Universal School Meals Program Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4684 To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to make breakfasts and lunches free for all children, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 15, 2019 Ms. OMAR (for herself, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. MOORE, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, and Ms. HAALAND) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to make break- fasts and lunches free for all children, and for other purposes. 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Universal School Meals Program Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4684.IH H4684 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4684 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Effective date. TITLE I—SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM Sec. 101. General elimination of reduced price breakfasts. Sec. 102. Free school breakfast program. TITLE II—SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM Sec. 201. General repeal of reduced price lunches. Sec. 202. Apportionment to States. Sec. 203. Nutritional and other program requirements. Sec. 204. Special assistance program. Sec. 205. Price for a paid lunch. Sec. 206. Summer food service program for children. Sec. 207. Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children Program. Sec. 208. Child and adult care food program. Sec. 209. Meal supplements and meals for children in afterschool care. Sec. 210. Access to local foods: farm to school program. Sec. 211. Fresh fruit and vegetable program. Sec. 212. Training, Technical Assistance, and Food Service Management Insti- tute. Sec. 213. Reimbursement of school meal delinquent debt program. TITLE III—ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION DATA Sec. 301. Measure of poverty. TITLE IV—AMENDMENTS TO OTHER PROGRAMS AND LAWS Sec. 401. Supplemental nutrition assistance program. Sec. 402. Higher Education Act of 1965. Sec. 403. Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Sec. 404. America COMPETES Act. Sec. 405. Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Sec. 406. National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002. Sec. 407. Child care and development block grant. Sec. 408. Children’s Health Act of 2000. Sec. 409. Juvenile justice and delinquency prevention. SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. 3 Unless otherwise provided, this Act, and the amend- 4 ments made by this Act, shall take effect 1 year after the 5 date of enactment of this Act. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4684.IH H4684 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4684 IH TITLE I—SCHOOL BREAKFAST 1 PROGRAM 2 SEC. 101. GENERAL ELIMINATION OF REDUCED PRICE 3 BREAKFASTS. 4 The Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 5 et seq.) is amended— 6 (1) by striking ‘‘or reduced price’’ each place it 7 appears; 8 (2) by striking ‘‘and reduced price’’ each place 9 it appears; and 10 (3) by striking ‘‘a reduced price’’ each place it 11 appears. 12 SEC. 102. FREE SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4(a) of the Child Nutri- 14 tion Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773(a)) is amended, in the 15 first sentence— 16 (1) by striking ‘‘is hereby’’ and inserting ‘‘are’’; 17 and 18 (2) by inserting ‘‘to provide free breakfast to all 19 children enrolled at those schools’’ before ‘‘in accord- 20 ance’’. 21 (b) APPORTIONMENT TO STATES.—Section 4(b) of 22 the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773(b)) is 23 amended— 24 (1) in paragraph (1)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4684.IH H4684 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4684 IH (A) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking 1 subclause (II) and inserting the following: 2 ‘‘(II) the national average pay- 3 ment for free breakfasts, as specified 4 in subparagraph (B).’’; 5 (B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in- 6 serting the following: 7 ‘‘(B) PAYMENT AMOUNTS.— 8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The national aver- 9 age payment for each free breakfast shall 10 be $2.72, adjusted annually for inflation in 11 accordance with clause (ii) and rounded in 12 accordance with clause (iii). 13 ‘‘(ii) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 14 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The annual 15 inflation adjustment under clause (i) 16 shall reflect changes in the cost of op- 17 erating the free breakfast program 18 under this section, as indicated by the 19 change in the Consumer Price Index 20 for food away from home for all urban 21 consumers. 22 ‘‘(II) BASIS.—Each inflation an- 23 nual adjustment under clause (i) shall 24 reflect the changes in the Consumer 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4684.IH H4684 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4684 IH Price Index for food away from home 1 for the most recent 12-month period 2 for which that data is available. 3 ‘‘(iii) ROUNDING.—On July 1, 2020, 4 and annually thereafter, the national aver- 5 age payment rate for free breakfast shall 6 be— 7 ‘‘(I) adjusted to the nearest 8 lower-cent increment; and 9 ‘‘(II) based on the unrounded 10 amounts for the preceding 12-month 11 period.’’; 12 (C) by striking subparagraphs (C) and 13 (E); and 14 (D) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 15 subparagraph (C); 16 (2) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3); 17 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 18 paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and 19 (4) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated), by 20 striking ‘‘paragraph (3) or (4)’’ and inserting ‘‘para- 21 graph (2)’’. 22 (c) STATE DISBURSEMENT TO SCHOOLS.—Section 4 23 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773) is 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4684.IH H4684 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4684 IH amended by striking subsection (c) and inserting the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(c) STATE DISBURSEMENT TO SCHOOLS.—Funds 3 apportioned and paid to any State for the purpose of this 4 section shall be disbursed by the State educational agency 5 to schools selected by the State educational agency to as- 6 sist those schools in operating a breakfast program.’’. 7 (d) NO COLLECTION OF DEBT.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 9 provision of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 10 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) or any other provision of law, 11 effective beginning on the date of enactment of this 12 Act, as a condition of participation in the breakfast 13 program under section 4 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 14 1773), a school— 15 (A) shall not collect any debt owed to the 16 school for unpaid meal charges; and 17 (B) shall continue to accrue debt for un- 18 paid meal charges— 19 (i) for the purpose of receiving reim- 20 bursement under section 213; and 21 (ii) until the effective date specified in 22 section 2. 23 (2) CHILD NUTRITION ACT OF 1966.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4684.IH H4684 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4684 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Child 1 Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773) is 2 amended by striking subsection (d) and insert- 3 ing the following: 4 ‘‘(d) NO COLLECTION OF DEBT.—A school partici- 5 pating in the free breakfast program under this section 6 shall not collect any debt owed to the school for unpaid 7 meal charges.’’. 8 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 9 23(a) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 10 U.S.C. 1793(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘school 11 in severe need, as described in section 4(d)(1)’’ 12 and inserting the following: ‘‘school— 13 ‘‘(1) that has a free breakfast program under 14 section 4 or seeks to initiate a free breakfast pro- 15 gram under that section; and 16 ‘‘(2) of which not less than 40 percent of the 17 students are identified students (as defined in para- 18 graph (8) of section 1113(a) of the Elementary and 19 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 20 6313(a)))’’. 21 (e) NUTRITIONAL AND OTHER PROGRAM REQUIRE- 22 MENTS.—Section 4(e) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 23 (42 U.S.C. 1773(e)) is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4684.IH H4684 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4684 IH (1) in paragraph (1)(A), in the second sentence, 1 by striking ‘‘free or’’ and all that follows through 2 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘free to all chil- 3 dren enrolled at a school participating in the school 4 breakfast program.’’; and 5 (2) in paragraph (2), in the second sentence, by 6 striking ‘‘the full charge to the student for a break- 7 fast meeting the requirements of this section or’’. 8 (f) PROHIBITION ON BREAKFAST SHAMING, MEAL 9 DENIAL.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Effective beginning on the 11 date of enactment of this Act, a school or school 12 food authority— 13 (A) shall not— 14 (i) physically segregate or otherwise 15 discriminate against any child participating 16 in the breakfast program under section 4 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 18 U.S.C. 1773); or 19 (ii) overtly identify a child described 20 in clause (i) by a special token or ticket, 21 an announced or published list of names, 22 or any other means; and 23 (B) shall provide the program meal to any 24 child eligible under the program. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4684.IH H4684 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4684 IH (2) CHILD NUTRITION ACT OF 1966.—Section 4 1 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773) 2 is amended by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION ON BREAKFAST SHAMING.—A 4 school or school food authority shall not— 5 ‘‘(1) physically segregate or otherwise discrimi- 6 nate against any child participating in the free 7 breakfast program under this section; or 8 ‘‘(2) overtly identify a child described in para- 9 graph (1) by a special token or ticket, an announced 10 or published list of names, or any other means.’’. 11 (g) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OVERSEAS DEPEND- 12 ENTS’ SCHOOLS.—Section 20(b) of the Child Nutrition 13 Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1789(b)) is amended— 14 (1) by striking ‘‘and reduced-price’’; and 15 (2) by striking ‘‘and shall’’ and all that follows 16 through ‘‘section’’. 17 TITLE II—SCHOOL LUNCH 18 PROGRAM 19 SEC. 201. GENERAL REPEAL OF REDUCED PRICE LUNCHES. 20 The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 21 (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) is amended— 22 (1) by striking ‘‘or reduced price’’ each place it 23 appears; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4684.IH H4684 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4684 IH (2) by striking ‘‘or a reduced price’’ each place 1 it appears; 2 (3) by striking ‘‘and reduced price’’ each place 3 it appears; and 4 (4) by striking ‘‘a reduced price’’ each place it 5 appears. 6 SEC. 202. APPORTIONMENT TO STATES. 7 Section 4(b) of the Richard B. Russell National 8 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1753(b)) is amended— 9 (1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 10 following: 11 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT AMOUNTS.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The national average 13 payment for each free lunch shall be $3.81, ad- 14 justed annually for inflation in accordance with 15 subparagraph (C) and rounded in accordance 16 with subparagraph (D). 17 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL PAYMENT FOR LOCAL 18 FOOD.— 19 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF LOCALLY- 20 SOURCED FARM PRODUCT.—In this sub- 21 paragraph, the term ‘locally-sourced farm 22 product’ means a farm product that— 23 ‘‘(I) is marketed to consumers— 24 ‘‘(aa) directly; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4684.IH H4684 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4684 IH ‘‘(bb) through intermediated 1 channels (such as food hubs and 2 cooperatives); and 3 ‘‘(II) with respect to the school 4 food authority purchasing the farm 5 product, is produced and distrib- 6 uted— 7 ‘‘(aa) in the State in which 8 the school food authority is lo- 9 cated; or 10 ‘‘(bb) not more than 250 11 miles from the location of the 12 school food authority. 13 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL PAYMENT ELIGI- 14 BILITY.—During a school year, a school 15 food authority shall receive an additional 16 payment described in clause (iii) if the 17 State certifies that the school food author- 18 ity served meals (including breakfasts, 19 lunches, and supplements) during the last 20 school year of which not less than 30 per- 21 cent were made with locally-sourced farm 22 products. 23 ‘‘(iii) PAYMENT AMOUNT.—The addi- 24 tional payment amount for each free lunch 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4684.IH H4684 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4684 IH under this subparagraph shall be $0.30, 1 adjusted annually in accordance with sub- 2 paragraph (C) and rounded in accordance 3 with subparagraph (D). 4 ‘‘(iv) DISBURSEMENT.—The State 5 agency shall disburse funds made available 6 under this clause to school food authorities 7 eligible to receive additional reimburse- 8 ment. 9 ‘‘(C) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The annual infla- 11 tion adjustment under subparagraphs (A) 12 and (B)(iii) shall reflect changes in the 13 cost of operating the free lunch program 14 under this Act, as indicated by the change 15 in the Consumer Price Index for food away 16 from home for all urban consumers. 17 ‘‘(ii) BASIS.—Each annual inflation 18 adjustment under subparagraphs (A) and 19 (B)(iii) shall reflect the changes in the 20 Consumer Price Index for food away from 21 home for the most recent 12-month period 22 for which that data is available. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4684.IH H4684 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 4684 IH ‘‘(D) ROUNDING.—On July 1, 2020, and 1 annually thereafter, the national average pay- 2 ment rate for free lunch shall be— 3 ‘‘(i) adjusted to the nearest lower-cent 4 increment; and 5 ‘‘(ii) based on the unrounded amounts 6 for [Text truncated for display. 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