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Legislature advances bill to let eligible SNAP recipients buy prepared meals at approved restaurants
Summary
Lawmakers advanced Bill 78-38 COR, which would authorize Guam to seek federal approval to allow certain Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to use benefits at approved restaurants. The measure was amended and moved to the voting file; implementation is conditioned on federal approval and an identified local funding source.
The Guam Legislature placed Bill 78-38 COR — a measure to establish a restaurant meals program (RMP) that would allow eligible Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to buy prepared meals at authorized restaurants — onto the third-reading (voting) file after floor debate and an amendment.
Senator Calvo, the bill's sponsor, told colleagues the measure aims to expand food access for seniors, people with disabilities, and people experiencing homelessness by allowing those who cannot prepare meals to use EBT at approved restaurants and mobile vendors. She said Guam receives more than $100,000,000 in federal SNAP allocations annually and argued that "keeping these federal dollars circulating on Guam benefits restaurants, retailers, and agricultural producers."
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