I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3705 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child 

Nutrition Act of 1966 to increase the number of children eligible for 

free school meals. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 1, 2009 

Mr. ELLISON (for himself, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. 

SERRANO, and Mr. HASTINGS of Florida) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to increase 

the number of children eligible for free school meals. 

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 ‘‘Expand School Meals 

5 Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FREE LUNCH ELIGIBILITY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(b)(1) of the Richard B. 

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

9 1758(b)(1)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub2 paragraph (D); 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘(b)(1)(A) Not’’ and inserting 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘(b) INCOME ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not’’; 

8 (3) in subparagraph (A)— 

9 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘and 

10 reduced price’’; 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘The income guidelines for 

12 determining eligibility for free lunches shall be 

13 130 percent’’ and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(B) FREE LUNCHES.—The income guide15 lines for determining eligibility for free lunches 

16 shall be 185 percent.’’; 

17 (C) by striking the third sentence; and 

18 (D) by striking ‘‘The Office’’ and inserting 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘(C) FREQUENCY OF REVISIONS.—The Of21 fice’’; and 

22 (4) in subparagraph (D) (as redesignated by 

23 paragraph (1))— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘(D) The’’ and inserting 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(D) AMOUNT OF REVISIONS.—The’’; and 

2 (B) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A) of this 

3 paragraph’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (C)’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

5 (1) Section 9 of the Richard B. Russell Na6 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758) is amend7 ed— 

8 (A) in subsection (b)— 

9 (i) by striking ‘‘free and reduced 

10 price’’ each place it appears (other than 

11 paragraph (7)) and inserting ‘‘free’’; 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘free or reduced price’’ 

13 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘free’’; 

14 (iii) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by strik15 ing ‘‘, and shall contain’’ and all that fol16 lows through ‘‘or reduced price lunches’’; 

17 (iv) in paragraph (3)— 

18 (I) in subparagraph (E)(iii), by 

19 striking ‘‘free or reduced-price’’ each 

20 place it appears and inserting ‘‘free’’; 

21 and 

22 (II) in subparagraph (F)— 

23 (aa) in clause (i), by striking 

24 ‘‘Subject to clauses (ii) and (iii)’’ 


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1 and inserting ‘‘Subject to clause 

2 (ii),’’; 

3 (bb) in clause (ii)(II), by 

4 striking ‘‘133 percent’’ both 

5 places it appears in items (aa) 

6 and (bb) and inserting ‘‘185 per7 cent’’; 

8 (cc) by striking clause (iii); 

9 and 

10 (dd) by redesignating 

11 clauses (iv) and (v) as clauses 

12 (iii) and (iv), respectively; 

13 (v) in paragraph (7)— 

14 (I) in the paragraph heading, by 

15 striking ‘‘AND REDUCED PRICE’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘MEALS’’; 

17 (II) by striking ‘‘and reduced 

18 price policy’’ each place it appears 

19 and inserting ‘‘meals policy’’; and 

20 (III) in subparagraph (B), by 

21 striking ‘‘and reduced price meals’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘meals’’; 

23 (vi) in paragraph (9)— 

24 (I) in the paragraph heading, by 

25 striking ‘‘AND REDUCED PRICE’’; 


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1 (II) by striking subparagraph 

2 (B); and 

3 (III) by redesignating subpara4 graph (C) as subparagraph (B); 

5 (vii) in paragraph (10), by striking 

6 ‘‘or a reduced price lunch’’; and 

7 (viii) in paragraph (11), in the first 

8 sentence, by striking ‘‘or reduced price 

9 lunches’’; 

10 (B) in subsection (c), in the third sentence, 

11 by striking ‘‘or at a reduced cost’’; 

12 (C) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘or re13 duced price’’ each place it appears; and 

14 (D) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘, re15 duced price,’’. 

16 (2) Section 11 of the Richard B. Russell Na17 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a) is 

18 amended— 

19 (A) in subsection (a)— 

20 (i) in paragraph (1)— 

21 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik22 ing ‘‘and the product obtained by mul23 tiplying’’ and all that follows through 

24 ‘‘for such fiscal year’’; 

25 (II) in subparagraph (B)— 


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1 (aa) by striking ‘‘or reduced 

2 price lunches’’ the first place it 

3 appears; 

4 (bb) by striking ‘‘or reduced 

5 price lunches, as the case may 

6 be’’; and 

7 (cc) by striking ‘‘and re8 duced price lunches’’; 

9 (III) in subparagraph (C)— 

10 (aa) in clause (ii), by strik11 ing ‘‘or reduced price lunches or 

12 breakfasts’’ each place it ap13 pears; and 

14 (bb) in clause (iii), by strik15 ing ‘‘or reduced price’’; and 

16 (IV) in subparagraph (D), by 

17 striking ‘‘and reduced price lunches’’ 

18 each place it appears in clauses (iii) 

19 and (iv); 

20 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and 

21 the special assistance factor for reduced 

22 price’’ and all that follows through ‘‘free 

23 lunches’’; and 

24 (iii) in paragraph (3)(B)(iii)(I), by 

25 striking ‘‘or reduced price’’; 


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1 (B) in subsection (b), in the first sentence, 

2 by striking ‘‘and reduced price’’; 

3 (C) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘and the 

4 average number of children who received re5 duced price lunches’’ each place it appears 

6 paragraphs (1) and (2); and 

7 (D) in subsection (e)— 

8 (i) in the second sentence, by striking 

9 ‘‘, and shall serve meals at a reduced 

10 price’’ and all that follows through ‘‘such 

11 section’’; and 

12 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

13 ‘‘or reduced priced’’. 

14 (3) Section 12(l)(4) of the Richard B. Russell 

15 National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(l)(4)) 

16 is amended— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and 

18 reduced price’’; 

19 (B) by striking subparagraph (D); 

20 (C) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘or 

21 reduced price’’; and 

22 (D) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) 

23 through (M) as subparagraphs (D) through 

24 (L). 


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1 (4) Section 13 of the Richard B. Russell Na2 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761) is amend3 ed— 

4 (A) in subsection (a)— 

5 (i) in paragraph (1)(C)— 

6 (I) by striking ‘‘or reduced 

7 price’’; and 

8 (II) by striking ‘‘and reduced 

9 price’’; and 

10 (ii) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘or 

11 reduced price’’; and 

12 (B) in subsection (f)(3), by striking ‘‘or re13 duced price’’. 

14 (5) Section 17 of the Richard B. Russell Na15 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766) is amend16 ed— 

17 (A) in subsection (a)(2)(B)(i), by striking 

18 ‘‘or reduced price’’; 

19 (B) in subsection (c)— 

20 (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(as 

21 calculated on the day before the date of en22 actment of the Expand School Meals Act 

23 of 2009)’’ after ‘‘lunches, reduced price 

24 lunches’’; 


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1 (ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting 

2 ‘‘(as calculated on the day before the date 

3 of enactment of the Expand School Meals 

4 Act of 2009)’’ after ‘‘breakfasts, reduced 

5 price breakfasts’’; and 

6 (iii) by striking paragraph (4) and in7 serting the following: 

8 ‘‘(4) DETERMINATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) FREE MEALS.—Determinations with 

10 regard to eligibility for free meals and supple11 ments shall be made in accordance with the in12 come eligibility guidelines for free lunches under 

13 section 9. 

14 ‘‘(B) REDUCED PRICE MEALS.—Deter15 minations with regard to eligibility for reduced 

16 price meals and supplements shall be made in 

17 accordance with the income eligibility guidelines 

18 for reduced price lunches under section 9, as in 

19 effect on the day before the date of enactment 

20 of the Expand School Meals Act of 2009.’’; 

21 (C) in subsection (f)(3)— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘or reduced price’’ each 

23 place it appears; and 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (A)(iii)(II)(aa), 

2 in the item heading, by striking ‘‘OR RE3 DUCED PRICE’’; and 

4 (D) in subsection (r)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘or 

5 reduced price’’. 

6 (6) Section 17A(c)(1) of the Richard B. Russell 

7 National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766a(c)(1)) 

8 is amended in the matter preceding subparagraph 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘or reduced price’’. 

10 (7) Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell Na11 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769) is amend12 ed by striking subsection (i). 

13 (8) Section 19 of the Richard B. Russell Na14 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769a) is 

15 amended— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘or reduced price’’ each 

17 place it appears; and 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘and reduced price’’ each 

19 place it appears. 

20 (9) Section 20(b) of the Richard B. Russell Na21 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769b(b)) is 

22 amended by striking ‘‘and reduced price’’. 

23 (10) Section 21(a)(1)(B) of the Richard B. 

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

25 1769b–1(a)(1)(B)) is amended— 


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1 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 

2 striking ‘‘or reduced price’’; and 

3 (B) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘and re4 duced price’’. 

5 (c) TRANSITION RULES.—The Secretary of Agri6 culture shall carry out the amendments made by para7 graphs (2) and (8) of subsection (b) in accordance with 

8 transition rules established by the Secretary. 

9 SEC. 3. FREE BREAKFAST ELIGIBILITY. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Child Nutrition 

11 Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1733) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (b)— 

13 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

14 (i) in subparagraph (A)(i)(II)— 

15 (I) by striking ‘‘, for reduced 

16 price breakfasts,’’; and 

17 (II) by striking ‘‘or reduced 

18 price’’; 

19 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

20 (I) in the third sentence, by 

21 striking ‘‘or reduced price’’; and 

22 (II) by striking the second sen23 tence; 

24 (iii) by striking subparagraph (C); 


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1 (iv) by redesignating subparagraphs 

2 (D) and (E) as subparagraphs (C) and 

3 (D), respectively; and 

4 (v) in subparagraph (D) (as so redes5 ignated)— 

6 (I) in the subparagraph heading, 

7 by striking ‘‘AND REDUCED PRICE’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘MEALS’’; 

9 (II) by striking ‘‘and reduced 

10 price policy’’ each place it appears 

11 and inserting ‘‘meals policy’’; and 

12 (III) by striking ‘‘and reduced 

13 price meals’’ and inserting ‘‘meals’’; 

14 and 

15 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

16 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

17 ‘‘or reduced price’’; and 

18 (ii) by striking subparagraph (C); and 

19 (2) in subsections (d)(1)(A) and (e)(1)(A), by 

20 striking ‘‘or at a reduced price’’ each place it ap21 pears. 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

23 (1) Section 7 of the Child Nutrition Act of 

24 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1776) is amended— 


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1 (A) in subsection (e)(2)(B)(ii), by striking 

2 ‘‘or reduced price’’; and 

3 (B) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘and re4 duced price’’ each place it appears in para5 graphs (2)(B)(iii) and (3)(B)(i). 

6 (2) Section 17(d)(2)(A)(i) of the Child Nutri7 tion Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786(d)(2)(A)(i)) is 

8 amended by striking ‘‘and reduced price’’. 

9 (3) Section 20(b) of the Child Nutrition Act of 

10 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1789(b)) is amended by striking 

11 ‘‘and reduced-price’’. 

Æ 


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