I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6067 

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 

OCTOBER 26, 2023 

Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. MOLINARO, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. LAWLER, 

and Mr. CUELLAR) 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 the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

2 by striking ‘‘criteria:’’ and inserting ‘‘criteria—’’; 

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

4 the end; 

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

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

7 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

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

9 in paragraph (2)(B), the eligibility of such in10 stitution shall be determined on an annual basis 

11 in accordance with this section.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. REVIEW OF SERIOUS DEFICIENCY PROCESS. 

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

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

15 adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(F) SERIOUS DEFICIENCY PROCESS.— 

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

18 year after the date of the enactment of this 

19 subparagraph, the Secretary shall review 

20 and issue guidance and, as appropriate, 

21 regulations regarding the serious deficiency 

22 process for the program under this section. 

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

24 (i), the Secretary shall review, at a minVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:19 Oct 28, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6067.IH H6067
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1 imum, the processes for, and those in2 volved in— 

3 ‘‘(I) determining when there is a 

4 serious deficiency with respect to an 

5 institution or a family or group day 

6 care home, including— 

7 ‘‘(aa) what measures auto8 matically result in a finding of 

9 serious deficiency; and 

10 ‘‘(bb) how to differentiate 

11 between— 

12 ‘‘(AA) a reasonable 

13 margin of human error and 

14 systematic or intentional 

15 noncompliance; and 

16 ‘‘(BB) State-specific re17 quirements and Federal reg18 ulations; 

19 ‘‘(II) appealing and mediating a 

20 finding of serious deficiency with re21 spect to an institution or a family or 

22 group day care home, including— 

23 ‘‘(aa) findings related to 

24 State-specific requirements; and 

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1 ‘‘(bb) processes for ensuring 

2 officials involved in appeals and 

3 mediation are fair and impartial; 

4 ‘‘(III) determining the cir5 cumstances under which a corrective 

6 action plan is acceptable; 

7 ‘‘(IV) termination and disquali8 fication, including maintenance of the 

9 list under subparagraph (E); and 

10 ‘‘(V) determining opportunities 

11 for strengthening the processes in12 tended to reduce additional State 

13 agency requirements on institutions or 

14 family or group day care homes that 

15 are in addition to those required 

16 under Federal law, including— 

17 ‘‘(aa) State evaluation of 

18 practices used at the time of re19 view; 

20 ‘‘(bb) regional approval of 

21 such additional State agency re22 quirements; and 

23 ‘‘(cc) oversight through the 

24 management evaluation process. 

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1 ‘‘(iii) STATE-SPECIFIC REQUIRE2 MENTS.—The Secretary may not consider 

3 State-specific requirements in determining 

4 non-compliance or serious deficiency. 

5 ‘‘(iv) GUIDANCE AND REGULA6 TIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—After con8 ducting the review under clause (ii), 

9 the Secretary shall make findings 

10 from the information collected and 

11 issue guidance and, as appropriate, 

12 regulations from such findings that 

13 will— 

14 ‘‘(aa) streamline and mod15 ernize the program; 

16 ‘‘(bb) reduce the paperwork 

17 burden on parents; and 

18 ‘‘(cc) assist sponsoring orga19 nizations, State agencies, and the 

20 Food and Nutrition Service in 

21 ensuring a fair, uniform, and ef22 fective administration of the seri23 ous deficiency process, while re24 taining program integrity. 

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1 ‘‘(II) SCOPE.—The guidance or, 

2 as appropriate, regulations made or 

3 issued under subclause (I) shall in4 clude— 

5 ‘‘(aa) clarity on the required 

6 measures for noncompliance, in7 cluding— 

8 ‘‘(AA) an allowance for 

9 a reasonable margin of 

10 human error; and 

11 ‘‘(BB) a distinction be12 tween a reasonable margin 

13 of human error and system14 atic or intentional non15 compliance; 

16 ‘‘(bb) a formal appeals and 

17 mediation process that— 

18 ‘‘(AA) is conducted by 

19 a trained official who is 

20 independent from and not 

21 affiliated with any person or 

22 agency involved in the deter23 mination being appealed or 

24 mediated; 

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1 ‘‘(BB) provides an op2 portunity for a fair hearing 

3 for any institution or family 

4 or group day care home de5 termined to have a serious 

6 deficiency finding or inad7 equate corrective action 

8 plan; and 

9 ‘‘(CC) provides for the 

10 evaluation and resolution of 

11 disputes over State agency 

12 requirements on institutions 

13 or family or group day care 

14 homes that are in addition 

15 to those required under Fed16 eral law; 

17 ‘‘(cc) timeframes for accept18 able corrective action plans for 

19 group or family day care homes 

20 that are consistent with correc21 tive action timeframes for child 

22 care centers; and 

23 ‘‘(dd) a process to dismiss a 

24 serious deficiency upon correction 

25 of such deficiency.’’. 

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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF REIMBURSEMENTS FOR ADDI2 TIONAL MEAL OR SNACK. 

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

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

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

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

7 ‘‘(2) DISBURSEMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara9 graph (B)’’; and 

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

11 follows: 

12 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—No reimbursement 

13 may be made to any institution under this para14 graph, or to family or group day care home 

15 sponsoring organizations under paragraph (3), 

16 for more than— 

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

18 meal and 2 supplements per day per child; 

19 or 

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

21 meals and 2 supplements per day per 

22 child, in the case of child care during 

23 which there are 8 or more hours between 

24 the beginning of the first meal service pe25 riod and the beginning of the fourth meal 

26 service period. 

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1 ‘‘(C) STUDY ON THIRD MEAL.—The Sec2 retary shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) conduct a study, not later than 2 

4 years after the date of the enactment of 

5 this subparagraph, on— 

6 ‘‘(I) the prevalence of third meal 

7 reimbursement by program operators; 

8 ‘‘(II) the role of the additional 

9 meal in effectively supporting working 

10 families; 

11 ‘‘(III) the contribution of the ad12 ditional meal to the local economy; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(IV) the contribution of the ad15 ditional meal to the economic viability 

16 of child care and afterschool pro17 grams, including in rural areas; 

18 ‘‘(ii) submit a report to the Com19 mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For20 estry of the Senate and the Committee on 

21 Education and the Workforce of the House 

22 of Representatives that includes the find23 ings of the study required under clause (i); 

24 and 

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1 ‘‘(iii) based on the findings of such re2 port, provide guidance to program opera3 tors to— 

4 ‘‘(I) improve implementation of 

5 the program under this section; 

6 ‘‘(II) maximize the utility of the 

7 additional meal in supporting working 

8 families; and 

9 ‘‘(III) limit unnecessary costs to 

10 program operators and parents of 

11 participating children.’’. 

12 SEC. 5. ADJUSTMENTS. 

13 Section 17(f)(3)(A) of the Richard B. Russell Na14 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(f)(3)(A)) is 

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

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

17 Price Index for food away from home’’. 

18 SEC. 6. ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PAPERWORK REDUC19 TION. 

20 Section 17 of the Richard B. Russell National School 

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

22 end the following: 

23 ‘‘(v) ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PAPERWORK REDUC24 TION.— 

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

2 days after the date of the enactment of this sub3 section, the Secretary shall establish an advisory 

4 committee (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Ad5 visory Committee’) to carry out the duties described 

6 in paragraph (2). 

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

8 Committee shall be to— 

9 ‘‘(A) examine the feasibility of reducing 

10 unnecessary or duplicative paperwork resulting 

11 from regulations and recordkeeping require12 ments, including paperwork resulting from ad13 ditional State requirements, for those partici14 pating or seeking to participate in the program 

15 under this section, including State agencies, 

16 family child care homes, child care centers, and 

17 sponsoring organizations; and 

18 ‘‘(B) provide recommendations to the Sec19 retary to reduce such paperwork for partici20 pants in the program under this section while 

21 ensuring that proper accountability and pro22 gram integrity are maintained. 

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

24 shall be composed of not fewer than 14 members, of 

25 whom: 

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1 ‘‘(A) 1 shall be a representative of a public 

2 nonprofit center. 

3 ‘‘(B) 1 shall be a representative of a pri4 vate nonprofit center. 

5 ‘‘(C) 1 shall be a representative of a family 

6 or group day care home. 

7 ‘‘(D) 1 shall be a representative of a Head 

8 Start center. 

9 ‘‘(E) 1 shall be a representative of a for10 profit center. 

11 ‘‘(F) 1 shall be a representative of an 

12 emergency shelter. 

13 ‘‘(G) 1 shall be a representative of an 

14 adult day care center. 

15 ‘‘(H) 1 shall be a representative of a State 

16 agency. 

17 ‘‘(I) 1 shall be a representative of a spon18 soring organization for the entities referred to 

19 in subparagraphs (A), (B), (D), (E), (F), and 

20 (G). 

21 ‘‘(J) 1 shall be a representative of a spon22 soring organization of family or group day care 

23 homes. 

24 ‘‘(K) 1 shall be a representative of an anti25 hunger advocacy organization. 

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1 ‘‘(L) 1 shall be a representative of an at2 risk, after school program. 

3 ‘‘(M) 1 shall be a representative of a child 

4 care advocacy organization. 

5 ‘‘(N) 1 shall be a representative of an ad6 vocacy organization representing parents with 

7 young children. 

8 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the rec9 ommendations described in paragraph (2)(B), the 

10 Advisory Committee shall consider— 

11 ‘‘(A) information, recommendations, and 

12 reports from the Paperwork Reduction Work 

13 Group established by the Food and Nutrition 

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

15 Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 

16 2004 (Public Law 108–265; 118 Stat. 755); 

17 ‘‘(B) the use of electronic systems and rec18 ordkeeping technologies to reduce paperwork 

19 for program participants and program opera20 tors; and 

21 ‘‘(C) duplicative requirements across mul22 tiple Federal programs. 

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

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

25 subsection, the Secretary shall issue guidance and, 

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1 as appropriate, regulations based on the rec2 ommendations described in paragraph (2)(B) for 

3 streamlined and consolidated paperwork and record4 keeping requirements for the program, including rec5 ommendations and actions taken to reduce paper6 work for parents and program operators by— 

7 ‘‘(A) streamlining and modernizing appli8 cations; and 

9 ‘‘(B) streamlining and modernizing the 

10 monitoring and auditing of programmatic docu11 mentation and recordkeeping, including— 

12 ‘‘(i) eliminating the use of the enroll13 ment form for the purpose of claiming 

14 meals; 

15 ‘‘(ii) allowing the use of direct certifi16 cation in all States; 

17 ‘‘(iii) requiring States to accept as 

18 documentation digital forms, digitized and 

19 electronic signatures, and electronic 

20 records; 

21 ‘‘(iv) allowing the use of electronic 

22 data collection systems containing all re23 quired Federal child and adult care food 

24 program standards; 

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1 ‘‘(v) addressing non-mandated State2 specific requirements; and 

3 ‘‘(vi) requiring the adoption of gen4 erally accepted technologies for client-fac5 ing technology, virtual visits, and tech6 nology used for administrative functions by 

7 the child and adult care food program to 

8 reduce the burden on participants and pro9 gram operators and administrators. 

10 ‘‘(6) REPORT.— 

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

12 days after issuing the guidance and, as appro13 priate, regulations described in paragraph (5), 

14 the Secretary shall submit a report to the Com15 mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

16 of the Senate and the Committee on Education 

17 and the Workforce of the House of Representa18 tives containing the information described in 

19 subparagraph (B). 

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

22 ‘‘(i) With respect to each instance in 

23 which the Secretary did not implement a 

24 recommendation of the Advisory Com25 mittee, an explanation with respect to why 

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1 such recommendation was not imple2 mented. 

3 ‘‘(ii) Additional recommendations with 

4 respect to legislative action that may fur5 ther strengthen and streamline the pro6 gram application and monitoring process 

7 and reduce administrative burdens on 

8 grantees, program participants, and local, 

9 State, and Federal governments.’’. 

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