Restaurant Meals Program Reform Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Representative Messmer
Introduced
Summary
Limits SNAP restaurant meal redemptions to grocery-style prepared foods with basic nutrition rules. The bill would narrow which private businesses can accept restaurant-meal redemptions and set meal content standards while adding eligibility and reporting rules.
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- Households and meal recipients: Would allow restaurant-style SNAP redemptions only for meals from a store's prepared-food section, hot bar, or deli that are meant for immediate consumption and contain at least one fruit or vegetable and one protein. This changes what SNAP dollars can buy at participating retailers.
- Spouses of SNAP recipients: Would make spouses ineligible for the restaurant-meals option, narrowing who can use this part of the program.
- Retailers and state agencies: Would limit participation to retail food stores not primarily selling fast food and that meet grocery safety standards. Stores authorized for SNAP would not need a separate restaurant-meal authorization.
- Systems and transparency: Would require states to update electronic benefits transfer (EBT) and retailer coding to restrict redemptions and would require public reporting to the Senate on participating establishments, redemptions, beneficiary counts, costs, and program effectiveness.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Stricter rules for SNAP restaurant purchases
This bill would narrow what SNAP recipients can buy with EBT at restaurants. Benefits would only be redeemable at grocery-style retail food stores that run a prepared food section, hot bar, or deli counter. Meals would have to be ready to eat and include at least one fruit or vegetable and at least one protein, as defined by the Secretary. Stores that are mainly quick-service or fast-food would be excluded, and participating stores must meet state and local grocery food safety rules. Retail food stores already authorized for SNAP would not need a separate approval to join this restaurant program. The Secretary would require states to maintain or update EBT and retailer coding to limit redemptions to eligible households. A spouse of a SNAP-eligible person would not be allowed to use this restaurant meals option. The Secretary would also deliver a public report to the Senate listing participating stores (name and location), benefits redeemed at each store, number of users, program costs, and program effectiveness.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Messmer
IN • R
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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