II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1293 

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

automatic enrollment procedures for the national school lunch and school 

breakfast programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 18, 2009 

Mr. BENNET (for himself, Mr. BROWN, and 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 automatic enrollment procedures for the 

national school lunch and school breakfast programs, 

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 ‘‘Enhancing Child 

5 Health with Automatic School Meal Enrollment Act of 

6 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVING DIRECT CERTIFICATION. 

2 (a) PERFORMANCE AWARDS.—Section 9(b)(4) of the 

3 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 1758(b)(4)) is amended— 

5 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking 

6 ‘‘FOOD STAMP’’ and inserting ‘‘SUPPLEMENTAL NU7 TRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(E) PERFORMANCE AWARDS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Effective for each 

11 of the schools years beginning July 1, 

12 2010, July 1, 2011, and July 1, 2012, the 

13 Secretary shall offer performance awards 

14 to States to encourage the States to ensure 

15 that all children eligible for direct certifi16 cation under this paragraph are certified in 

17 accordance with this paragraph. 

18 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—For each 

19 school year described in clause (i), the Sec20 retary shall— 

21 ‘‘(I) consider State data from the 

22 prior school year, including estimates 

23 contained in the report required under 

24 section 4301 of the Food, Conserva25 tion, and Energy Act of 2008 (42 

26 U.S.C. 1758a); and 


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1 ‘‘(II) make performance awards 

2 to, as determined by the Secretary— 

3 ‘‘(aa) 5 States that dem4 onstrate outstanding perform5 ance; and 

6 ‘‘(bb) 5 States that dem7 onstrate substantial improve8 ment. 

9 ‘‘(iii) FUNDING.— 

10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—On October 

11 1, 2009, and on each October 1 there12 after through October 1, 2011, out of 

13 any funds in the Treasury not other14 wise appropriated, the Secretary of 

15 the Treasury shall transfer to the Sec16 retary, to remain available until ex17 pended— 

18 ‘‘(aa) $2,000,000 to carry 

19 out clause (ii)(I); and 

20 ‘‘(bb) $2,000,000 to carry 

21 out clause (ii)(II). 

22 ‘‘(II) RECEIPT AND ACCEPT23 ANCE.—The Secretary shall be enti24 tled to receive, shall accept, and shall 

25 use to carry out this clause the funds 


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1 transferred under subclause (I), with2 out further appropriation.’’. 

3 (b) CORRECTIVE ACTION PLANS.—Section 9(b)(4) of 

4 the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 1758(b)(4)) (as amended by subsection (a)) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(F) CORRECTIVE ACTION PLANS.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each school year, 

9 the Secretary shall— 

10 ‘‘(I) identify, using estimates 

11 contained in the report required under 

12 section 4301 of the Food, Conserva13 tion, and Energy Act of 2008 (42 

14 U.S.C. 1758a), States that directly 

15 certify less than 95 percent of the 

16 total number of children in the State 

17 who are eligible for direct certification 

18 under this paragraph; and 

19 ‘‘(II) require the States identified 

20 under subclause (I) to implement a 

21 corrective action plan to fully meet 

22 the requirements of this paragraph. 

23 ‘‘(ii) IMPROVING PERFORMANCE.—A 

24 State may include in a corrective action 

25 plan under clause (i)(II) methods to imVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:38 Jun 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1293.IS S1293

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1 prove direct certification required under 

2 this paragraph or paragraph (15) and dis3 cretionary certification under paragraph 

4 (5). 

5 ‘‘(iii) FAILURE TO MEET PERFORM6 ANCE STANDARD.— 

7 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A State that 

8 is required to implement a corrective 

9 action plan under clause (i)(II) shall 

10 be required to submit to the Sec11 retary, for the approval of the Sec12 retary, a direct certification improve13 ment plan for the following school 

14 year. 

15 ‘‘(II) REQUIREMENTS.—A direct 

16 certification improvement plan under 

17 subclause (I) shall include— 

18 ‘‘(aa) specific measures that 

19 the State will use to identify 

20 more children who are eligible for 

21 direct certification; 

22 ‘‘(bb) a timeline for the 

23 State to implement those meas24 ures; and 


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1 ‘‘(cc) goals for the State to 

2 improve direct certification re3 sults.’’. 

4 (c) WITHOUT FURTHER APPLICATION.—Section 

5 9(b)(4) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

6 Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(4)) (as amended by subsection 

7 (b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(G) WITHOUT FURTHER APPLICATION.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In this paragraph, 

10 the term ‘without further application’ 

11 means that no action is required by the 

12 household of the child. 

13 ‘‘(ii) CLARIFICATION.—A requirement 

14 that a household return a letter notifying 

15 the household of eligibility for direct cer16 tification or eligibility for free school meals 

17 does not meet the requirements of clause 

18 (i).’’. 

19 SEC. 3. REPORT ON USING STATEWIDE EDUCATION DATA20 BASES FOR DIRECT CERTIFICATION. 

21 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall 

23 prepare and submit to Congress a report regarding how 

24 statewide databases developed by States to track compli25 ance with the requirements of part A of title I of the EleVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:38 Jun 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1293.IS S1293

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1 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

2 6311 et seq.) can be used for purposes of direct certifi3 cation under section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell Na4 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)). 

5 (b) CONTENTS.—The report described in subsection 

6 (a) shall— 

7 (1) identify the States that have, as of the time 

8 of the report, developed statewide databases to track 

9 compliance with the requirements of part A of title 

10 I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

11 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.); 

12 (2) describe best practices regarding how such 

13 statewide databases can be used for purposes of di14 rect certification under section 9(b) of the Richard 

15 B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 1758(b)); 

17 (3) include case studies of States that have ex18 panded such statewide databases so that such state19 wide databases can be used for direct certification 

20 purposes; and 

21 (4) identify States with such statewide data22 bases that would be appropriate for expansion for di23 rect certification purposes. 

24 (c) FUNDING.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—On October 1, 2009, out of 

2 any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appro3 priated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer 

4 to the Secretary to carry out this section $500,000, 

5 to remain available through September 30, 2012. 

6 (2) RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE.—The Sec7 retary shall be entitled to receive, shall accept, and 

8 shall use to carry out this section the funds trans9 ferred under paragraph (1), without further appro10 priation. 

Æ 


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