# Plain Language Summary: Dairy Nutrition Incentive Program Act of 2025

This bill creates a new federal program that gives people extra purchasing power when they buy dairy products with food stamps. If you receive benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), this program would offer you incentives—essentially bonus money or discounts—when you purchase milk, yogurt, cheese, and other dairy products at grocery stores and other food retailers. The incentive works at the checkout counter, where the system automatically gives you extra credit that can only be used to buy more dairy products. For example, you might get a 30-cent bonus for every dollar you spend on milk, allowing you to stretch your food budget further for these specific items.

The bill sets aside $10 million per year in federal funding to test and run these incentive programs across different communities. States, local governments, and nonprofit organizations can apply for grants to set up these projects in their areas. The government will prioritize projects that put most of the money directly into incentives for shoppers rather than administrative costs, and projects that use modern checkout technology to make the incentives work smoothly. The bill also requires that existing dairy incentive programs that are currently running be moved into this new framework so there's no interruption in services.

To make sure the program actually works, the bill requires independent researchers to evaluate each project and measure whether the incentives actually lead people to buy more dairy products. The results of these evaluations will be made public so everyone can see what's working and what isn't. If a project isn't performing well or isn't following the rules, the government can shut it down. Congress will also receive regular reports about how the program is doing and what the research shows about its effectiveness.

Dairy Nutrition Incentive Program Act of 2025

Costa, Jim

Dairy Nutrition Incentive Program Act of 2025This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a dairy nutrition incentive program to develop and test methods to increase the purchase and consumption of dairy under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).Specifically, the program must provide an incentive to SNAP benefit recipients for the purchase of naturally nutrient-rich dairy, which the bill defines to include fluid milk, yogurt, and cheese made from cow's milk. To carry out the program, USDA must enter into cooperative agreements with, or provide competitive grants to, state or local governments and nonprofit organizations for projects. The bill provides funding for the program for each fiscal year.USDA must provide for an independent evaluation of each project that measures, to the maximum extent practicable, the effect of incentives on purchases of naturally nutrient-rich dairy by SNAP recipients.Projects currently carried out by the USDA Healthy Fluid Milk Incentives (HFMI) program must be transitioned to the new dairy nutrition incentive program; the bill repeals the HFMI program one year after USDA certifies that the transition is complete.