Community Meals Fund

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6384 To provide community-based nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger groups with funding to partner with small and mid-sized restaurants to expand meal access and delivery for low-income and vulnerable populations during a pandemic or public health emergency. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 24, 2020 Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To provide community-based nonprofit feeding and anti-hun- ger groups with funding to partner with small and mid- sized restaurants to expand meal access and delivery for low-income and vulnerable populations during a pan- demic or public health emergency. 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 ‘‘Community Meals 4 Fund’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Apr 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6384.IH H6384 2 •HR 6384 IH SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 (1) VULNERABLE POPULATION.—The term 2 ‘‘vulnerable population’’ means any person who is a 3 member of the target population, is a low income in- 4 dividual, or receives a means-tested benefit as de- 5 fined under this Act. 6 (2) GRAB-AND-GO MEAL.—The term ‘‘grab-and- 7 go meals’’ refers to pre-packaged, ready to eat food 8 that has been prepared and cooked no greater than 9 8 hours prior to being sealed or enclosed in a con- 10 tainer. 11 (3) TARGET POPULATION.—The term ‘‘target 12 population’’ includes an individual who (or family 13 that)— 14 (A) earns an income below 200 percent of 15 the Federal poverty line; 16 (B) suffers from food insecurity; 17 (C) is homeless; 18 (D) receives (or recently received) assist- 19 ance under a State program funded under part 20 A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 21 U.S.C. et seq.), relating to temporary assistance 22 to needy families; or 23 (E) is eligible for benefits under any nutri- 24 tion assistance or anti-poverty program. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Apr 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6384.IH H6384 3 •HR 6384 IH (4) COMMUNITY-BASED NONPROFIT FEEDING 1 AND ANTI-HUNGER GROUP.—The term ‘‘community- 2 based nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger group’’ 3 means an anti-hunger organization, food bank, food 4 pantry, soup kitchen, food rescue group, or commu- 5 nity food security organization that is described in 6 section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 7 1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of 8 such Code. 9 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 10 the Secretary of Agriculture. 11 (6) LOW-INCOME INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘low- 12 income individual’’ means, with respect to any cal- 13 endar year, any individual who lives in a household 14 that has a gross income that does not exceed 300 15 percent of the poverty line, as defined in section 16 673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant Act 17 (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)). 18 (7) HOMELESS.—The term ‘‘homeless’’ has the 19 meaning given such term in subtitle B of title VII 20 of the McKinney-Vento Act and the Housing and 21 Urban Development (HUD) definition in section 103 22 of subtitle I of the McKinney-Vento Act. 23 (8) CRISIS HOUSING.—The term ‘‘crisis hous- 24 ing’’ means a supervised publicly or privately oper- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Apr 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6384.IH H6384 4 •HR 6384 IH ated shelter designated to provide temporary living 1 arrangements (including hotels and motels paid for 2 by Federal, State, or local government programs for 3 low-income individuals or by charitable organiza- 4 tions, congregate shelters, and transitional housing). 5 (9) MEANS-TESTED BENEFIT.—The term 6 ‘‘means-tested benefit’’ means a mandatory spending 7 program of the Federal Government for which, as 8 determined by the Secretary, eligibility for the pro- 9 gram’s benefits, or the amount of such benefits, is 10 determined on the basis of income or resources of 11 the individual or family seeking the benefit. 12 (10) DEPENDENT.—The term ‘‘dependent’’ has 13 the meaning given such term in section 152 of the 14 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, except that the term 15 also includes an individual who is not a citizen or 16 national of the United States if such individual 17 would otherwise be considered a dependent pursuant 18 to such section if such individual were a citizen or 19 national of the United States. 20 (11) DISASTER DECLARATION.—The term ‘‘dis- 21 aster declaration’’ means the instance a Governor re- 22 quests a major disaster declaration under the Robert 23 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist- 24 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Apr 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6384.IH H6384 5 •HR 6384 IH (12) TEMPORARY COMMUNITY NEED.—The 1 term ‘‘temporary community need’’ means prepared 2 meals during the time period under which a disaster 3 declaration is provided. Such community need shall 4 terminate 30 days after the termination of such dec- 5 laration. 6 (13) PANDEMIC.—The term ‘‘pandemic’’ means 7 a communicable disease for which the Federal Gov- 8 ernment has issued a travel alert or travel warning. 9 SEC. 3. COMMUNITY MEALS FUND. 10 (a) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 11 to address temporary community needs under this section, 12 a community-based nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger 13 group shall submit to the Secretary an application that 14 contains a description of how the applicant proposes to 15 use the grant funds to implement the components of the 16 temporary grant program listed in subsection (b). The ap- 17 plication shall be submitted in such form, at such time, 18 and containing such other information as the Secretary 19 may require. 20 (b) COMMUNITY MEALS GRANT PROGRAM COMPO- 21 NENTS.—An application for a grant under this section 22 shall contain an assurance that the applicant will expand 23 the capacity of community-based nonprofit feeding and 24 anti-hunger groups and schools to meet the needs of chil- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Apr 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6384.IH H6384 6 •HR 6384 IH dren, families, and vulnerable populations in a pandemic 1 by— 2 (1) contracting with small and mid-sized busi- 3 ness restaurants or small and mid-sized food con- 4 tractors that are small business concerns as defined 5 in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 6 632) for— 7 (A) preparing, cooking, and storing grab- 8 and-go meals; 9 (B) serving meals to vulnerable popu- 10 lations or make them available for pick up, or 11 distributed in high poverty areas designated by 12 State and local agencies; 13 (C) bolstering food security for children, 14 dependents, families, and the elderly in rural 15 and hard to reach communities; 16 (D) bolstering food security for depend- 17 ents, target populations, and families in crisis 18 housing; and 19 (E) improving the nutrition of vulnerable 20 populations. 21 (c) CRITERIA.—In evaluating an application of a 22 community-based nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger group 23 to receive a grant, the Secretary shall consider criteria as 24 the Secretary determines appropriate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Apr 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6384.IH H6384 7 •HR 6384 IH (d) GRANT ADMINISTRATION.— 1 (1) AMOUNT.—A grant awarded under this sec- 2 tion may not exceed $500,000. 3 (2) RENEWALS.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 5 renew a grant awarded under this section with 6 respect to an eligible entity if the entity— 7 (i) submits to the Secretary an appli- 8 cation for renewal at such time, in such 9 manner, and containing such information 10 as the Secretary may require; and 11 (ii) demonstrates in such application 12 that— 13 (I) grant, contract, or cooperative 14 agreement funds made available to the 15 entity were used in a manner required 16 under the most recently approved ap- 17 plication of the entity under this sec- 18 tion; and 19 (II) the entity has made progress 20 in achieving the objectives of the ini- 21 tial application approved for the entity 22 under this section. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Apr 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6384.IH H6384 8 •HR 6384 IH (B) DURATION.—A grant shall be eligible 1 for renewal so long as a disaster declaration is 2 active on the date of the renewal application. 3 (e) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT, REQUIRE- 4 MENT.—A grant, contract, or cooperative agreement made 5 under this Act shall be expended to supplement, and not 6 supplant, the expenditures of the eligible entity involved 7 and the value of in-kind contributions. 8 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro- 10 priated to carry out this section $20,000,000 during the 11 1-year period beginning on May 1, 2020. 12 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Funds authorized to be appro- 13 priated under subsection (a) shall remain available until 14 expended. 15 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 16 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit a com- 17 munity-based nonprofit feeding and anti-hunger group 18 from receiving a grant under this Act for any vulnerable 19 population otherwise served by such group with other Fed- 20 eral funds. 21 SEC. 6. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 22 (a) GRANTEE REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 23 than 90 days after the end of the fiscal year for which 24 a grantee receives a grant under this Act, such grantee 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Apr 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6384.IH H6384 9 •HR 6384 IH shall submit to the Secretary a report that contains an 1 evaluation of the results of the activities, including finan- 2 cial expenditures, made during such fiscal year to carry 3 out the program for which such grant is received. 4 (b) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later 5 than January 1 following the end of fiscal year for which 6 funds are appropriated to carry out this Act, the Secretary 7 shall submit to Congress a report describing the progress 8 of the programs carried out with grants made for such 9 fiscal year. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:52 Apr 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6384.IH H6384