Women, infants, and children farmers’ market nutrition program; establishment, grants, etc.

A grant provided to any State under this subsection shall be provided to the chief executive officer of the State, who shall—

(A) designate the appropriate State agency or agencies to administer the program in conjunction with the appropriate nonprofit organizations; and

(B) ensure coordination of the program among the appropriate agencies and organizations.

The Secretary shall not make a grant to any State under this subsection unless the State agrees to provide State, local, or private funds for the program in an amount that is equal to not less than 30 percent of the administrative cost of the program, which may be satisfied from program income or State contributions that are made for similar programs. The Secretary may negotiate with an Indian State agency a lower percentage of matching funds than is required under the preceding sentence, but not lower than 10 percent of the administrative cost of the program, if the Indian State agency demonstrates to the Secretary financial hardship for the affected Indian tribe, band, group, or council.

Subject to paragraph (6), the Secretary shall establish a formula for determining the amount of the grant to be awarded under this subsection to each State for which a State plan is approved under paragraph (6), according to the number of recipients proposed to participate as specified in the State plan. In determining the amount to be awarded to new States, the Secretary shall rank order the State plans according to the criteria of operation set forth in this subsection, and award grants accordingly. The Secretary shall take into consideration the minimum amount needed to fund each approved State plan, and need not award grants to each State that submits a State plan.

Each State that receives a grant under this subsection shall ensure that the program for which the grant is received complies with the following requirements:

(A) Individuals who are eligible to receive Federal benefits under the program shall only be individuals who are receiving assistance under subsection (c), or who are on the waiting list to receive the assistance.

(B) Construction or operation of a farmers’ market may not be carried out using funds— (i) provided under the grant; or (ii) required to be provided by the State under paragraph (3).

(C) The value of the Federal share of the benefits received by any recipient under the program may not be— (i) less than $10 per year; or (ii) more than $30 per year.

(D) The coupon issuance process under the program shall be designed to ensure that coupons are targeted to areas with— (i) the highest concentration of eligible individuals; (ii) the greatest access to farmers’ markets; and (iii) certain characteristics, in addition to those described in clauses (i) and (ii), that are determined to be relevant by the Secretary and that maximize the availability of benefits to eligible individuals.

(E) The coupon redemption process under the program shall be designed to ensure that the coupons may be— (i) redeemed only by producers authorized by the State to participate in the program; and (ii) redeemed only to purchase fresh nutritious unprepared food for human consumption.

(F) (i) Except as provided in clauses (ii) and (iii), the State may use for administration of the program in any fiscal year not more than 17 percent of the total amount of program funds. (ii) During any fiscal year for which a State receives assistance under this subsection, the Secretary shall permit the State to use not more than 2 percent of total program funds for market development or technical assistance to farmers’ markets if the Secretary determines that the State intends to promote the development of farmers’ markets in socially or economically disadvantaged areas, or remote rural areas, where individuals eligible for participation in the program have limited access to locally grown fruits and vegetables. (iii) The provisions of clauses (i) and (ii) with respect to the use of program funds shall not apply to any funds that a State may contribute in excess of the funds used by the State to meet the requirements of paragraph (3).

(G) The State shall ensure that no State or local taxes are collected within the State on purchases of food with coupons distributed under the program.

(A) The Secretary shall give the same preference for funding under this subsection to eligible States that participated in the program under this subsection in a prior fiscal year as to States that participated in the program in the most recent fiscal year. The Secretary shall inform each State of the award of funds as prescribed by subparagraph (G) by February 15 of each year.

(B) (i) Subject to the availability of appropriations, if a State provides the amount of matching funds required under paragraph (3), the State shall receive assistance under this subsection in an amount that is not less than the amount of such assistance that the State received in the most recent fiscal year in which it received such assistance. (ii) If amounts appropriated for any fiscal year pursuant to the authorization contained in paragraph (10) for grants under this subsection are not sufficient to pay to each State for which a State plan is approved under paragraph (6) the amount that the Secretary determines each such State is entitled to under this subsection, each State’s grant shall be ratably reduced, except that (if sufficient funds are available) each State shall receive at least $75,000 or the amount that the State received for the prior fiscal year if that amount is less than $75,000.

(C) In providing funds to a State that received assistance under this subsection in the previous fiscal year, the Secretary shall consider— (i) the availability of any such assistance not spent by the State during the program year for which the assistance was received; (ii) documentation that demonstrates that— (I) there is a need for an increase in funds; and (II) the use of the increased funding will be consistent with serving nutritionally at-risk persons and expanding the awareness and use of farmers’ markets; (iii) demonstrated ability to satisfactorily operate the existing program; and (iv) whether, in the case of a State that intends to use any funding provided under subparagraph (G)(i) 2 to increase the value of the Federal share of the benefits received by a recipient, the funding provided under subparagraph (G)(i) 2 will increase the rate of coupon redemption.

(D) (i) A State that desires to receive a grant under this subsection shall submit, for each fiscal year, a State plan to the Secretary by November 15 of each year. (ii) Each State plan submitted under this paragraph shall contain— (I) the estimated cost of the program and the estimated number of individuals to be served by the program; (II) a description of the State plan for complying with the requirements established in paragraph (5); and (III) criteria developed by the State with respect to authorization of producers to participate in the program. (iii) The criteria developed by the State as required by clause (ii)(III) shall require any authorized producer to sell fresh nutritious unprepared foods (such as fruits and vegetables) to recipients, in exchange for coupons distributed under the program.

(E) The Secretary shall establish objective criteria for the approval and ranking of State plans submitted under this paragraph.

(F) (i) An amount equal to 75 percent of the funds available after satisfying the requirements of subparagraph (B) shall be made available to States participating in the program whose State plan is approved by the Secretary. If this amount is greater than that necessary to satisfy the approved State plans, the unallocated amount shall be applied toward satisfying any unmet need of States that have not participated in the program in the prior fiscal year, and whose State plans have been approved. (ii) An amount equal to 25 percent of the funds available after satisfying the requirements of subparagraph (B) shall be made available to States that have not participated in the program in the prior fiscal year, and whose State plans have been approved by the Secretary. If this amount is greater than that necessary to satisfy the approved State plans for new States, the unallocated amount shall be applied toward satisfying any unmet need of States whose State plans have been approved. (iii) In any fiscal year, any funds that remain unallocated after satisfying the requirements of clauses (i) and (ii) shall be reallocated in the following fiscal year according to procedures established pursuant to paragraph (10)(B)(ii).

(A) The value of the benefit received by any recipient under any program for which a grant is received under this subsection may not affect the eligibility or benefit levels for assistance under other Federal or State programs.

(B) Any programs for which a grant is received under this subsection shall be supplementary to the supplemental nutrition assistance program carried out under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 ( 7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) and to any other Federal or State program under which foods are distributed to needy families in lieu of supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits.

For each fiscal year, the Secretary shall collect from each State that receives a grant under this subsection information relating to—

(A) the number and type of recipients served by both Federal and non-Federal benefits under the program for which the grant is received;

(B) the rate of redemption of coupons distributed under the program;

(C) the average amount distributed in coupons to each recipient;

(D) the change in consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables by recipients, if the information is available;

(E) the effects of the program on farmers’ markets, if the information is available; and

(F) any other information determined to be necessary by the Secretary.

(A) Authorization of appropriations .— There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2015.

(B) (i) (I) Each State shall return to the Secretary any funds made available to the State that are unobligated at the end of the fiscal year for which the funds were originally allocated. The unexpended funds shall be returned to the Secretary by February 1st of the following fiscal year. (II) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, a total of not more than 5 percent of funds made available to a State for any fiscal year may be expended by the State to reimburse expenses incurred for a program assisted under this subsection during the preceding fiscal year. (ii) The Secretary shall establish procedures to reallocate funds that are returned under clause (i).

For purposes of this subsection:

(A) The term “coupon” means a coupon, voucher, or other negotiable financial instrument by which benefits under this section are transferred.

(B) The term “program” means— (i) the State farmers’ market coupon nutrition program authorized by this subsection (as it existed on September 30, 1991 ); or (ii) the farmers’ market nutrition program authorized by this subsection.

(C) The term “recipient” means a person or household, as determined by the State, who is chosen by a State to receive benefits under this subsection, or who is on a waiting list to receive such benefits.

(D) The term “State agency” has the meaning provided in subsection (b)(13), except that the term also includes the agriculture department of each State and any other agency approved by the chief executive officer of the State.