# Keep Kupuna Fed Act: Plain Language Summary

This bill makes a change to how the government calculates whether older adults qualify for food assistance benefits. Right now, when someone applies for SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps), the government counts all their income—including their Social Security checks—to decide if they're eligible and how much help they can get. This bill says that Social Security income should no longer be counted when determining eligibility or benefit amounts for food assistance.

The practical effect is that seniors who receive Social Security benefits would have an easier time qualifying for food assistance and would likely receive larger benefits. For example, an older person currently might be denied food assistance because their Social Security check pushes them slightly over the income limit, even if they're struggling to afford groceries. Under this bill, that Social Security income wouldn't count against them, so they could qualify for help. The bill specifically targets "kupuna," which is the Hawaiian word for elders, reflecting that this change would particularly benefit older Americans living on fixed Social Security incomes.

This is a targeted fix for a real problem many seniors face: they receive Social Security but it's often not enough to cover all their living expenses, yet the current rules treat that income the same as other earnings when deciding on food assistance. By excluding Social Security from the income calculation, the bill aims to ensure that older adults can access the nutrition support they need without being penalized for having that basic retirement income. The change would take effect 90 days after the bill becomes law.

Keep Kupuna Fed Act

Tokuda, Jill N.

Keep Kupuna Fed Act This bill amends the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to exempt certain Social Security benefits (e.g., retirement and disability benefits) from household income for the purposes of determining program eligibility.