The trade Puerto Rico needs

Billions in new nutrition aid through SNAP make sense, paired with federal income tax contributions that sustain the national safety net.

For more than forty years, Puerto Rico has operated under a different safety net than the fifty states. Instead of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the island receives a capped block grant called the Nutrition Assistance Program. Rather than expanding automatically as need rises, funding is fixed by Congress in advance under 7 U.S.C. § 2028.

In the states, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program functions as an automatic stabilizer that grows during recessions or disasters and shrinks as conditions improve. In Puerto Rico, the block grant does not grow. Officials cut eligibility or trim benefits to stay within the ceiling. Over time, this has meant fewer resources per household, less flexibility during crises, and greater strain on families who need help buying food. For a concise comparison, see how food assistance differs in Puerto Rico, and the program’s history, including the shift to a block grant in 1982.

Congress is now debating H.R. 5168 in the current Congress, which would let Puerto Rico join the full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The bill proposes a gradual transition from capped block-grant funding to the entitlement system used in the rest of the nation. The United States Department of Agriculture has already completed a feasibility study and an implementation plan. The technical work is done. What remains is a political decision.

Equality is a powerful idea. Every American should have access to programs that work the same way in times of need. Nutrition assistance is not a luxury; it ensures children can eat, seniors are not left behind, and families can weather setbacks. Extending SNAP to Puerto Rico would mean that when hurricanes devastate crops or inflation pushes food prices higher, federal support adjusts automatically instead of forcing officials to ration. The feasibility final report and summary show the pathway is clear.

Equality must be a two-lane road. For decades, Congress has never required residents of Puerto Rico to pay federal income taxes on income earned on the island. That exemption has coincided with participation in programs through block grants rather than entitlements. If Puerto Rico now seeks to move into the same entitlement programs as the rest of America, it must also accept the same responsibilities. Equal benefits demand equal duties, and that means contributing to the federal income tax base like every other American.

Some argue that Puerto Ricans already shoulder a heavy tax burden locally. The island does have its own income tax system, along with sales and excise taxes. Yet fairness across the American system requires more than parallel codes. If residents of the fifty states contribute to the federal income tax base to sustain entitlement programs, then residents of Puerto Rico should as well, once they are full participants.

This is full alignment with Americans, not punishment. Full participation in SNAP would bring billions in additional resources to families in need, stabilizing local economies and improving nutrition outcomes. Those benefits would no longer be capped. In exchange, Puerto Rico would contribute directly to the same pool of federal revenue that sustains entitlement programs nationwide. The trade is rooted in dignity: equal treatment in benefits, equal responsibility in contributions.

Work requirements must be part of the design. SNAP already includes expectations for able-bodied adults, reinforced by federal employment and training programs. Extending SNAP to Puerto Rico with those requirements, and ensuring the island receives the same employment and training funding as the states, would connect assistance directly to pathways into the labor force. Puerto Rico’s economy would gain stronger consumer demand and a more attached workforce.

The political moment is ripe. Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner has introduced legislation to bring the island into SNAP. The Governor has voiced support. The United States Department of Agriculture has mapped the path. All that remains is for Congress to decide. Lawmakers should act with clarity and courage: extend SNAP to Puerto Rico, and at the same time, extend the duty to pay federal income taxes.

For too long, Puerto Rico has operated on a parallel track of American policy. The choice now is whether to remain under a capped block grant or to merge fully into the entitlement structure that protects every other American community. True equality requires both sides of the ledger. If Puerto Rico is to receive entitlements that grow when families need them, then it must also contribute to the national tax base that sustains them.

America at its best is built on reciprocity. Equalizing SNAP and applying federal income taxes together honors that principle. Equal benefits. Equal duties. That is the way forward for Puerto Rico and for the integrity of the American promise itself.

Javier Ortiz is a partner at Falcon Cyber Investments and the former executive director of the Puerto Rico Economic Recovery Initiative (2016)