Food Bank Emergency Support Act of 2025

Summary#

This bill would provide $462,500,000 from the Treasury to be used under the authority of section 27 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to carry out the emergency food assistance program under the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983. The funds would be available to spend when either (1) current appropriated funds are insufficient to carry out the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 without reducing benefit amounts, or (2) the Secretary of Agriculture determines that available budget authority is insufficient to provide timely full benefit payments for all eligible households. The funds may be used during a lapse in appropriations and after such a lapse. The bill also states that officers, employees, or contractors who carry out section 27 (including executing orders for commodity distribution) are to be treated as excepted from furlough under 31 U.S.C. 1342 as services for emergencies involving the safety of human life or protection of property. The bill takes effect as if enacted on September 30, 2025.

What it means for you#

  • If you operate or rely on emergency food assistance programs, this bill would make a specific pool of federal money available to support those programs when funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is unavailable or certified as insufficient.
  • The bill allows those emergency food activities to continue during and after a lapse in appropriations.
  • Federal employees or contractors who run the emergency food activities named in the bill would be treated as excepted from furlough for those duties.
  • The bill text does not change other program rules or SNAP benefit levels.

Expenses#

  • The bill appropriates $462,500,000 from the Treasury, available until expended, for use under section 27 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to carry out the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983.
  • No publicly available information on additional costs, offsets, or budget estimates is included in the bill text or provided metadata.

Proponents' View#

  • The bill’s stated purpose is to provide supplemental appropriations to carry out emergency food assistance when SNAP funding lapses or when budget authority is insufficient, and to keep staff and contractors working on those activities excepted from furlough. Supporters would point to the bill text as aiming to maintain emergency food distribution during funding interruptions.

Opponents' View#

  • No publicly available information.