School Hunger Elimination Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2752 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve program requirements, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 30, 2019 Mr. CASEY 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 improve program requirements, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘School Hunger Elimi- 4 nation Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. MANDATORY DIRECT CERTIFICATION. 6 Section 9(b)(5) of the Richard B. Russell National 7 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(5)) is amended— 8 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘DIS- 9 CRETIONARY CERTIFICATION’’ and inserting ‘‘DI- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2752.IS S2752 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2752 IS RECT CERTIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL LOW-INCOME 1 CHILDREN’’; and 2 (2) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 3 by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 4 SEC. 3. RETROACTIVE REIMBURSEMENT. 5 Section 9(b)(9) of the Richard B. Russell National 6 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(9)) is amended by 7 adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(D) RETROACTIVE REIMBURSEMENT.— 9 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara- 10 graph: 11 ‘‘(I) CHANGE IN ELIGIBILITY.— 12 The term ‘change in eligibility’ means, 13 with respect to eligibility for the 14 school lunch program under this 15 Act— 16 ‘‘(aa) a change from eligi- 17 bility for reduced price meals to 18 eligibility for free meals; and 19 ‘‘(bb) a change from non- 20 eligibility to eligibility for free or 21 reduced price meals. 22 ‘‘(II) MEAL CLAIM.—The term 23 ‘meal claim’ means any documenta- 24 tion provided by a school food author- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2752.IS S2752 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2752 IS ity to a State agency in order to re- 1 ceive reimbursement under this Act 2 for the cost of a meal served to a 3 child by the school food authority. 4 ‘‘(III) PREVIOUSLY SUB- 5 MITTED.—The term ‘previously sub- 6 mitted’, with respect to a meal claim, 7 means a meal claim submitted on or 8 after the retroactive date. 9 ‘‘(IV) RETROACTIVE DATE.—The 10 term ‘retroactive date’ means the first 11 day of the current school year. 12 ‘‘(ii) RETROACTIVITY.— 13 ‘‘(I) SUBMISSION OF MEAL 14 CLAIMS.—A local educational agency 15 shall— 16 ‘‘(aa) revise and resubmit a 17 previously submitted meal claim 18 to reflect a change in eligibility 19 described in subclause (i)(I)(aa) 20 of a child; and 21 ‘‘(bb) submit a meal claim 22 for any meal provided on or after 23 the retroactive date for a child 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2752.IS S2752 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2752 IS that has a change of eligibility 1 described in subclause (i)(I)(bb). 2 ‘‘(II) REIMBURSEMENT BY SEC- 3 RETARY.—The Secretary shall reim- 4 burse each meal claim submitted by a 5 local educational agency under sub- 6 clause (I). 7 ‘‘(iii) REIMBURSEMENT TO FAMI- 8 LIES.—A local educational agency that re- 9 ceives a reimbursement under clause 10 (ii)(II) shall reimburse the household of a 11 child for any fees paid by the household on 12 or after the retroactive date and prior to 13 the change in eligibility of the child.’’. 14 SEC. 4. UNIVERSAL MEDICAID DIRECT CERTIFICATION. 15 Section 9(b)(15) of the Richard B. Russell National 16 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(15)) is amended— 17 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 18 (A) by striking clause (i) and inserting the 19 following: 20 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE CHILD.— 21 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘el- 22 igible child’ means a child— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2752.IS S2752 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2752 IS ‘‘(aa)(AA) who is eligible for 1 and receiving medical assistance 2 under the Medicaid program; and 3 ‘‘(BB) who is a member of a 4 family with an income as meas- 5 ured by the Medicaid program 6 that does not exceed, in the case 7 of eligibility for free meals, 133 8 percent of the poverty line (as 9 defined in section 673(2) of the 10 Community Services Block Grant 11 Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)), includ- 12 ing any revision required by such 13 section) applicable to a family of 14 the size used for purposes of de- 15 termining eligibility for the Med- 16 icaid program, or, in the case of 17 eligibility for reduced price meals, 18 the applicable family size income 19 level under the income eligibility 20 guidelines for reduced price 21 meals; and 22 ‘‘(bb) who is a member of a 23 household (as that term is de- 24 fined in section 245.2 of title 7, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2752.IS S2752 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2752 IS Code of Federal Regulations (or 1 successor regulations)) with a 2 child described in item (aa). 3 ‘‘(II) OTHER CHILDREN.—The 4 term ‘eligible child’ includes a child 5 who is eligible for and receiving med- 6 ical assistance under the Medicaid 7 program under subclause (I) of sec- 8 tion 1902(a)(10)(A)(i) of the Social 9 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 10 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i))— 11 ‘‘(aa) on the basis of receiv- 12 ing aid or assistance under the 13 State plan approved under part 14 E of title IV of that Act (42 15 U.S.C. 670 et seq.); 16 ‘‘(bb) by reason of section 17 473(b) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 18 673(b)); or 19 ‘‘(cc) under subclause (II) of 20 section 1902(a)(10)(A)(i) of that 21 Act (42 U.S.C. 22 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)).’’; and 23 (B) by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2752.IS S2752 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2752 IS ‘‘(iii) WITHOUT FURTHER APPLICA- 1 TION.—The term ‘without further applica- 2 tion’ has the meaning given the term in 3 paragraph (4)(G).’’; and 4 (2) by striking subparagraphs (B) through (H) 5 and inserting the following: 6 ‘‘(B) AGREEMENT.—For the school year 7 beginning on July 1, 2020, and each school 8 year thereafter, each State shall enter into an 9 agreement described in subparagraph (C) with 10 the 1 or more State agencies conducting eligi- 11 bility determinations for the Medicaid program. 12 ‘‘(C) PROCEDURES.— 13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to sub- 14 paragraph (D) and paragraph (6), an 15 agreement entered into under subpara- 16 graph (B) shall establish procedures under 17 which an eligible child shall be certified as 18 eligible, without further application, for— 19 ‘‘(I) free or reduced price lunch 20 under this Act; and 21 ‘‘(II) free or reduced price break- 22 fast under section 4 of the Child Nu- 23 trition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2752.IS S2752 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2752 IS ‘‘(ii) FREE MEALS.—Each agreement 1 entered into under subparagraph (B) shall 2 ensure that a child that is simultaneously 3 eligible for reduced price meals under this 4 paragraph or based on an income eligibility 5 determination, and for free meals based on 6 documentation provided under subsection 7 (d)(2), shall be certified for free meals. 8 ‘‘(D) CERTIFICATION.—Subject to para- 9 graph (6), and according to an agreement en- 10 tered into under subparagraph (B), the local 11 educational agency conducting eligibility deter- 12 minations under that agreement shall certify an 13 eligible child as eligible, without further applica- 14 tion, for— 15 ‘‘(i) free or reduced price lunch under 16 this Act; and 17 ‘‘(ii) free or reduced price breakfast 18 under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act 19 of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).’’. 20 SEC. 5. UNIVERSAL MEAL SERVICE IN HIGH POVERTY 21 AREAS. 22 Section 11(a)(1)(F) of the Richard B. Russell Na- 23 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(a)(1)(F)) is 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2752.IS S2752 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2752 IS amended by striking clause (vii) and inserting the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(vii) MULTIPLIER.—For each school 3 year beginning on or before July 1, 2020, 4 the multiplier shall be 1.8.’’. 5 SEC. 6. STATEWIDE FREE UNIVERSAL SCHOOL MEALS DEM- 6 ONSTRATION PROJECTS. 7 Section 11(a)(1) of the Richard B. Russell National 8 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(a)(1)) is amended by 9 adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(G) STATEWIDE FREE UNIVERSAL 11 SCHOOL MEALS DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 12 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara- 13 graph: 14 ‘‘(I) DEMONSTRATION 15 PROJECT.—The term ‘demonstration 16 project’ means a demonstration 17 project carried out under clause (ii). 18 ‘‘(II) ELIGIBLE SCHOOL.— 19 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—The 20 term ‘eligible school’ means a 21 school that participates in the 22 school lunch program under this 23 Act and the school breakfast pro- 24 gram under section 4 of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2752.IS S2752 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2752 IS Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 1 U.S.C. 1773). 2 ‘‘(bb) EXCLUSION.—The 3 term ‘eligible school’ does not in- 4 clude a residential child care in- 5 stitution (as defined in section 6 210.2 of title 7, Code of Federal 7 Regulations (or successor regula- 8 tions)). 9 ‘‘(III) IDENTIFIED STUDENT.— 10 The term ‘identified student’ has the 11 meaning given the term in subpara- 12 graph (F)(i). 13 ‘‘(IV) SELECTED STATE.—The 14 term ‘selected State’ means a State 15 selected to carry out a demonstration 16 project under clause (iii)(I). 17 ‘‘(ii) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later 18 than July 1, 2021, the Secretary shall 19 carry out demonstration projects in se- 20 lected States under which school meals are 21 provided at no charge to every student at 22 an eligible school in the selected State. 23 ‘‘(iii) STATE SELECTION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2752.IS S2752 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2752 IS ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Sec- 1 retary shall select not more than 5 2 States to each carry out a demonstra- 3 tion project. 4 ‘‘(II) APPLICATIONS.—A State 5 seeking to carry out a demonstration 6 project shall submit to the Secretary 7 an application at such time, in such 8 manner, and containing such informa- 9 tion as the Secretary may require. 10 ‘‘(III) PRIORITY.—In carrying 11 out subclause (I), the Secretary shall 12 give priority to a State based on— 13 ‘‘(aa) the level of childhood 14 poverty in the State; 15 ‘‘(bb) the extent to which 16 the State has implemented sub- 17 paragraph (F); 18 ‘‘(cc) the extent to which the 19 direct certification rate of the 20 State meets the required percent- 21 age (as defined in section 22 9(b)(4)(F)(i)); 23 ‘‘(dd) the extent to which 24 the State demonstrates a com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2752.IS S2752 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2752 IS mitment to providing technical 1 assistance to local educational 2 agencies that will implement the 3 demonstration project in the 4 State; and 5 ‘‘(ee) the extent to which the 6 State demonstrates a commit- 7 ment to providing non-Federal 8 funding under clause (vi)(III). 9 ‘‘(iv) START DATE.—A demonstration 10 project shall begin in a selected State on 11 the first day of the school year in that 12 State. 13 ‘‘(v) SPECIAL ASSISTANCE PAY- 14 MENTS.— 15 ‘‘(I) FIRST YEAR.—For each 16 month of the first school year during 17 which a demonstration project is car- 18 ried out, a selected State shall receive 19 special assistance payments at the 20 rate for free meals for a percentage of 21 all reimbursable meals served in eligi- 22 ble schools in the State in an amount 23 equal to the product obtained by mul- 24 tiplying— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2752.IS S2752 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 2752 IS ‘‘(aa) 1.8; and 1 ‘‘(bb) the percentage of 2 identified students in eligible 3 schools in the State as of the last 4 day of the prior school year, up 5 to a maximum of 100 percent. 6 ‘‘(II) SUBSEQUENT YEARS.—For 7 each month of the second school year 8 and each subsequent school year dur- 9 ing which a demonstration project is 10 carried out, a selected State shall re- 11 ceive special assistance payments at 12 the rate for free meals for a percent- 13 age of all reimbursable meals served 14 in eligible schools in the State in an 15 amount equal to the product obtained 16 by multiplying— 17 ‘‘(aa) 1.8; and 18 ‘‘(bb) the higher of— 19 ‘‘(AA) the percentage 20 of identified students in eli- 21 gible schools as of the last 22 day of the prior school year; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2752.IS S2752 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •S 2752 IS ‘‘(BB) the percentage 1 of identified students in eli- 2 gible schools as of the last 3 day of the school year prior 4 to the first school year dur- 5 ing which a demonstration 6 project is carried out, up to 7 a maximum of 100 percent. 8 ‘‘(III) PAYMENT FOR OTHER 9 MEALS.—With respect to the reim- 10 bursable meals described in subclauses 11 (I) and (II) for which a selected State 12 is not receiving special assistance pay- 13 ments under this clause, the reim- 14 bursement rate shall be the rate pro- 15 vided under section 4. 16 ‘‘(IV) PAYMENTS IN LIEU OF.—A 17 special assistance payment made 18 under this clause shall be in lieu of 19 any other special assistance payment 20 made under this paragraph. 21 ‘‘(vi) STATE IMPLEMENTATION.— 22 ‘‘(I) PRELIMINARY ACTIVITIES.— 23 Each selected State shall, in the 24 school year preceding the first school 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2752.IS S2752 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 15 •S 2752 IS year during which the demonstration 1 project shall be carried out in the 2 State— 3 ‘‘(aa) identify each eligible 4 school in the State; 5 ‘‘(bb) in consultation with 6 the Secretary, combine the per- 7 centage of identified students 8 across eligible [Text truncated for display. 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