Summer Meals Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1170 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve the efficiency of summer meals. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 15, 2021 Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. REED, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. SMITH, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. KING, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. TESTER, Mr. CASEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. PADILLA, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. WYDEN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LUJA´N, and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agri- culture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve the efficiency of summer meals. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Summer Meals Act 4 of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:40 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1170.IS S1170 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1170 IS SEC. 2. SUMMER FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN. 1 (a) BETTER INTEGRATE SUMMER EDUCATION AND 2 SUMMER MEALS PROGRAM.—Section 13(a)(1)(A)(i) of 3 the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 4 U.S.C. 1761(a)(1)(A)(i)) (relating to the definition of the 5 term ‘‘area in which poor economic conditions exist’’) is 6 amended by striking ‘‘50 percent’’ each place it appears 7 and inserting ‘‘40 percent’’. 8 (b) REDUCE RED TAPE FOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE PART- 9 NERSHIPS.—Section 13(a)(8) of the Richard B. Russell 10 National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(a)(8)) is 11 amended— 12 (1) by striking the paragraph designation and 13 heading and all that follows through ‘‘Except’’ and 14 inserting the following: 15 ‘‘(8) YEAR-ROUND MEAL SERVICE.— 16 ‘‘(A) SEAMLESS SUMMER OPTION FOR 17 SCHOOLS.—Except’’; and 18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(B) YEAR-ROUND MEAL SERVICE FOR 20 OTHER SERVICE INSTITUTIONS.—Each service 21 institution (other than a service institution de- 22 scribed in subparagraph (A)), in addition to 23 being eligible for reimbursement for meals de- 24 scribed in subsection (b)(2) served during each 25 day of operation during the periods described in 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:40 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1170.IS S1170 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1170 IS subsection (c)(1), may be reimbursed for up to 1 1 meal and 1 snack per child served during 2 each day of operation during— 3 ‘‘(i) afterschool hours; 4 ‘‘(ii) weekends; and 5 ‘‘(iii) school holidays during the reg- 6 ular school calendar.’’. 7 (c) IMPROVE NUTRITION IN UNDERSERVED, HARD- 8 TO-REACH AREAS.—Section 13(a) of the Richard B. Rus- 9 sell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(a)) is 10 amended— 11 (1) by striking paragraphs (9) and (10) and in- 12 serting the following: 13 ‘‘(9) IMPROVE NUTRITION IN UNDERSERVED, 14 HARD-TO-REACH AREAS.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the avail- 16 ability of appropriations provided in advance in 17 an appropriations Act specifically for the pur- 18 pose of carrying out this paragraph, the Sec- 19 retary shall award competitive grants to service 20 institutions selected by the Secretary to in- 21 crease participation in the program by children 22 who lack the ability to access a congregate feed- 23 ing site through— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:40 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1170.IS S1170 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1170 IS ‘‘(i) innovative approaches to limited 1 transportation; 2 ‘‘(ii) mobile meal trucks; and 3 ‘‘(iii) any other method or approach 4 that does not require children to access a 5 congregate feeding site. 6 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY.—To be selected to re- 7 ceive a grant under this paragraph, a service in- 8 stitution— 9 ‘‘(i) may be located in any State; and 10 ‘‘(ii) shall— 11 ‘‘(I) submit to the Secretary an 12 application at such time, in such man- 13 ner, and containing such information 14 as the Secretary may require; 15 ‘‘(II) meet criteria established by 16 the Secretary; and 17 ‘‘(III) agree to the terms and 18 conditions of the grant, as established 19 by the Secretary. 20 ‘‘(C) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants 21 under this paragraph, the Secretary shall give 22 priority to service institutions that plan— 23 ‘‘(i) to serve both breakfast and lunch; 24 or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:40 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1170.IS S1170 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1170 IS ‘‘(ii) to serve lunch, a snack, and din- 1 ner. 2 ‘‘(D) TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT.—A serv- 3 ice institution that receives a grant under sub- 4 paragraph (A)(i) may use grant funds to pro- 5 vide reimbursement for travel. 6 ‘‘(E) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA- 7 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 8 to the Secretary to make competitive grants 9 under this paragraph $10,000,000 for each fis- 10 cal year.’’; and 11 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (11) and (12) 12 as paragraphs (10) and (11), respectively. 13 (d) THIRD MEAL.—Section 13(b)(2) of the Richard 14 B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 15 1761(b)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘only serve lunch’’ 16 and all that follows through ‘‘migrant children may’’. 17 (e) SUMMER MEAL SERVICE REIMBURSEMENT 18 AFTER EMERGENCIES AND DISASTERS.—Section 13 of 19 the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 20 U.S.C. 1761) is amended by striking subsection (r) and 21 inserting the following: 22 ‘‘(r) SUMMER MEAL SERVICE REIMBURSEMENT 23 AFTER EMERGENCIES AND DISASTERS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:40 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1170.IS S1170 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1170 IS ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF AFFECTED AREA.—In this 1 subsection, the term ‘affected area’ means an area 2 for which— 3 ‘‘(A) the President has declared a major 4 disaster in accordance with section 401 of the 5 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer- 6 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); or 7 ‘‘(B) the Governor of the State in which 8 the area is located has declared an emergency 9 or disaster under State law. 10 ‘‘(2) SUMMER MEAL REIMBURSEMENT.—In an 11 affected area, the Secretary shall, on request by a 12 State, reimburse a service institution for meals pro- 13 vided under this section to children that consume 14 the meals by a noncongregate method or approach.’’. 15 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 16 13 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 17 (42 U.S.C. 1761) is amended by adding at the end the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(s) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 20 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec- 21 essary to carry out this section for the period of fiscal 22 years 2021 through 2026.’’. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:40 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1170.IS S1170 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS