I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8534 

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

certification of children in households of active duty members of the 

Armed Forces for certain Federal school meal programs, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 6, 2020 

Mrs. DAVIS of California (for herself and Mr. LEVIN of California) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

Act to allow direct certification of children in households 

of active duty members of the Armed Forces for certain 

Federal school meal programs, 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 ‘‘Military Dependents 

5 School Meal Eligibility Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DIRECT CERTIFICATION FOR DEPENDENT CHIL2 DREN OF ACTIVE DUTY MEMBERS OF THE 

3 ARMED FORCES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9 of the Richard B. Rus5 sell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758) is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (b)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (5)— 

9 (i) by striking ‘‘CERTIFICATION.— 

10 Subject’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘CER11 TIFICATION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) FREE LUNCHES OR BREAKFASTS.— 

13 Subject’’; 

14 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

15 (A) through (D) as clauses (i) through (iv) 

16 and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

17 (iii) in clause (iv), as so redesignated, 

18 by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

19 (iv) by inserting after clause (iv), as 

20 so redesignated, the following: 

21 ‘‘(v) a member of a household in 

22 which a child is a dependent of an active 

23 duty member of the Armed Forces and 

24 such active duty member has a military in25 come (as defined in paragraph (16)(C)) 

26 that does not exceed 130 percent of the 


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1 poverty line (as defined by the Office of 

2 Management and Budget).’’; 

3 (v) in subparagraph (E)— 

4 (I) by redesignating such sub5 paragraph as clause (vi) and adjusting 

6 the margins accordingly; and 

7 (II) by redesignating clauses (i) 

8 and (ii) of such subparagraph as sub9 clauses (I) and (II) and adjusting the 

10 margins accordingly; and 

11 (vi) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(B) REDUCED PRICE LUNCHES OR

14 BREAKFASTS.—Subject to paragraph (6), any 

15 local educational agency may certify any child 

16 who is not eligible for free school lunch or 

17 breakfast as eligible for reduced price lunches 

18 or breakfasts, without further application, by 

19 directly communicating with the appropriate 

20 State or local agency to obtain documentation 

21 of the status of the child as a member of a 

22 household in which a child is a dependent of an 

23 active duty member of the Armed Forces and 

24 such active duty member has a military income 

25 (as defined in paragraph (16)(C)) that does not 


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1 exceed 185 percent of the poverty line (as de2 fined by the Office of Management and Budg3 et).’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (6)(A)— 

5 (i) in clause (iv)(II), by striking 

6 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

7 (ii) in clause (v), by striking the pe8 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (iii) by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(vi) a person directly connected with 

12 the administration or enforcement of the 

13 Department of Defense Integrated Per14 sonnel and Pay System.’’; and 

15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(16) DIRECT CERTIFICATION FOR DEPENDENT

17 CHILDREN OF ACTIVE DUTY MEMBERS OF THE

18 ARMED FORCES.— 

19 ‘‘(A) AGREEMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

21 making eligibility determinations with re22 spect to certifying children under subpara23 graph (A)(v) or (B) of paragraph (5), a 

24 State agency shall enter into an agreement 

25 with the Secretary of Defense. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) WITHOUT FURTHER APPLICA2 TION.—Subject to paragraph (6), the 

3 agreement described in clause (i) shall es4 tablish procedures for certifying children 

5 under subparagraph (A)(v) or (B) of para6 graph (5), without further application (as 

7 defined in paragraph (4)(G)). 

8 ‘‘(B) ACCESS TO DATA.—For purposes of 

9 carrying out this paragraph and subparagraph 

10 (A)(v) or (B) of paragraph (5), the Secretary of 

11 Defense shall provide the Secretary with access 

12 to non-classified income information as may be 

13 necessary to determine the military income of 

14 an active duty member of the Armed Forces. 

15 ‘‘(C) MILITARY INCOME.— 

16 ‘‘(i) MILITARY INCOME DEFINED.— 

17 For purposes of this subsection, the term 

18 ‘military income’ means, with respect to an 

19 active duty member of the Armed Forces, 

20 the basic pay, basic allowance for subsist21 ence, basic allowance for housing (or appli22 cable cash equivalent), overseas housing al23 lowance, bonuses, and special and incentive 

24 payments of such member, as reported by 


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1 the Department of Defense Integrated Per2 sonnel and Pay System. 

3 ‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of a 

4 child who is the dependent of one or more 

5 active duty members of the Armed Forces, 

6 the Secretary, in determining eligibility 

7 under subparagraph (A)(v) or (B) of para8 graph (5), shall use the lesser of the mili9 tary incomes of such members.’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (d)(2)— 

11 (A) in subparagraph (F)(ii), by striking 

12 the ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

13 (B) in subparagraph (G), by striking the 

14 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(H) documentation has been provided to 

17 the appropriate local educational agency show18 ing the status of the child as a member of a 

19 household described in subparagraph (A)(v) or 

20 (B) of subsection (b)(5).’’. 

21 (b) CLARIFICATION.—Not later than 180 days after 

22 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

23 provide a process for a parent or guardian whose child 

24 is directly certified under subparagraph (A)(v) or (B) of 

25 section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National School 


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1 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)), as added by this section, 

2 to remove such certification. 

Æ 


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