5 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014) is amended—
(1) by amending subsection (e)(6)(C)(iv)(I) to read as follows:
“(I) In general.—Subject to subclause (II), if a State agency elects to use a standard utility allowance that reflects heating and cooling costs, the standard utility allowance shall be made available to households that received a payment, or on behalf of which a payment was made, under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621 et seq.) or other similar energy assistance program, if in the current month or in the immediately preceding 12 months, the household either received such a payment, or such a payment was made on behalf of the household, that was greater than $20 annually, as determined by the Secretary.”, and
(2) by amending subsection (k)(4) to read as follows:
“(4) Third party energy assistance payments.—
“(A) Energy assistance payments.—For purposes of subsection (d)(1), a payment made under a State law (other than a law referred to in paragraph (2)(G)) to provide energy assistance to a household shall be considered money payable directly to the household.
“(B) Energy assistance expenses.—For purposes of subsection (e)(6), an expense paid on behalf of a household under a State law to provide energy assistance shall be considered an out-of-pocket expense incurred and paid by the household.”.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect July 4, 2025. <all>
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