NAP Funding to be Included in Disaster Relief Bill

U.S. Senator David Perdue (R-GA) announced that he will introduce a supplemental disaster relief bill this week. According to Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González (R-PR), the bill will include $600 million in Nutritional Assistance Program (NAP) funds for Puerto Rico. The Island’s current NAP funding will expire in March, leaving close to 1 million residents without NAP benefits.

The House had previously passed a measure that included NAP funding, but it was blocked in the Senate after President Trump called the provision “excessive and unnecessary” in a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) issued in January. The House bill was part of an effort to reopen government during the recent shutdown. Sen. Perdue’s bill, if enacted, would leave in place the disparity between Puerto Ricans and citizens living on the mainland, where recipients of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) receive greater benefits.

Sanders, Warren, Velázquez, Others to Introduce SNAP Bill for the Island

Liberal senators and presidential candidates, Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), along with Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and other Members of Congress, plan to introduce a bill this week to include Puerto Rico and other territories in the SNAP program. The bill itself is taken from a previous, larger effort to create a “Marshall Plan” reconstruction bill for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Unlike the current NAP program in Puerto Rico, SNAP benefits automatically increase after the natural disasters and the program itself is considered a better mechanism. SNAP also receives greater federal funding, which many feel is necessary given Puerto Rico’s 46% poverty rate.

Congressional Delegation Trips to Puerto Rico on Schedule

There are two groups from two major committees of jurisdiction in Congress that have scheduled Congressional Delegation trips (CoDel) to Puerto Rico. The first, scheduled to arrive as soon as this weekend, is organized by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS). Chairman Thompson will be accompanied by freshman Congressman Chuy García (D-IL) and Rep. Al Green (D-TX). Green and García also sit on the House Financial Services Committee.

Later in March, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) will also take members of his committee to visit Puerto Rico. Final dates and participating members have not been finalized. Grijalva said he wants to speak with members of the community and focus on energy, hurricane relief, the economy, and other pressing issues.