I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4065 

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

a pilot program for serving meals in community colleges, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2019 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. COX of California, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. ESHOO, 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. PORTER, and Mrs. TORRES of California) 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 to establish a pilot program for serving meals in 

community colleges, 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 ‘‘Food for Thought Act 

5 of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SCHOOL LUNCH IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE PILOT 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School 

4 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769) is amended by inserting be5 fore subsection (b) the following: 

6 ‘‘(a) SCHOOL LUNCH IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE

7 PILOT PROGRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

10 through the Administrator of the Food and Nu11 trition Service, shall carry out a program to 

12 make grants to community colleges to provide 

13 free meals, including snacks, to eligible stu14 dents, as determined by the Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(B) AWARD REQUIREMENTS.—In award16 ing grants under this subsection, the Secretary 

17 shall make grants to community colleges that 

18 reflect varying student body size, full-time stu19 dent enrollment, geographic location, including 

20 urban, rural, or suburban campuses, minority 

21 serving institutions, residential character, in22 cluding race and ethnicity, and socioeconomic 

23 status. 

24 ‘‘(C) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—A grant under 

25 this subsection may not be in an amount great26 er than $200,000. 


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1 ‘‘(D) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants 

2 under this subsection, the Secretary may give 

3 priority to community colleges— 

4 ‘‘(i) with prepared food infrastructure 

5 or can identify an outside source of sup6 port to develop such infrastructure; 

7 ‘‘(ii) that serve more than 300 stu8 dents who are eligible for Federal Pell 

9 Grants; or 

10 ‘‘(iii) that are located within proximity 

11 of a school that elects to receive special as12 sistance payments under section 

13 11(a)(1)(F) of the Richard B. Russell Na14 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 1759a(a)(1)(F)). 

16 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

17 grant under this subsection, a community college 

18 shall submit an application to the Secretary, at such 

19 time, in such manner, and containing such informa20 tion as the Secretary may require, including the 

21 number of students such community college will 

22 serve under the grant. 

23 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A community college 

2 that receives a grant under this subsection shall 

3 use the grant to— 

4 ‘‘(i) provide free meals, including 

5 snacks, to eligible students; 

6 ‘‘(ii) conduct outreach to students to 

7 encourage participation in the free meal 

8 program; 

9 ‘‘(iii) prepare meals; 

10 ‘‘(iv) purchase meals from vendors; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(v) provide information to students 

13 regarding eligibility for assistance under 

14 Federal food assistance programs. 

15 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON PURCHASE OF

16 EQUIPMENT.—A community college that re17 ceives a grant under this subsection may use 

18 not more than 20 percent of such grant to pur19 chase equipment to carry out the activities de20 scribed in clauses (i) through (iv) of subpara21 graph (A). 

22 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS.—Meals served by a com23 munity college pursuant to a grant under this sub24 section shall meet the requirements developed under 


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1 the dietary guidelines required under paragraph 

2 (5)(C). 

3 ‘‘(5) REPORT.—Each community college that 

4 receives a grant under this section shall, not later 

5 than 18 months after receiving such a grant, submit 

6 a report to the Secretary of Education that in7 cludes— 

8 ‘‘(A) the prevalence of food insecurity with 

9 respect to students enrolled in such community 

10 college; and 

11 ‘‘(B) an evaluation of the use of grant 

12 finds by such community college in addressing 

13 such food insecurity. 

14 ‘‘(6) DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the 

16 grant program under this subsection, the Sec17 retary shall consult with community colleges, 

18 State educational agencies, and State boards of 

19 higher education. 

20 ‘‘(B) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Not later 

21 than 120 days after the date of the enactment 

22 of this subsection, the Secretary, acting through 

23 the Administrator of the Food and Nutrition 

24 Service, shall provide technical assistance to 

25 community colleges to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) as applicable, develop prepared 

2 meal infrastructure; 

3 ‘‘(ii) carry out the activities described 

4 in paragraph (3), including training the 

5 employees of the community college to 

6 carry out such activities; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) develop outreach to students 

8 with respect to such activities. 

9 ‘‘(C) DIETARY GUIDELINES.—Not later 

10 than 120 days after the date of the enactment 

11 of this subsection, the Secretary shall develop 

12 nutritional requirements for meals served pur13 suant to a grant under this subsection that are 

14 consistent with the goals of the most recent Di15 etary Guidelines for Americans published under 

16 section 301 of the National Nutrition Moni17 toring and Related Research Act of 1990 (7 

18 U.S.C. 5341). 

19 ‘‘(D) STUDY.—Not later than 2 years after 

20 the date of the enactment of this subsection, 

21 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 

22 that includes— 

23 ‘‘(i) an evaluation of the pilot pro24 gram under this subsection; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) recommendations with respect to 

2 expanding the pilot program under this 

3 subsection. 

4 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

6 this subsection $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 and 

7 each of the succeeding 3 fiscal years. 

8 ‘‘(8) COMMUNITY COLLEGE DEFINED.—In this 

9 subsection, the term ‘community college’ means a 

10 public institution of higher education as defined in 

11 section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

12 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)) that— 

13 ‘‘(A) does not provide an educational pro14 gram for which the institution awards a bach15 elor’s degree (or an equivalent degree); and 

16 ‘‘(B) predominately awards associate’s de17 grees.’’. 

Æ 


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