II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2584 

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to establish a competitive grant 

program to enable area agencies on aging and local nutrition service 

providers to purchase, customize, or repair vehicles with hot and cold 

food storage for delivering meals to older individuals through the Congregate Nutrition Program or the Home-Delivered Nutrition Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 3, 2021 

Mr. MANCHIN (for himself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to establish 

a competitive grant program to enable area agencies 

on aging and local nutrition service providers to purchase, customize, or repair vehicles with hot and cold 

food storage for delivering meals to older individuals 

through the Congregate Nutrition Program or the HomeDelivered Nutrition Program. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Helping Our Most El3 derly Secure Meals Act’’ or the ‘‘HOME Meals Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR VEHICLES WITH HOT AND COLD FOOD 

5 STORAGE FOR MEAL DELIVERY TO OLDER IN6 DIVIDUALS. 

7 Subpart 3 of part C of title III of the Older Ameri8 cans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3030g–21 et seq.) is amend9 ed by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 340. GRANTS FOR VEHICLES WITH HOT AND COLD 

11 FOOD STORAGE FOR MEAL DELIVERY. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

13 award grants in accordance with subsection (c) on a com14 petitive basis to States receiving a grant under section 331 

15 or 336 to enable such States to provide direct funds to 

16 area agencies on aging and local nutrition service pro17 viders to purchase, customize, or repair vehicles meeting 

18 the requirement under subsection (b) to be used in deliv19 ering meals to older individuals through a nutrition 

20 project supported or eligible for support under either such 

21 section. 

22 ‘‘(b) VEHICLE REQUIREMENT.—The requirement 

23 under this subsection is that the vehicle has the capability 

24 to safely store hot food and cold food, as determined by 

25 the Assistant Secretary, while delivering meals. 

26 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) APPLICATIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State receiving a 

3 grant under section 331 or 336 that seeks a 

4 grant under this section shall submit an appli5 cation to the Assistant Secretary at such time, 

6 in such manner, and containing such informa7 tion as the Assistant Secretary may reasonably 

8 require, including the demonstrations described 

9 in subparagraph (B). 

10 ‘‘(B) DEMONSTRATIONS.—An application 

11 under this paragraph shall contain a dem12 onstration— 

13 ‘‘(i) of how the State submitting the 

14 application will use the grant to enable nu15 trition projects supported or eligible for 

16 support under section 331 or 336 to en17 hance the delivery of services to older indi18 viduals with greatest economic need and 

19 older individuals with greatest social need; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(ii) that each such nutrition project 

22 has a program, in effect within the State 

23 on the date on which the State submits the 

24 application, to use vehicles meeting the re25 quirement under subsection (b) to provide 


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•S 2584 IS

1 nutrition services supported or eligible for 

2 support under section 331 or 336. 

3 ‘‘(2) SELECTION.—The Assistant Secretary, in 

4 selecting States meeting the requirements under 

5 paragraph (1) to receive a grant under this section, 

6 shall give preference to— 

7 ‘‘(A) States with a high percentage of indi8 viduals who are 60 years of age or older; 

9 ‘‘(B) States with a high rate of individuals 

10 at or below the poverty line; and 

11 ‘‘(C) States with a high level of demand or 

12 unmet need for nutrition services provided by 

13 area agencies on aging or local nutrition service 

14 providers. 

15 ‘‘(d) GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant awarded under this 

16 section shall be for an amount that is equal to or less than 

17 $3,000,000. 

18 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 is authorized to be appropriated $60,000,000 for each of 

20 fiscal years 2022 through 2026 to carry out this section.’’. 

Æ 


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