II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2772 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve 

direct certification, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. FETTERMAN) 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 direct certification, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘School Modernization 

5 and Efficient Access to Lunches for Students Act of 

6 2023’’ or the ‘‘School MEALS Act of 2023’’. 

7 SEC. 2. EXPANDING DIRECT CERTIFICATION. 

8 Section 9(b)(4)(F)(iii)(II)(bb) of the Richard B. Rus9 sell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 


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1 1758(b)(4)(F)(iii)(II)(bb)) is amended by inserting ‘‘in 

2 not more than 3 school years’’ after ‘‘measures’’. 

3 SEC. 3. ENHANCING DIRECT CERTIFICATION. 

4 Section 9(b)(15)(B)(ii)(III) of the Richard B. Russell 

5 National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 1758(b)(15)(B)(ii)(III)) is amended by striking ‘‘10’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘20’’. 

8 SEC. 4. DIRECT CERTIFICATION IMPROVEMENT GRANTS 

9 AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

10 Section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National 

11 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)) is amended by add12 ing at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(16) DIRECT CERTIFICATION IMPROVEMENT

14 GRANTS AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

15 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘el17 igible entity’ means— 

18 ‘‘(I) a State agency; and 

19 ‘‘(II) a Tribal organization. 

20 ‘‘(ii) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘In21 dian Tribe’ has the meaning given the 

22 term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter23 mination and Education Assistance Act 

24 (25 U.S.C. 5304). 


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1 ‘‘(iii) RATE OF DIRECT CERTIFI2 CATION.—The term ‘rate of direct certifi3 cation’ means the percentage of children 

4 eligible for direct certification under para5 graphs (4) and (5) for a school year that 

6 were directly certified under those para7 graphs for that school year. 

8 ‘‘(iv) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The 

9 term ‘Tribal organization’ has the meaning 

10 given the term in section 4 of the Indian 

11 Self-Determination and Education Assist12 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

13 ‘‘(B) GRANTS.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

15 shall provide grants to eligible entities that 

16 administer the school lunch program under 

17 this Act to improve the rate of direct cer18 tification in the State in which the eligible 

19 entity is located. 

20 ‘‘(ii) PRIORITY.—In providing grants 

21 under clause (i), the Secretary shall give 

22 priority to States and Tribal organizations 

23 with the lowest rates of direct certification. 

24 ‘‘(iii) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible en25 tity that receives a grant under clause (i) 


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1 shall use the grant funds to pay costs re2 lating to improving the rate of direct cer3 tification in the State or Indian Tribe, as 

4 applicable, including the cost of— 

5 ‘‘(I) improving technology relat6 ing to direct certification; 

7 ‘‘(II) providing technical assist8 ance to local educational agencies; 

9 ‘‘(III) newly implementing or re10 vising a direct certification system or 

11 process in the State (including at local 

12 educational agencies in the State) or 

13 Indian Tribe, including the cost of 

14 equipment; and 

15 ‘‘(IV) coordinating with multiple 

16 public benefits programs to increase 

17 the rate of direct certification, includ18 ing by conducting feasibility studies 

19 and demonstration projects under sec20 tion 18(c). 

21 ‘‘(C) FOOD DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM ON

22 INDIAN RESERVATIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

24 shall provide grants to States and Tribal 

25 organizations administering the food disVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Sep 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2772.IS S2772

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1 tribution program on Indian reservations 

2 under section 4(b) of the Food and Nutri3 tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2013(b))— 

4 ‘‘(I) in the case of a Tribal orga5 nization, if applicable, to establish a 

6 rate of direct certification of children 

7 that are members of households re8 ceiving assistance under that pro9 gram; or 

10 ‘‘(II) to improve the rate of di11 rect certification of children that are 

12 members of households receiving as13 sistance under that program. 

14 ‘‘(ii) USE OF FUNDS.—A State or 

15 Tribal organization receiving a grant under 

16 this subparagraph shall use the funds to 

17 pay the costs described in subparagraph 

18 (B)(iii). 

19 ‘‘(D) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec20 retary shall provide technical assistance to as21 sist the recipients of grants under subpara22 graphs (B) and (C), and other eligible entities, 

23 as appropriate, in improving the rates of direct 

24 certification. 

25 ‘‘(E) FUNDING.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—On October 1, 

2 2023, out of any funds in the Treasury not 

3 otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of 

4 the Treasury shall transfer to the Sec5 retary to carry out this paragraph 

6 $28,000,000, to remain available until ex7 pended. 

8 ‘‘(ii) FOOD DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM

9 ON INDIAN RESERVATIONS.—Of the funds 

10 transferred to the Secretary under clause 

11 (i), the Secretary shall use not less than 

12 $2,000,000 to carry out subparagraph (C). 

13 ‘‘(iii) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Of 

14 the funds transferred to the Secretary 

15 under clause (i), the Secretary shall use 

16 not more than $3,000,000 to carry out 

17 subparagraph (D). 

18 ‘‘(iv) RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE.— 

19 The Secretary shall be entitled to receive, 

20 shall accept, and shall use to carry out this 

21 paragraph the funds transferred under 

22 clause (i), without further appropriation.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. ENHANCING THE COMMUNITY ELIGIBILITY OPTION. 

2 Section 11(a)(1)(F) of the Richard B. Russell Na3 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(a)(1)(F)) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in clause (iv)— 

6 (A) in subclause (I)(bb)— 

7 (i) by striking ‘‘as of April 1 of the 

8 prior school year’’ and inserting ‘‘during 

9 the period beginning on April 1 of the 

10 prior school year and ending on the last 

11 day of that school year’’; and 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘as of April 1 of the 

13 school year prior’’ and all that follows 

14 through ‘‘subparagraph’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘during the period beginning on April 1 of 

16 the covered school year and ending on the 

17 last day of the covered school year’’; and 

18 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(III) DEFINITION OF COVERED

20 SCHOOL YEAR.—In this clause, the 

21 term ‘covered school year’ means the 

22 school year prior to the first school 

23 year that a school or local educational 

24 agency elected to receive special as25 sistance payments under this subpara26 graph.’’; and 


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1 (2) in clause (x)— 

2 (A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘for the 

3 next school year if, not later than June 30 of 

4 the current school year,’’ and inserting ‘‘if’’; 

5 (B) in subclause (II)(aa), by inserting ‘‘, 

6 based on counts conducted by schools of identi7 fied students beginning on or after April 1 of 

8 that school year,’’ after ‘‘clause (viii)’’; and 

9 (C) in subclause (IV)(aa), by inserting ‘‘, 

10 based on counts conducted by schools of identi11 fied students beginning on or after April 1 of 

12 that school year,’’ after ‘‘clause (viii)’’. 

13 SEC. 6. STATE PERFORMANCE ON ENROLLING CHILDREN 

14 RECEIVING PROGRAM BENEFITS FOR FREE 

15 SCHOOL MEALS. 

16 Section 4301(b) of the Food, Conservation, and En17 ergy Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 1758a(b)) is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

19 end; 

20 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 

21 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

22 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(4) in the case of a State identified under 

24 clause (ii)(I) of section 9(b)(4)(F) of the Richard B. 


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1 Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

2 1758(b)(4)(F)), a description of— 

3 ‘‘(A) the technical assistance provided to 

4 the State; and 

5 ‘‘(B) the progress made by the State in 

6 implementing the measures and meeting the 

7 goals described in items (aa) through (cc) of 

8 clause (iii)(II) of that section.’’. 

Æ 


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