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To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to reform the restaurant meals program, and for other purposes.
Summary
The bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to reform the restaurant meals program under SNAP (food assistance). It restricts eligible restaurants to retail food stores that operate prepared food sections, hot bars, or deli counters but are not primarily engaged in quick-service or fast-food sales, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture. Eligible meals must be prepared for immediate consumption and contain at least one fruit or vegetable and one protein source. The bill also expands reporting requirements to include participation numbers, locations, benefits redeemed, program costs, and effectiveness data, and clarifies that spouses of SNAP-eligible individuals cannot participate in the restaurant meals program.
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)
- Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (R-IA)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Joni Ernst’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $57,653
- CAPITAL GROUP $40,000
- SOROBAN CAPITAL $13,200
- CAPITAL GROUP COMPANIES $7,500
- GOOGLE $6,800
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Joni Ernst → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Nov 20, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. · senate
- Nov 20, 2025 Introduced in Senate
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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 20, 2025
Ms. Ernst introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
A BILL
To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to reform the restaurant meals program, 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 “McStopping Chains from Using SNAP EBT to Make Entrees Act of 2025” or the “McSCUSE ME Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. RESTAURANT MEALS PROGRAM.
Section 9(h) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2018(h)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)—
(A) by striking “determines that the participation” and inserting the following: “determines that—
“(A) the private establishment is a retail food store that—
“(i) operates a prepared food section, hot bar, or deli counter;
“(ii) is not primarily engaged in the sale of quick-service or fast-food items, as determined by the Secretary; and
“(iii) meets all State and local food safety and health standards applicable to grocery stores or supermarkets; and
“(B) the participation”;
(2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (6);
(3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
“(3) Eligible meals.—Benefits may be redeemed under the program under this subsection from a private establishment described in paragraph (2)(A) only for meals from a prepared food section, hot bar, or deli counter that—
“(A) are intended for immediate consumption; and
“(B) contain at least—
“(i) 1 fruit or vegetable; and
“(ii) 1 protein, as defined by the Secretary.
“(4) Single authorization.—
“(A) In general.—A retail food store authorized under section 9 shall not be required to obtain a separate authorization for participating in the program under this section.
“(B) EBT systems.—The Secretary shall ensure that State agencies maintain or update EBT card coding and retailer coding systems necessary to restrict redemption of benefits under this subsection to eligible households.
“(5) Spousal exclusion.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a spouse of an individual eligible for benefits under the supplemental nutrition assistance program shall not be eligible to participate in the program under this subsection.”; and
(4) in paragraph (6) (as so redesignated), by striking “Senate a report on the effectiveness of a” and inserting the following: “Senate, and make publicly available, a report describing—
“(A) the number of private establishments participating in the program under this subsection;
“(B) for each private establishment participating in the program under this subsection—
“(i) the name and location of the private establishment; and
“(ii) the amount of benefits redeemed at the private establishment;
“(C) the number of individuals receiving benefits under the program under this subsection;
“(D) the costs of the program under this subsection; and
“(E) the effectiveness of the”. <all>
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