Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1918 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require alternative options for summer food service program delivery. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 20, 2019 Mr. BOOZMAN (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. BROWN, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. BENNET, and Mr. HOEVEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require alternative options for summer food serv- ice program delivery. 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 ‘‘Hunger-Free Summer 4 for Kids Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS FOR SUMMER FOOD SERV- 6 ICE PROGRAM DELIVERY. 7 Section 13 of the Richard B. Russell National School 8 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1918.IS S1918 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1918 IS (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 1 following: 2 ‘‘(13) ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS FOR PROGRAM 3 DELIVERY.— 4 ‘‘(A) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this para- 5 graph is to establish the alternative program 6 delivery options described in subparagraph 7 (B)— 8 ‘‘(i) to provide meals to children that 9 do not have readily available access to 10 meals otherwise provided under this sec- 11 tion; and 12 ‘‘(ii)(I) to increase program participa- 13 tion, effectiveness, and efficiency; 14 ‘‘(II) to improve child nutrition; and 15 ‘‘(III) to reduce food insecurity among 16 children. 17 ‘‘(B) ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS.—The Sec- 18 retary shall establish the following 2 alternative 19 options for program delivery: 20 ‘‘(i) Provision of an electronic benefit 21 card (referred to in this paragraph as an 22 ‘EBT card’) in accordance with subpara- 23 graph (C). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1918.IS S1918 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1918 IS ‘‘(ii) Off-site consumption in accord- 1 ance with subparagraph (D). 2 ‘‘(C) EBT CARD.— 3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not 4 later than summer 2022, the Secretary 5 shall make available an option to States to 6 provide program meals under this section 7 through the issuance to children of EBT 8 cards. 9 ‘‘(ii) AMOUNT.— 10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 11 subclause (III), the value of an EBT 12 card provided under this subpara- 13 graph to a child shall be $30 per 14 month. 15 ‘‘(II) ANNUAL LIMITATION.—No 16 child shall receive benefits under this 17 subparagraph in an amount greater 18 than $100 in any summer period, as 19 defined by the Secretary. 20 ‘‘(III) ADJUSTMENT.—On Janu- 21 ary 1 of each year, the Secretary shall 22 adjust the values described in sub- 23 clauses (I) and (II) by the same per- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1918.IS S1918 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1918 IS centage as the adjustment made 1 under subsection (b)(1)(B). 2 ‘‘(iii) USE OF BENEFITS.— 3 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—An EBT 4 card issued under this subparagraph 5 may be used only for the purchase of 6 food from retail stores approved for 7 participation in the supplemental nu- 8 trition assistance program established 9 under the Food and Nutrition Act of 10 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 11 ‘‘(II) BENEFIT REDEMPTION.—A 12 retail store shall redeem EBT card 13 benefits under this subparagraph in 14 the same manner that benefits are re- 15 deemed under the supplemental nutri- 16 tion assistance program described in 17 subclause (I). 18 ‘‘(III) TIMING.—An EBT card 19 issued under this subparagraph may 20 be used by a child only when school is 21 out of session for the summer period, 22 as defined by the Secretary. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1918.IS S1918 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1918 IS ‘‘(iv) ISSUANCE REQUIREMENTS.—In 1 administering this subparagraph, the Sec- 2 retary shall ensure that an EBT card— 3 ‘‘(I) is only issued to a child— 4 ‘‘(aa) who lives— 5 ‘‘(AA) in a rural area, 6 as determined by the Sec- 7 retary; or 8 ‘‘(BB) outside an area 9 in which poor economic con- 10 ditions exist; 11 ‘‘(bb) through an application 12 process developed by the Sec- 13 retary; and 14 ‘‘(cc) who has been deter- 15 mined to be eligible for a free or 16 reduced price lunch under this 17 Act and a free or reduced price 18 breakfast under section 4 of the 19 Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 20 U.S.C. 1773); and 21 ‘‘(II) is not issued to a child liv- 22 ing in an area in which a congregate 23 feeding site is operating to prevent 24 duplication in benefits. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1918.IS S1918 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1918 IS ‘‘(D) OFF-SITE CONSUMPTION.— 1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not 2 later than summer 2022, the Secretary 3 shall make available an option to States to 4 provide program meals under this section 5 through service institutions that provide 6 off-site consumption. 7 ‘‘(ii) AVAILABILITY.—In admin- 8 istering this subparagraph, the Secretary 9 shall ensure that off-site consumption is 10 only available to a child if— 11 ‘‘(I) the child is determined to be 12 eligible for a free or reduced price 13 lunch under this Act and a free or re- 14 duced price breakfast under section 4 15 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 16 (42 U.S.C. 1773); and 17 ‘‘(II) not less than 1 of the con- 18 ditions described in clause (iii) is 19 present. 20 ‘‘(iii) CONDITIONS.—The conditions 21 referred to in clause (ii)(II) are the fol- 22 lowing: 23 ‘‘(I) The child lives in a rural 24 area, as determined by the Secretary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1918.IS S1918 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1918 IS ‘‘(II) The child lives outside an 1 area in which poor economic condi- 2 tions exist. 3 ‘‘(III) The program is available 4 to the child at a congregate feeding 5 site but— 6 ‘‘(aa) the site is closed due 7 to extreme weather conditions; 8 ‘‘(bb) violence or other pub- 9 lic safety concerns in the area 10 prevent the child from traveling 11 safely to the site; 12 ‘‘(cc) the site is open not 13 more than 4 days a week; or 14 ‘‘(dd) the site provides only 15 1 meal per day. 16 ‘‘(iv) ADMINISTRATION.—In admin- 17 istering this subparagraph, the Secretary 18 shall ensure that— 19 ‘‘(I) in the case of off-site con- 20 sumption under the condition de- 21 scribed in clause (iii)(III)(cc), the 22 number of reimbursable meals served 23 to each child in a single meal service 24 is not more than 2; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1918.IS S1918 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1918 IS ‘‘(II) any meal served by a serv- 1 ice institution through off-site con- 2 sumption meets the same standards 3 for safety and quality as a meal 4 served at a congregate feeding site; 5 and 6 ‘‘(III) each State gives priority to 7 a child living in an area in which a 8 congregate feeding site is not reason- 9 ably accessible, as determined by the 10 Secretary. 11 ‘‘(E) SCOPE.—Under this paragraph, a 12 State— 13 ‘‘(i) may implement an alternative op- 14 tion described in subparagraph (B) in any 15 area described in subitem (AA) or (BB) of 16 subparagraph (C)(iv)(I)(aa) in the State; 17 but 18 ‘‘(ii) shall not simultaneously imple- 19 ment both alternative options described in 20 subparagraph (B) in the same area in the 21 State. 22 ‘‘(F) REGULATIONS.—Not later than Octo- 23 ber 1, 2021, the Secretary shall promulgate 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1918.IS S1918 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1918 IS regulations, with an opportunity for notice and 1 comment— 2 ‘‘(i) to ensure the integrity of the al- 3 ternative options for program delivery de- 4 scribed in subparagraph (B); and 5 ‘‘(ii) to prevent duplication in benefits 6 received under this paragraph.’’; and 7 (2) in subsection (n)— 8 (A) by striking ‘‘and (6)’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘(6)’’; and 10 (B) by striking the period at the end and 11 inserting ‘‘; and (7) the plans of the State for 12 using the alternative options for program deliv- 13 ery described in subsection (a)(13), if applica- 14 ble.’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1918.IS S1918 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS