I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3444 

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

the Secretary of Agriculture to make loan guarantees and grants to 

finance certain improvements to school lunch facilities, to train school 

food service personnel, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2019 

Mr. DESAULNIER (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Ms. KUSTER

of New Hampshire, and Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Appropriations, 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 require the Secretary of Agriculture to make 

loan guarantees and grants to finance certain improvements to school lunch facilities, to train school food 

service personnel, 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 ‘‘School Food Mod5 ernization Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LOAN GUARANTEES AND GRANTS TO FINANCE CER2 TAIN IMPROVEMENTS TO SCHOOL LUNCH FA3 CILITIES. 

4 The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 

5 is amended by inserting after section 26 (42 U.S.C. 

6 1769g) the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 27. LOAN GUARANTEES AND GRANTS TO FINANCE 

8 CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS TO SCHOOL 

9 LUNCH FACILITIES. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) DURABLE EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘dura12 ble equipment’ means durable food preparation, han13 dling, cooking, serving, and storage equipment great14 er than $500 in value. 

15 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en16 tity’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency or a school 

18 food authority administering or operating a 

19 school meal program; 

20 ‘‘(B) a tribal organization; or 

21 ‘‘(C) a consortium that includes a local 

22 educational agency or school food authority de23 scribed in subparagraph (A), a tribal organiza24 tion, or both. 

25 ‘‘(3) INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term ‘infrastruc26 ture’ means a food storage facility, kitchen, food 


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1 service facility, cafeteria, dining room, or food prepa2 ration facility. 

3 ‘‘(4) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

4 ‘local educational agency’ has the meaning given the 

5 term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec6 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

7 ‘‘(5) SCHOOL FOOD AUTHORITY.—The term 

8 ‘school food authority’ has the meaning given the 

9 term in section 210.2 of title 7, Code of Federal 

10 Regulations (or any successor regulation). 

11 ‘‘(6) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘tribal 

12 organization’ has the meaning given the term in sec13 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu14 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

15 ‘‘(b) LOAN GUARANTEES FOR ASSISTANCE TO

16 SCHOOLS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS AND

17 DURABLE EQUIPMENT NECESSARY TO PROVIDE

18 HEALTHY MEALS THROUGH SCHOOL MEAL PRO19 GRAMS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO GUARANTEE LOANS.—The 

21 Secretary shall issue a loan guarantee to an eligible 

22 lender for purposes of financing the construction, re23 modeling, or expansion of infrastructure or the pur24 chase of durable equipment that the Secretary deter25 mines will assist the eligible entity in providing 


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1 healthy meals through a school meal program au2 thorized under this Act. 

3 ‘‘(2) PREFERENCES.—In issuing a loan guar4 antee under this subsection, the Secretary shall give 

5 a preference to an eligible entity that, as compared 

6 with other eligible entities seeking a loan guarantee 

7 under this subsection, the Secretary determines 

8 demonstrates substantial or disproportionate— 

9 ‘‘(A) need for infrastructure improvement; 

10 or 

11 ‘‘(B) durable equipment need or impair12 ment. 

13 ‘‘(3) OVERSIGHT.—The Secretary, acting 

14 through the Under Secretary for Rural Develop15 ment, shall establish procedures to oversee any 

16 project or purchase for which a loan guarantee is 

17 issued under this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(4) GUARANTEE AMOUNT.—A loan guarantee 

19 issued under this subsection may not guarantee 

20 more than 80 percent of the principal amount of the 

21 loan. 

22 ‘‘(5) FEES AND COSTS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

24 establish fees for loan guarantees under this 

25 subsection that are, to the maximum extent 


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1 practicable, equal to all costs of the loan guar2 antees as determined under the Federal Credit 

3 Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.), as 

4 determined by the Secretary. 

5 ‘‘(B) FEE SHORTFALL.—To the extent 

6 that the Secretary determines that fees de7 scribed in subparagraph (A) are not sufficient 

8 to pay for all of the costs for the loan guaran9 tees pursuant to the Federal Credit Reform Act 

10 of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.), the Secretary 

11 may use funds described in paragraph (6) to 

12 pay for the costs of loan guarantees not paid 

13 for by the fees. 

14 ‘‘(6) FUNDING.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To provide loan guar16 antees under this subsection, the Secretary 

17 shall reserve $300,000,000 of the loan guar18 antee authority remaining and unobligated as of 

19 the date of enactment of the School Food Mod20 ernization Act under the program of community 

21 facility guaranteed loans under section 306(a) 

22 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Develop23 ment Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)). 

24 ‘‘(B) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec25 retary may use not more than 5 percent of the 


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1 amount made available to carry out this sub2 section for each fiscal year to provide technical 

3 assistance to applicants and prospective appli4 cants in preparing applications and creating fi5 nancing packages that leverage a mix of public 

6 and private funding sources. 

7 ‘‘(c) EQUIPMENT GRANTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS.—Begin9 ning in fiscal year 2020 and subject to the avail10 ability of appropriations, provide grants to State 

11 agencies for competitive subgrants to local edu12 cational agencies and schools (tribes) to purchase 

13 the equipment needed to serve healthy meals, im14 prove food safety, and to help support the establish15 ment, maintenance and expansion of the school. 

16 ‘‘(2) PREFERENCES.—In issuing a grant under 

17 this subsection, the State agency shall give a pref18 erence to an eligible entity that, as compared with 

19 other eligible entities seeking a loan guarantee under 

20 this subsection, the State agency determines dem21 onstrates substantial or disproportionate— 

22 ‘‘(A) need for infrastructure improvement; 

23 or 

24 ‘‘(B) durable equipment need or impair25 ment. 


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1 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized 

3 to be appropriated $35,000,000 as may be nec4 essary to carry out this subsection for each of 

5 fiscal years 2020 through 2025. 

6 ‘‘(B) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec7 retary may use not more than 5 percent of the 

8 amount made available to carry out this sub9 section for each fiscal year to provide technical 

10 assistance to applicants and prospective appli11 cants in preparing applications and creating fi12 nancing packages that leverage a mix of public 

13 and private funding sources.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR 

15 SCHOOL FOOD SERVICE PERSONNEL. 

16 The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 

17 is amended by inserting after section 21 (42 U.S.C. 

18 1769b–1) the following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 21A. TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR 

20 SCHOOL FOOD SERVICE PERSONNEL. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

22 grant program under which the Secretary shall award 

23 grants, on a competitive basis, to provide support to eligi24 ble third-party training institutions described in sub25 section (b) to develop and administer training and techVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3444.IH H3444

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1 nical assistance for school food service personnel to meet 

2 or exceed nutrition standards under section 4(b)(3) and 

3 improve efficacy and efficiency of the school lunch pro4 gram under this Act and the school breakfast program es5 tablished by section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 

6 (42 U.S.C. 1773). 

7 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE THIRD-PARTY INSTITUTIONS DE8 FINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘eligible 

9 third-party institution’ means— 

10 ‘‘(1) a nonprofit organization with dem11 onstrated experience in food or nutrition services 

12 training and technical assistance; 

13 ‘‘(2) an institution of higher education as de14 fined in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 

15 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002); 

16 ‘‘(3) an area career and technical education 

17 school as defined in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins 

18 Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 

19 U.S.C. 2302); or 

20 ‘‘(4) a consortium of entities described in para21 graphs (1), (2), and (3). 

22 ‘‘(c) CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBLE THIRD-PARTY INSTI23 TUTIONS.—The Secretary shall establish specific criteria 

24 that eligible third-party training institutions shall meet to 


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1 qualify to receive grants under this section, which shall 

2 include— 

3 ‘‘(1) a demonstrated capacity to administer ef4 fective training and technical assistance program5 ming to school food service personnel; 

6 ‘‘(2) prior, successful experience in providing or 

7 engaging in training and technical assistance pro8 gramming or applied research activities involving eli9 gible entities, school food service administrators, or 

10 directors; 

11 ‘‘(3) prior, successful experience in developing 

12 relevant educational training tools or course mate13 rials or curricula on topics addressing child and 

14 school nutrition or the updated nutrition standards 

15 under section 4(b)(3); and 

16 ‘‘(4) the ability to deliver effective and cost-effi17 cient training and technical assistance programming 

18 to school food service personnel— 

19 ‘‘(A) at training sites that are located 

20 within a proximate geographic distance to 

21 schools, central kitchens, or other worksites; or 

22 ‘‘(B) through an online training and assist23 ance program on topics that do not require in24 person attendance. 


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1 ‘‘(d) PROGRAM ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 

2 assist the institutions receiving grants under this section 

3 in publicizing and disseminating training and other project 

4 materials and online tools to the maximum extent prac5 ticable. 

6 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of costs 

8 for training and technical assistance funded through 

9 a grant awarded under this section shall not exceed 

10 80 percent of the total cost of the training and tech11 nical assistance. 

12 ‘‘(2) MATCHING.—As a condition of receiving a 

13 grant under this section, the eligible third-party 

14 training institution shall provide matching support 

15 in the form of cash or in-kind contributions. 

16 ‘‘(f) OVERSIGHT.—The Secretary shall establish pro17 cedures to enable the Secretary— 

18 ‘‘(1) to oversee the administration and oper19 ation of training and technical assistance funded 

20 through grants awarded under this section; and 

21 ‘‘(2) to ensure that the training and assistance 

22 is operated consistent with the goals and require23 ments of this Act. 

24 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

2 appropriated $10,000,000 to carry out this section 

3 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2025. 

4 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

5 may use not more than 5 percent of the amount 

6 made available to carry out this section for each fis7 cal year to provide technical assistance to applicants 

8 and prospective applicants in preparing applications 

9 and creating financing packages that leverage a mix 

10 of public and private funding sources.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

12 Not later than 1 year after funds are made available 

13 to carry out sections 21A and 27 of the Richard B. Russell 

14 National School Lunch Act (as added by this Act), and 

15 annually thereafter, the Secretary of Agriculture shall sub16 mit to Congress a report on the progress of the Secretary 

17 in implementing such sections. 

18 SEC. 5. STUDY AND REPORT TO CONGRESS ON THE USE OF 

19 STATE ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSE FUNDS. 

20 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall con21 duct a study on— 

22 (1) the use of State administrative expense 

23 funds by State agencies; 

24 (2) innovative, effective, replicable, model poli25 cies, practices, and training methods that may be 


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1 implemented using State administrative expense 

2 funds; 

3 (3) factors that interfere with the ability of 

4 State agencies to use State administrative expense 

5 funds effectively; and 

6 (4) how State administrative expense funds 

7 may be used to encourage the implementation of ef8 fective and consistent school nutrition workforce 

9 training, with particular emphasis on training and 

10 technical assistance to improve the implementation 

11 of nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools 

12 including— 

13 (A) nutrition standards for foods sold in 

14 schools other than foods provided under the 

15 Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the Richard B. 

16 Russell National School Lunch Act; 

17 (B) local school wellness policies; 

18 (C) professional standards for school nutri19 tion professionals; and 

20 (D) other school food service practices, 

21 standards, and operational requirements as the 

22 Secretary may identify as requiring additional 

23 assistance. 

24 (b) DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF ASSESSMENT

25 TOOL.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

2 shall develop an assessment tool for the purpose of 

3 carrying out the study under subsection (a). Such 

4 tool shall include a general methodology for evalu5 ating effectiveness of State agencies in providing 

6 training and technical assistance using State admin7 istrative expense funds. 

8 (2) COORDINATION WITH OTHER ENTITIES.—In 

9 developing the assessment tool under paragraph (1), 

10 the Secretary shall consider public research, stake11 holder input, and direct feedback from school nutri12 tion personnel. 

13 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 

14 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec15 retary shall prepare and submit to the Committee on Agri16 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the 

17 Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Rep18 resentatives a report containing— 

19 (1) a summary of the study conducted under 

20 subsection (a); 

21 (2) any findings and recommendations resulting 

22 from such study; 

23 (3) a plan for disseminating to State agencies 

24 best practices on the use of State administrative exVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3444.IH H3444

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1 pense funds for training and technical assistance; 

2 and 

3 (4) recommendations, if any, for the ongoing 

4 monitoring and improvement of training and tech5 nical assistance carried out by State agencies using 

6 State administrative expense funds. 

7 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) STATE ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSE

9 FUNDS.—The term ‘‘State administrative expense 

10 funds’’ means the State administrative expense 

11 funds described in part 235 of title 7, Code of Fed12 eral Regulations (or any successor regulation). 

13 (2) STATE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘State agency’’ 

14 has the meaning given the term in section 235.2 of 

15 title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc16 cessor regulation). 

17 SEC. 6. OFFSET. 

18 Of the unobligated balance available for administra19 tive expenses of the Department of Education, 

20 $45,000,000 is rescinded. 

Æ 


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