{"bill":{"id":"119-hr-7455","congress":119,"type":"HR","number":7455,"title":"To amend the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to allow certain States to directly purchase commodities, and for other purposes.","originChamber":"House","introducedDate":"2026-02-09","sponsors":[{"bioguideId":"T000487","fullName":"Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2]","party":"D","state":"HI","district":2}],"cosponsorsCount":5,"latestAction":{"actionDate":"2026-02-09","text":"Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture."},"policyArea":"Agriculture and Food","subjects":[],"actions":[{"date":"2026-02-09","text":"Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.","type":"IntroReferral","chamber":"House floor actions","hasVote":false},{"date":"2026-02-09","text":"Introduced in House","type":"IntroReferral","chamber":"Library of Congress","hasVote":false},{"date":"2026-02-09","text":"Introduced in House","type":"IntroReferral","chamber":"Library of Congress","hasVote":false}],"summary":"<p>This bill allows a state to receive cash funds under The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) to directly purchase agricultural commodities through the private commercial marketplace.</p><p>TEFAP is a federal program that helps supplement the diets of people with low income by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost. Through TEFAP, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) purchases a variety of commodities and makes those food products (e.g., canned, frozen, dried, and fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, meat, dairy, and whole-grain and enriched grain products) available to state distributing agencies.</p><p>Specifically, the bill allows an eligible&nbsp;state agency to elect to receive as cash the dollar amount used by USDA to purchase the commodities to distribute to the state.</p>","updateDate":"2026-04-08T14:11:57Z"},"markets":[],"stateBills":[],"meta":{"sources":["congress.gov"],"latencyMs":266,"ts":"2026-04-19T09:57:14.396Z"},"nextActions":{"inspect":[],"related":[{"description":"Search related legislation","method":"GET","url":"/api/public/query-gov?q=To%20amend%20the%20Emergency%20Food%20Assistance%20Act%20of%201983%20to%20allow%20"}]}}