Access to Healthy Food for Young Children Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1270 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve the child and adult care food program. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 21, 2021 Mr. CASEY (for himself, Ms. SMITH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. REED, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. HIRONO, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. KLO- BUCHAR, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For- estry A BILL To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve the child and adult care food program. 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 ‘‘Access to Healthy 4 Food for Young Children Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1270.IS S1270 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1270 IS SEC. 2. REIMBURSEMENTS. 1 (a) CHILD CARE REIMBURSEMENTS.—Section 17(c) 2 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 3 U.S.C. 1766(c)) is amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the same as’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘10 cents more than’’; 6 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the same as’’ 7 and inserting ‘‘10 cents more than’’; and 8 (3) in paragraph (3)— 9 (A) by striking ‘‘30 cents’’ and inserting 10 ‘‘$1.01 cents’’; and 11 (B) by striking ‘‘2.75 cents’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘$0.18 cents’’. 13 (b) DAY CARE HOME REIMBURSEMENTS.—Section 14 17(f)(3)(A) of the Richard B. Russell National School 15 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(f)(3)(A)) is amended— 16 (1) by striking ‘‘Consumer Price Index for food 17 at home’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Con- 18 sumer Price Index for food away from home’’; 19 (2) in clause (ii)(III)— 20 (A) by striking ‘‘Except as provided in 21 subclause (IV),’’ and inserting the following: 22 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—Except 23 as provided in item (bb) and sub- 24 clause (IV),’’; and 25 (B) by adding at the end the following: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1270.IS S1270 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1270 IS ‘‘(bb) ADDITIONAL REIM- 1 BURSEMENT.—Effective begin- 2 ning July 1, 2022, the reim- 3 bursement factor for each meal 4 and supplement under this sub- 5 paragraph shall be increased by 6 10 cents per child served.’’; and 7 (3) in clause (iii)(I)(aa), by striking ‘‘the reim- 8 bursement factors shall be’’ and all that follows 9 through ‘‘supplements’’ and inserting ‘‘the reim- 10 bursement factors shall be $1.58 for meals other 11 than breakfast, $0.58 cents for breakfasts, and 12 $0.30 cents for supplements’’. 13 SEC. 3. STREAMLINING PROGRAM PAPERWORK IN HIGH- 14 POVERTY AREAS. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 17(c) of the Richard B. 16 Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(c)) 17 is amended by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(7) STREAMLINING PROGRAM PAPERWORK IN 19 HIGH POVERTY AREAS.— 20 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 21 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE CHILD CARE CEN- 22 TER.—The term ‘eligible child care center’ 23 means a child care center at least 50 per- 24 cent of children under the care of which 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1270.IS S1270 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1270 IS qualify for free or reduced price meals or 1 categorical eligibility as described in sub- 2 section (f)(3)(A)(iii)(III)(bb). 3 ‘‘(ii) NONPRICING PROGRAM.—The 4 term ‘nonpricing program’ means a pro- 5 gram under which an eligible child center 6 serves all children under the care of the 7 center meals and supplements under this 8 section without charge. 9 ‘‘(B) ELECTION OF SPECIAL PAYMENTS.— 10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An eligible child 11 care center may elect to receive special 12 payments under this paragraph in lieu of 13 payments otherwise made available under 14 this section based on applications for free 15 and reduced price meals and supplements 16 if— 17 ‘‘(I) subject to clause (ii), during 18 the 4 consecutive fiscal years begin- 19 ning after the date of the election, the 20 eligible child care center elects to op- 21 erate a nonpricing program; 22 ‘‘(II) the eligible child care center 23 pays, from sources other than funds 24 made available to carry out the pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1270.IS S1270 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1270 IS gram under this section, the costs of 1 serving the meals and supplements 2 that are in excess of the value of as- 3 sistance received under this Act; and 4 ‘‘(III) during the fiscal year in 5 which the election under this clause is 6 made, the eligible child care center 7 had a percentage of enrolled children 8 that meets or exceeds the threshold 9 described in subparagraph (A)(i). 10 ‘‘(ii) ELECTION TO STOP RECEIVING 11 PAYMENTS.—An eligible child care center 12 may elect to stop receiving special pay- 13 ments under this paragraph for the fol- 14 lowing fiscal year by notifying the State 15 agency not later than June 30 of the cur- 16 rent fiscal year of the intention to stop re- 17 ceiving the special payments. 18 ‘‘(C) FIRST YEAR OF OPTION.— 19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each month 20 of the first fiscal year of the 4-year period 21 during which an eligible child care center 22 elects to receive special payments under 23 this paragraph, special payments at the 24 rate for free meals and supplements shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1270.IS S1270 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1270 IS be made under this subparagraph for all 1 reimbursable meals and supplements 2 served at the eligible child care center. 3 ‘‘(ii) CALCULATION.—Special pay- 4 ments under clause (i) shall be calculated 5 using a blended per-meal rate based on a 6 formula that multiplies national average 7 payment rates by the percentage of chil- 8 dren at the eligible child care center that 9 receive free, reduced price, and paid meals 10 and supplements. 11 ‘‘(D) SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH YEARS 12 OF OPTION.— 13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each month 14 of the second, third, and fourth fiscal years 15 of the 4-year period during which an eligi- 16 ble child care center elects to receive spe- 17 cial payments under this paragraph, spe- 18 cial payments at the blended rate estab- 19 lished for the first year of the option under 20 subparagraph (C) shall be made under this 21 subparagraph for all reimbursable meals 22 and supplements served at the eligible 23 child care center. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1270.IS S1270 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1270 IS ‘‘(ii) CALCULATION.—Special pay- 1 ments under clause (i) shall be equal to the 2 product obtained by multiplying— 3 ‘‘(I) the applicable blended per- 4 meal rate; by 5 ‘‘(II) the number of meals and 6 supplements served by the eligible 7 child care center during the period be- 8 ginning on April 1 of the prior fiscal 9 year and ending on the last day of 10 that fiscal year.’’. 11 (b) COMMUNITY ELIGIBILITY PILOT PROJECTS.— 12 Section 17(c) of the Richard B. Russell National School 13 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(c)) (as amended by subsection 14 (a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(8) COMMUNITY ELIGIBILITY PILOT 16 PROJECTS.— 17 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 18 ‘‘(i) COVERED CHILD.—The term 19 ‘covered child’ means a child certified for 20 free or reduced price meals by means of— 21 ‘‘(I) direct certification under 22 paragraph (4) or (5) of section 9(b); 23 or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1270.IS S1270 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1270 IS ‘‘(II) categorical eligibility, as de- 1 scribed in subsection 2 (f)(3)(A)(iii)(III)(bb). 3 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE CHILD CARE CEN- 4 TER.—The term ‘eligible child care center’ 5 means a child care center that— 6 ‘‘(I) has a percentage of enrolled 7 children who are covered children that 8 meets or exceeds the threshold de- 9 scribed in section 11(a)(1)(F)(viii); 10 and 11 ‘‘(II) has met or exceeded that 12 threshold for a period of not less than 13 1 month in the fiscal year prior to the 14 fiscal year in which the child care cen- 15 ter would participate in a pilot 16 project. 17 ‘‘(iii) ELIGIBLE SPONSORING ORGANI- 18 ZATION.—The term ‘eligible sponsoring or- 19 ganization’ means an organization that is a 20 public or private nonprofit organization 21 acting as a sponsoring organization for 1 22 or more child care centers participating in 23 the program authorized under this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1270.IS S1270 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1270 IS ‘‘(iv) NONPRICING PROGRAM.—The 1 term ‘nonpricing program’ means a pro- 2 gram under which an eligible child care 3 center serves all children under the care of 4 the center meals and supplements under a 5 pilot project without charge. 6 ‘‘(v) PILOT PROJECT.—The term 7 ‘pilot project’ means a pilot project carried 8 out under subparagraph (B)(i). 9 ‘‘(vi) SELECTED CHILD CARE CEN- 10 TER.—The term ‘selected child care center’ 11 means an eligible child care center selected 12 under subparagraph (E) by a selected 13 State and a selected sponsoring organiza- 14 tion to implement the pilot project at that 15 child care center. 16 ‘‘(vii) SELECTED SPONSORING ORGA- 17 NIZATION.—The term ‘selected sponsoring 18 organization’ means an eligible sponsoring 19 organization selected under subparagraph 20 (D)(iv) by a selected State to coordinate 21 implementation of the pilot project in that 22 State. 23 ‘‘(viii) SELECTED STATE.—The term 24 ‘selected State’ means a State selected to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1270.IS S1270 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1270 IS carry out a pilot project under subpara- 1 graph (C)(i). 2 ‘‘(B) ESTABLISHMENT.— 3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 4 year after the date of enactment of this 5 paragraph, the Secretary shall establish a 6 program to carry out pilot projects in se- 7 lected States under which meals and sup- 8 plements are provided at no charge to 9 every child in a selected child care center. 10 ‘‘(ii) START DATE.—Each pilot 11 project shall begin in a selected State not 12 later than 1 year after the date of enact- 13 ment of this paragraph. 14 ‘‘(C) STATE SELECTION.— 15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 16 shall select not more than 6 States to each 17 carry out a pilot project in coordination 18 with a selected sponsoring organization. 19 ‘‘(ii) APPLICATIONS.—A State seeking 20 to carry out a pilot project shall submit to 21 the Secretary an application at such time, 22 in such manner, and containing such infor- 23 mation as the Secretary may require, in- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1270.IS S1270 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1270 IS cluding information about the selected 1 sponsoring organization. 2 ‘‘(iii) PRIORITY.—In carrying out 3 clause (i), the Secretary shall give priority 4 to a State based on— 5 ‘‘(I) the level of childhood poverty 6 in the service area of the selected 7 sponsoring organization; and 8 ‘‘(II) the extent to which that 9 sponsoring organization demonstrates 10 expertise and capacity in, and com- 11 mitment to, implementing the pilot 12 project. 13 ‘‘(D) SPONSORING ORGANIZATION SELEC- 14 TION BY STATES.—Prior to submitting an ap- 15 plication under subparagraph (C)(ii), each 16 State seeking to carry out a pilot project 17 shall— 18 ‘‘(i) identify each eligible sponsoring 19 organization in the State; 20 ‘‘(ii) inform each eligible sponsoring 21 organization identified under clause (i) of 22 the proposed pilot project of the State; 23 ‘‘(iii) solicit applications from eligible 24 sponsoring organizations that demonstrate 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1270.IS S1270 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1270 IS the expertise, capacity, and commitment of 1 the sponsoring organization in imple- 2 menting the pilot project; and 3 ‘‘(iv) select an eligible sponsoring or- 4 ganization to coordinate implementation of 5 the pilot project. 6 ‘‘(E) CHILD CARE CENTER SELECTION.— 7 Each selected State and selected sponsoring or- 8 ganization shall select 1 or more eligible child 9 care centers to voluntarily participate in the 10 pilot project in the selected State. 11 ‘‘(F) NONPRICING PROGRAM.— 12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Under a pilot 13 project, a selected child care center shall 14 operate a nonpricing program by— 15 ‘‘(I) receiving special assistance 16 payments under this subparagraph in 17 lieu of any other special assistance 18 payment made under this section; and 19 ‘‘(II) using non-Federal funds to 20 pay for the cost of meals and supple- 21 ments served at the selected child care 22 center that are not reimbursed under 23 the pilot project or the program au- 24 thorized under this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1270.IS S1270 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1270 IS ‘‘(ii) ELECTION TO STOP PARTICIPA- 1 TION.—A selected child care center that 2 elects to stop participating in a pilot 3 project under clause (i) shall notify the se- 4 lected State and the selected sponsoring 5 organization not later than 3 months be- 6 fore the date on which the center intends 7 to stop participation. 8 ‘‘(iii) FIRST YEAR.—For each month 9 of the first fiscal year during which a pilot 10 project is carried out in a selected State, 11 each selected child care center shall receive 12 special assistance payments at the rate for 13 free meals and supplements for a percent- 14 age of all reimbursable meals and supple- 15 ments served in selected child care centers 16 during that month in an amount equal to 17 the product obtained by multiplying— 18 ‘‘(I) the multiplier described in 19 section 11(a)(1)(F)(vii); and 20 ‘‘(II) the percentage of covered 21 children enrolled in the selected child 22 care centers as of April 1 of the prior 23 fiscal year, up to a maximum of 100 24 percent. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1 [Text truncated for display. 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