[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5308 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5308
To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the Richard B. Russell
National School Lunch Act to eliminate reduced price breakfasts and
lunches and to require that the income guidelines for determining
eligibility for free breakfasts and free lunches be 200 percent of the
poverty-level, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 5, 2019
Mr. Ryan (for himself, Mr. Thompson of California, Mrs. Dingell, Mr.
Hastings, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Jackson Lee, and Mrs. Hayes)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the Richard B. Russell
National School Lunch Act to eliminate reduced price breakfasts and
lunches and to require that the income guidelines for determining
eligibility for free breakfasts and free lunches be 200 percent of the
poverty-level, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) In General.--This Act may be cited as the ``Expanding Access to
School Meals Act of 2019''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act are as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I--REPEAL OF REDUCED PRICE BREAKFASTS AND LUNCHES
Sec. 101. Repeal of reduced price breakfasts.
Sec. 102. Repeal of reduced price lunches.
TITLE II--EXPANSION OF FREE LUNCH ELIGIBILITY
Sec. 201. Poverty level for free lunch.
Sec. 202. Direct certification for children receiving Medicaid
benefits.
Sec. 203. Direct certification for children enrolled in CHIP.
Sec. 204. Retroactive reimbursement.
Sec. 205. Increase of community eligibility program multiplier.
TITLE I--REPEAL OF REDUCED PRICE BREAKFASTS AND LUNCHES
SEC. 101. REPEAL OF REDUCED PRICE BREAKFASTS.
(a) In General.--Section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42
U.S.C. 1758) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(f) Repeal of Reduced Price Breakfasts.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the reduced price breakfast program is repealed
and the Secretary may not provide reimbursements for reduced price
breakfasts under this section.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--The Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42
U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by striking ``or reduced price'' each place it appears;
(2) by striking ``for a reduced price'' each place it
appears;
(3) by striking ``or at a reduced price'' each place it
appears;
(4) by striking ``for reduced price breakfasts'' each place
it appears; and
(5) by striking ``and reduced price'' each place it
appears.
(c) Further Conforming Amendments.--Section 4(b) of the Child
Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking the second
sentence; and
(B) by striking subparagraph (C); and
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking subparagraph (C).
SEC. 102. REPEAL OF REDUCED PRICE LUNCHES.
(a) In General.--The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act
(42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 30. REPEAL OF REDUCED PRICE LUNCHES.
``Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the reduced price
lunch program is repealed and the Secretary may not provide
reimbursements for reduced price lunches under this Act.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--The Richard B. Russell National School
Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by striking ``or reduced price'' each place it appears;
(2) by striking ``or a reduced price'' each place it
appears;
(3) by striking ``or reduced-price'' each place it appears;
(4) by striking ``and reduced price'' each place it
appears; and
(5) by striking ``a reduced price'' each place it appears.
TITLE II--EXPANSION OF FREE LUNCH ELIGIBILITY
SEC. 201. POVERTY LEVEL FOR FREE LUNCH.
Section 9(b)(1)(A) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch
Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(1)(A)) is amended--
(1) by striking the third sentence; and
(2) by striking ``130 percent'' and inserting ``200
percent''.
SEC. 202. DIRECT CERTIFICATION FOR CHILDREN RECEIVING MEDICAID
BENEFITS.
Section 9(b)(15) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch
Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(15)) is amended to read as follows:
``(15) Direct certification for children receiving medicaid
benefits.--
``(A) Agreement.--Beginning not later than 90 days
after the date of the enactment of the Expanding Access
to School Meals Act of 2019, each State agency shall
enter into an agreement with the one or more State
agencies conducting eligibility determinations for the
Medicaid program.
``(B) Procedures.--Subject to paragraph (6), the
agreement shall establish procedures under which an
eligible child shall be certified for free lunches
under this Act and free breakfasts under section 4 of
the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773),
without further application.
``(C) Certification.--Subject to paragraph (6),
under the agreement, the local educational agencies for
a school lunch program under this Act and a school
breakfast program under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966
(42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) shall certify an eligible
child as eligible for free lunches under this Act and
free breakfasts under section 4 of the Child Nutrition
Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773), without further
application.
``(D) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
``(i) Eligible child.--The term `eligible
child' means a child--
``(I) is a member of a family that
meets the income eligibility
requirements under paragraph (1)(A);
and
``(II) is enrolled in medical
assistance under a Medicaid State plan
(or a waiver of such plan) under title
XIX of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1396 et seq.)
``(ii) Medicaid program.--The term Medicaid
program means the program of medical assistance
established under title XIX of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.).
``(E) Applicability.--This paragraph applies to--
``(i) in the case of the school year
beginning July 2020, a school district that had
an enrollment of 25,000 students or more in the
preceding school year;
``(ii) in the case of the school year
beginning July 2021, a school district that had
an enrollment of 10,000 students or more in the
preceding school year; and
``(iii) in the case of the school year
beginning July 2022, and each subsequent school
year, each local educational agency.''.
SEC. 203. DIRECT CERTIFICATION FOR CHILDREN ENROLLED IN CHIP.
Section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act
(42 U.S.C. 1758(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(16) Direct certification for children enrolled in
chip.--
``(A) Agreement.--Beginning not later than 90 days
after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, each
State agency shall enter into an agreement with the
State agency conducting eligibility determinations for
child health assistance under a State child health plan
(or a waiver of such plan) under title XXI of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397 et seq.).
``(B) Procedures.--Subject to paragraph (6), the
agreement shall establish procedures under which an
eligible child shall be certified as eligible for free
lunches under this Act and free breakfasts under
section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C.
1773), without further application.
``(C) Certification.--Subject to paragraph (6),
under the agreement, the local educational agency
conducting eligibility determinations for a school
lunch program under this Act and a school breakfast
program under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42
U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) shall certify an eligible child as
eligible for free lunches under this Act and free
breakfasts under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act
of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773), without further application.
``(D) Eligible child defined.--In this paragraph,
the term `eligible child' means a child who--
``(i) is a member of a family that meets
the income eligibility requirements under
paragraph (1)(A); and
``(ii) is enrolled in child health
assistance under a State child health plan (or
a waiver of such plan) under title XXI of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397 et seq.)
``(E) Applicability.--This paragraph applies to--
``(i) in the case of the school year
beginning July 2020, a school district that had
an enrollment of 25,000 students or more in the
preceding school year;
``(ii) in the case of the school year
beginning July 2021, a school district that had
an enrollment of 10,000 students or more in the
preceding school year; and
``(iii) in the case of the school year
beginning July 2022, and each subsequent school
year, each local educational agency.''.
SEC. 204. RETROACTIVE REIMBURSEMENT.
Section 9(b)(9)(C) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch
Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(9)(C)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Except'' and inserting the following:
``(i) In general.--Except'';
(2) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I)
and (II); and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) Retroactivity.--A local educational
agency shall revise a previously submitted meal
claim to reflect the eligibility approval of a
child for free meals for the period that begins
on the earlier of the following:
``(I) The first day of the current
school year.
``(II) The date that is 90 days
prior to the date of such eligibility
approval.
``(iii) Meal claim defined.--In this
subsection, the term `meal claim' means any
documentation provided by a school food
authority to a State agency in order to receive
reimbursement for the cost of a meal served to
a child by such school food authority.''.
SEC. 205. INCREASE OF COMMUNITY ELIGIBILITY PROGRAM MULTIPLIER.
Section 11(a)(1)(F) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch
Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(a)(1)(F)) is amended by striking clause (vii) and
inserting the following:
``(vii) Multiplier.--For each school year
beginning on or after July 1, 2020, the
multiplier shall be 1.8''.
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