II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1539 

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

a permanent, nationwide summer electronic benefits transfer for children 

program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 10, 2015 

Mrs. MURRAY 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 establish a permanent, nationwide summer electronic benefits transfer for children program. 

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 ‘‘Stop Child Summer 

5 Hunger Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SUMMER ELECTRONIC BENEFITS TRANSFER FOR 

2 CHILDREN PROGRAM. 

3 Section 13(a) of the Richard B. Russell National 

4 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(a)) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(13) SUMMER ELECTRONIC BENEFITS TRANS7 FER FOR CHILDREN PROGRAM.— 

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

9 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLD.—The 

10 term ‘eligible household’ means a house11 hold that includes 1 or more children who 

12 are eligible to receive free or reduced price 

13 lunches under this Act or free or reduced 

14 price breakfasts under the Child Nutrition 

15 Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.). 

16 ‘‘(ii) SUMMER EBT CARD.—The term 

17 ‘summer EBT card’ means an electronic 

18 benefit transfer card that is issued to an 

19 eligible household under this paragraph 

20 and limited to food purchases. 

21 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall es22 tablish a program under which the Secretary 

23 shall provide to eligible households summer 

24 EBT cards for the purpose of providing access 

25 to food for children during summer months— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to reduce or eliminate the food in2 security and hunger of children; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) to improve the nutritional status 

4 of children. 

5 ‘‘(C) USE.—An eligible household may use 

6 a summer EBT card only to purchase food 

7 from retail food stores that have been approved 

8 for participation in the supplemental nutrition 

9 assistance program established under the Food 

10 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et 

11 seq.), in accordance with section 7(b) of that 

12 Act (7 U.S.C. 2016(b)). 

13 ‘‘(D) AMOUNT.—Each summer EBT card 

14 issued shall be in an amount of— 

15 ‘‘(i) for calendar year 2017, $150 in 

16 food assistance per child per summer; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) for each subsequent calendar 

18 year, the amount specified in clause (i) as 

19 adjusted to reflect changes in reimburse20 ment rates for school meals under this Act 

21 between calendar year 2017 and the most 

22 recent calendar year. 

23 ‘‘(E) TIMING.—Summer EBT cards shall 

24 be issued at the end of the regular school year. 

25 ‘‘(F) FUNDING.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—On October 1, 

2 2016, and on each October 1 thereafter, 

3 out of any funds in the Treasury not oth4 erwise appropriated, the Secretary of the 

5 Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary 

6 such sums as are necessary to carry out 

7 this section, to remain available until ex8 pended. 

9 ‘‘(ii) RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE.— 

10 The Secretary shall be entitled to receive, 

11 shall accept, and shall use to carry out this 

12 section the funds transferred under clause 

13 (i), without further appropriation. 

14 ‘‘(G) REGULATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than Oc16 tober 1, 2016, the Secretary shall issue 

17 regulations to carry out this paragraph. 

18 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—Regulations 

19 issued under this subparagraph shall re20 quire that— 

21 ‘‘(I) children shall be eligible to 

22 participate and shall be enrolled into 

23 the program under this paragraph for 

24 a summer without further application 

25 if the children are enrolled to particiVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Jun 11, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1539.IS S1539

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1 pate in the free or reduced price lunch 

2 program under this Act or the free or 

3 reduced price breakfast program 

4 under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 

5 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) during the 

6 school year immediately preceding the 

7 summer; and 

8 ‘‘(II) local educational agencies 

9 shall distribute to the families of all 

10 children enrolled in schools partici11 pating in programs authorized under 

12 this Act and the Child Nutrition Act 

13 of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) and, 

14 to the maximum extent practicable, 

15 the families of all children enrolled in 

16 schools of the local educational agency 

17 information, as provided by the Sec18 retary— 

19 ‘‘(aa) regarding the program 

20 authorized under this paragraph, 

21 including eligibility rules and how 

22 children in eligible households 

23 that are not automatically en24 rolled under subclause (I) may 

25 apply for program benefits; and 


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1 ‘‘(bb) to assist households 

2 receiving summer EBT cards in 

3 making healthy food choices and 

4 maximizing resources. 

5 ‘‘(iii) ALTERNATIVE TIMING.— 

6 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—In issuing 

7 regulations under this subparagraph, 

8 the Secretary shall allow alternative 

9 plans for the timing of issuance of the 

10 summer electronic benefit cards under 

11 subparagraph (D) in any part of a 

12 State in which the school year does 

13 not include a typical summer break, 

14 on the condition that the Secretary 

15 determines that no alternative plan in16 creases or decreases Federal costs. 

17 ‘‘(II) CONSIDERATIONS.—In de18 veloping regulations under subclause 

19 (I), the Secretary shall consider the 

20 ability of a State effectively to issue 

21 benefits under an alternative sched22 ule.’’. 

Æ 


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