I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1332 

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

the child and adult care food program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 2, 2017 

Ms. BONAMICI (for herself and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

Act to improve the child and adult care food program, 

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 ‘‘Early Childhood Nutri5 tion Improvement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATION CRITERIA FOR PRO7 PRIETARY CHILD CARE CENTERS. 

8 Section 17(a)(6) of the Richard B. Russell National 

9 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(a)(6)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (F), by striking the period 

4 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(G) in the case of an institution described 

7 in paragraph (2)(B), the eligibility determina8 tion shall be in effect for 6 months after the 

9 date such institution is approved by the State 

10 under section 17(d).’’. 

11 SEC. 3. REVIEW OF SERIOUS DEFICIENCY PROCESS. 

12 Section 17(d)(5) of the Richard B. Russell National 

13 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(d)(5)) is amended by 

14 adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(F) SERIOUS DEFICIENCY PROCESS.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 

17 year after the date of enactment of this 

18 subparagraph, the Secretary shall review 

19 and issue guidance and, as appropriate, 

20 regulations regarding the serious deficiency 

21 process for the program under this section. 

22 ‘‘(ii) REVIEW.—In carrying out clause 

23 (i), the Secretary shall review, at a min24 imum, the processes for, and those in25 volved in— 


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1 ‘‘(I) determining when there is a 

2 serious deficiency, including— 

3 ‘‘(aa) what measures auto4 matically result in a finding of 

5 serious deficiency; and 

6 ‘‘(bb) how differentiation is 

7 being made between— 

8 ‘‘(AA) a reasonable 

9 margin of human error and 

10 systematic or intentional 

11 noncompliance; and 

12 ‘‘(BB) State-specific re13 quirements and Federal reg14 ulations; 

15 ‘‘(II) appealing and mediating a 

16 finding of serious deficiency, includ17 ing— 

18 ‘‘(aa) findings related to 

19 State-specific requirements; and 

20 ‘‘(bb) processes for ensuring 

21 officials involved in appeals and 

22 mediation are fair and impartial; 

23 ‘‘(III) determining the cir24 cumstances under which a corrective 

25 action plan is acceptable; and 


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1 ‘‘(IV) termination and disquali2 fication, including maintenance of the 

3 list under subparagraph (E). 

4 ‘‘(iii) GUIDANCE AND REGULA5 TIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—After con7 ducting the review under clause (ii), 

8 the Secretary shall make findings 

9 from the information collected and 

10 issue guidance and, as appropriate, 

11 regulations from such findings that 

12 will assist sponsoring organizations, 

13 State agencies, and the Food and Nu14 trition Service in ensuring a fair, uni15 form, and effective administration of 

16 the serious deficiency process, while 

17 retaining program integrity. 

18 ‘‘(II) SCOPE.—Such guidance or, 

19 as appropriate, regulations shall in20 clude— 

21 ‘‘(aa) clarity on the different 

22 measures for noncompliance; 

23 ‘‘(bb) appeals process for a 

24 finding of serious deficiency or a 


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1 determination that a corrective 

2 action plan is inadequate; and 

3 ‘‘(cc) adequate timeframes 

4 under a corrective action plan for 

5 compliance that are consistent 

6 for all types of institutions, in7 cluding family or group day care 

8 homes.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF REIMBURSEMENTS FOR ADDI10 TIONAL MEAL OR SNACK. 

11 Section 17(f)(2) of the Richard B. Russell National 

12 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(f)(2)) is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph 

14 (B) of this paragraph’’ and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(2) DISBURSEMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara17 graph (B)’’; and 

18 (2) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as 

19 follows: 

20 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—No reimbursement 

21 may be made to any institution under this para22 graph, or to family or group day care home 

23 sponsoring organizations under paragraph (3), 

24 for more than— 


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1 ‘‘(i) 2 meals and 1 supplement or 1 

2 meal and 2 supplements per day per child; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(ii) 3 meals and 1 supplement or 2 

5 meals and 2 supplements per day per 

6 child, for each child that is maintained in 

7 a child care setting for more than 8 hours 

8 per day.’’. 

9 SEC. 5. ADJUSTMENTS. 

10 Section 17(f)(3)(A) of the Richard B. Russell Na11 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(f)(3)(A)) is 

12 amended by striking ‘‘Consumer Price Index for food at 

13 home’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Consumer 

14 Price Index for food away from home’’. 

15 SEC. 6. ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PAPERWORK REDUC16 TION. 

17 Section 17 of the Richard B. Russell National School 

18 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766) is amended by adding at the 

19 end the following: 

20 ‘‘(v) ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PAPERWORK REDUC21 TION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 

23 days after the date of the enactment of this sub24 section, the Secretary shall establish an advisory 

25 committee (hereafter in this subsection referred to 


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1 as the ‘Advisory Committee’) to carry out the duties 

2 described in paragraph (2). 

3 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The duties of the Advisory 

4 Committee shall be to— 

5 ‘‘(A) examine the feasibility of reducing 

6 unnecessary or duplicative paperwork resulting 

7 from regulations and recordkeeping require8 ments, including paperwork resulting from ad9 ditional State requirements, for those partici10 pating or seeking to participate in the program 

11 under this section including State agencies, 

12 family child care homes, child care centers, and 

13 sponsoring organizations; and 

14 ‘‘(B) provide recommendations to reduce 

15 such paperwork for participants in the program 

16 under this section while ensuring that proper 

17 accountability and program integrity are main18 tained. 

19 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Committee 

20 shall be composed of 1 member representing each of 

21 the following entities and such other members as the 

22 Secretary determines to be appropriate: 

23 ‘‘(A) A public nonprofit center. 

24 ‘‘(B) A private nonprofit center. 

25 ‘‘(C) A family or group day care home. 


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1 ‘‘(D) A Head Start center. 

2 ‘‘(E) A for-profit center. 

3 ‘‘(F) An emergency shelter. 

4 ‘‘(G) An adult day care center. 

5 ‘‘(H) A State agency. 

6 ‘‘(I) Sponsoring organizations for centers 

7 and family or group day care homes. 

8 ‘‘(J) An anti-hunger advocacy organiza9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(K) An at-risk, after school program. 

11 ‘‘(L) A child care advocacy organization. 

12 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the rec13 ommendations described in paragraph (2), the Advi14 sory Committee shall consider— 

15 ‘‘(A) information, recommendations, and 

16 reports from the Paperwork Reduction Work 

17 Group established by the Food and Nutrition 

18 Service pursuant to section 119(i) of the Child 

19 Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 

20 2004 (Public Law 108–265; 118 Stat. 755); 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(B) the use of electronic systems and rec23 ordkeeping technologies to reduce paperwork 

24 for program participants. 


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1 ‘‘(5) GUIDANCE AND REGULATIONS.—Not later 

2 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 

3 subsection, the Secretary shall issue guidance and, 

4 as appropriate, regulations based on the rec5 ommendations described in paragraph (2) for 

6 streamlined and consolidated paperwork and record7 keeping requirements for the program, including rec8 ommendations for reducing paperwork for applica9 tions and monitoring and auditing requirements. 

10 ‘‘(6) REPORT.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

12 days after issuing the guidance and regulations 

13 described in paragraph (5), the Secretary shall 

14 submit a report to the Committee on Agri15 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate 

16 and the Committee on Education and the 

17 Workforce of the House of Representatives con18 taining the information described in subpara19 graph (B). 

20 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The report under sub21 paragraph (A) shall contain the following: 

22 ‘‘(i) In each case in which the Sec23 retary did not implement a recommenda24 tion of the Advisory Committee, an explaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Mar 08, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1332.IH H1332

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1 nation of why such recommendation was 

2 not implemented. 

3 ‘‘(ii) Recommendations for legislative 

4 action that may further strengthen and 

5 streamline the program application and 

6 monitoring process and reduce administra7 tive burdens on grantees, program partici8 pants, and local, State, and Federal gov9 ernments.’’. 

Æ 


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