Universal School Meals Program Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3204 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 MAY 11, 2023 Ms. OMAR (for herself, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. BUSH, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. GARCI´A of Illi- nois, Mr. TONKO, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. TORRES of New York, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY, Mr. MAGAZINER, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. BALINT, Mr. MULLIN, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. NADLER, Mr. POCAN, Mr. CARSON, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. MCGARVEY, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. CASAR, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. FROST, Ms. NORTON, Ms. CHU, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. TOKUDA, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. EVANS, Ms. LOF- GREN, Ms. MENG, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. COHEN, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. BLU- MENAUER, and Ms. CASTOR of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3204.IH H3204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3204 IH 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 2023’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Effective date. TITLE I—SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM Sec. 101. Free school breakfast program. TITLE II—SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM Sec. 201. Apportionment to States. Sec. 202. Nutritional and other program requirements. Sec. 203. Special assistance program. Sec. 204. Price for a paid lunch. Sec. 205. Summer food service program for children. Sec. 206. Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children Program. Sec. 207. Child and adult care food program. Sec. 208. Meals and supplements for children in afterschool care. Sec. 209. Pilot projects. Sec. 210. Fresh fruit and vegetable program. Sec. 211. Training, technical assistance, and Food Service Management Insti- tute. Sec. 212. Reimbursement of school meal delinquent debt program. Sec. 213. Conforming amendments. 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. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H3204.IH H3204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3204 IH 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. 1 Unless otherwise provided, this Act, and the amend- 2 ments made by this Act, shall take effect 1 year after the 3 date of enactment of this Act. 4 TITLE I—SCHOOL BREAKFAST 5 PROGRAM 6 SEC. 101. FREE SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4(a) of the Child Nutri- 8 tion Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773(a)) is amended, in the 9 first sentence— 10 (1) by striking ‘‘is hereby’’ and inserting ‘‘are’’; 11 and 12 (2) by inserting ‘‘to provide free breakfast to all 13 children enrolled at those schools’’ before ‘‘in accord- 14 ance’’. 15 (b) APPORTIONMENT TO STATES.—Section 4(b) of 16 the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773(b)) is 17 amended— 18 (1) in paragraph (1)— 19 (A) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking 20 subclause (II) and inserting the following: 21 ‘‘(II) the national average payment for free 22 breakfasts, as specified in subparagraph (B).’’; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3204.IH H3204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3204 IH (B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in- 1 serting the following: 2 ‘‘(B) PAYMENT AMOUNTS.— 3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The national aver- 4 age payment for each free breakfast shall 5 be $2.80, adjusted annually for inflation in 6 accordance with clause (ii) and rounded in 7 accordance with clause (iii). 8 ‘‘(ii) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 9 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The annual 10 inflation adjustment under clause (i) 11 shall reflect changes in the cost of op- 12 erating the free breakfast program 13 under this section, as indicated by the 14 change in the Consumer Price Index 15 for food away from home for all urban 16 consumers. 17 ‘‘(II) BASIS.—Each inflation an- 18 nual adjustment under clause (i) shall 19 reflect the changes in the Consumer 20 Price Index for food away from home 21 for the most recent 12-month period 22 for which that data is available. 23 ‘‘(iii) ROUNDING.—On July 1, 2023, 24 and annually thereafter, the national aver- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3204.IH H3204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3204 IH age payment rate for free breakfast shall 1 be— 2 ‘‘(I) adjusted to the nearest 3 lower-cent increment; and 4 ‘‘(II) based on the unrounded 5 amounts for the preceding 12-month 6 period.’’; 7 (C) by striking subparagraphs (C) and 8 (E); and 9 (D) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 10 subparagraph (C); 11 (2) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3); 12 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 13 paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and 14 (4) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated), by 15 striking ‘‘paragraph (3) or (4)’’ and inserting ‘‘para- 16 graph (2)’’. 17 (c) STATE DISBURSEMENT TO SCHOOLS.—Section 4 18 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773) is 19 amended by striking subsection (c) and inserting the fol- 20 lowing: 21 ‘‘(c) STATE DISBURSEMENT TO SCHOOLS.—Funds 22 apportioned and paid to any State for the purpose of this 23 section shall be disbursed by the State educational agency 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3204.IH H3204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3204 IH to schools selected by the State educational agency to as- 1 sist those schools in operating a breakfast program.’’. 2 (d) NO COLLECTION OF DEBT.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 4 provision of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 5 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) or any other provision of law, 6 effective beginning on the date of enactment of this 7 Act, as a condition of participation in the breakfast 8 program under section 4 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 9 1773), a school— 10 (A) shall not collect any debt owed to the 11 school for unpaid meal charges; and 12 (B) shall continue to accrue debt for un- 13 paid meal charges— 14 (i) for the purpose of receiving reim- 15 bursement under section 212; and 16 (ii) until the effective date specified in 17 section 2. 18 (2) CHILD NUTRITION ACT OF 1966.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Child 20 Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773) is 21 amended by striking subsection (d) and insert- 22 ing the following: 23 ‘‘(d) NO COLLECTION OF DEBT.—A school partici- 24 pating in the free breakfast program under this section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3204.IH H3204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3204 IH shall not collect any debt owed to the school for unpaid 1 meal charges.’’. 2 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3 23(a) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 4 U.S.C. 1793(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘school 5 in severe need, as described in section 4(d)(1)’’ 6 and inserting the following: ‘‘school— 7 ‘‘(1) that has a free breakfast program under 8 section 4 or seeks to initiate a free breakfast pro- 9 gram under that section; and 10 ‘‘(2) of which not less than 40 percent of the 11 students are economically disadvantaged students 12 (as identified under a measure described in section 13 1113(a)(5) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 14 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6313(a)(5))).’’. 15 (e) NUTRITIONAL AND OTHER PROGRAM REQUIRE- 16 MENTS.—Section 4(e) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 17 (42 U.S.C. 1773(e)) is amended— 18 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), in the second sentence, 19 by striking ‘‘free or’’ and all that follows through 20 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘free to all chil- 21 dren enrolled at a school participating in the school 22 breakfast program.’’; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3204.IH H3204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3204 IH (2) in paragraph (2), in the second sentence, by 1 striking ‘‘the full charge to the student for a break- 2 fast meeting the requirements of this section or’’. 3 (f) PROHIBITION ON BREAKFAST SHAMING, MEAL 4 DENIAL.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Effective beginning on the 6 date of enactment of this Act, a school or school 7 food authority— 8 (A) shall not— 9 (i) physically segregate for the pur- 10 pose of debt shaming or otherwise dis- 11 criminate against any child participating in 12 the breakfast program under section 4 of 13 the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 14 U.S.C. 1773); or 15 (ii) overtly identify a child described 16 in clause (i) by a special token or ticket, 17 an announced or published list of names, 18 or any other means; and 19 (B) shall provide the program meal to any 20 child eligible under the program. 21 (2) CHILD NUTRITION ACT OF 1966.—Section 4 22 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773) 23 is amended by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3204.IH H3204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3204 IH ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION ON BREAKFAST SHAMING.—A 1 school or school food authority shall not— 2 ‘‘(1) physically segregate for the purpose of 3 debt shaming or otherwise discriminate against any 4 child participating in the free breakfast program 5 under this section; or 6 ‘‘(2) overtly identify a child described in para- 7 graph (1) by a special token or ticket, an announced 8 or published list of names, or any other means.’’. 9 (g) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OVERSEAS DEPEND- 10 ENTS’ SCHOOLS.—Section 20(b) of the Child Nutrition 11 Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1789(b)) is amended by striking 12 ‘‘by this section’’ and all that follows through the period 13 at the end and inserting ‘‘by this section.’’. 14 (h) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Child Nutri- 15 tion Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) is amended— 16 (1) by striking ‘‘or reduced price’’ each place it 17 appears; 18 (2) by striking ‘‘and reduced price’’ each place 19 it appears; and 20 (3) by striking ‘‘a reduced price’’ each place it 21 appears. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3204.IH H3204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3204 IH TITLE II—SCHOOL LUNCH 1 PROGRAM 2 SEC. 201. APPORTIONMENT TO STATES. 3 Section 4(b) of the Richard B. Russell National 4 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1753(b)) is amended— 5 (1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 6 following: 7 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT AMOUNTS.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The national average 9 payment for each free lunch shall be $4.63, ad- 10 justed annually for inflation in accordance with 11 subparagraph (C) and rounded in accordance 12 with subparagraph (D). 13 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL PAYMENT FOR LOCAL 14 FOOD.— 15 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF LOCALLY- 16 SOURCED FARM PRODUCT.—In this sub- 17 paragraph, the term ‘locally-sourced farm 18 product’ means a farm product that— 19 ‘‘(I) is marketed to consumers— 20 ‘‘(aa) directly; or 21 ‘‘(bb) through intermediated 22 channels (such as food hubs and 23 cooperatives); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3204.IH H3204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3204 IH ‘‘(II) with respect to the school 1 food authority purchasing the farm 2 product, is produced and distrib- 3 uted— 4 ‘‘(aa) in the State in which 5 the school food authority is lo- 6 cated; or 7 ‘‘(bb) not more than 250 8 miles from the location of the 9 school food authority. 10 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL PAYMENT ELIGI- 11 BILITY.—During a school year, a school 12 food authority shall receive an additional 13 payment described in clause (iii) if the 14 State certifies that the school food author- 15 ity served meals (including breakfasts, 16 lunches, suppers, and supplements) during 17 the last school year of which not less than 18 25 percent were made with locally-sourced 19 farm products. 20 ‘‘(iii) PAYMENT AMOUNT.— 21 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The addi- 22 tional payment amount under this 23 subparagraph shall be— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3204.IH H3204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3204 IH ‘‘(aa) $0.30 for each free 1 lunch and supper; 2 ‘‘(bb) $0.21 for each free 3 breakfast; and 4 ‘‘(cc) $0.08 for each free 5 supplement. 6 ‘‘(II) ADJUSTMENTS.—Each ad- 7 ditional payment amount under sub- 8 clause (I) shall be adjusted annually 9 in accordance with subparagraph (C) 10 and rounded in accordance with sub- 11 paragraph (D). 12 ‘‘(iv) DISBURSEMENT.—The State 13 agency shall disburse funds made available 14 under this clause to school food authorities 15 eligible to receive additional reimburse- 16 ment. 17 ‘‘(C) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The annual infla- 19 tion adjustment under subparagraphs (A) 20 and (B)(iii) shall reflect changes in the 21 cost of operating the free lunch program 22 under this A [Text truncated for display. 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