I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6227 

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 

DECEMBER 9, 2021 

Mr. LEVIN of California (for himself, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. 

BISHOP of Georgia, and Mr. HUDSON) 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 2021’’. 


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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 to paragraph (6), any local edu11 cational agency’’ and inserting the fol12 lowing: ‘‘CERTIFICATION.— 

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

14 Subject to paragraph (6), any local educational 

15 agency or, in the case of a school that is oper16 ated by the Department of Defense Education 

17 Activity, the administration of such school,’’; 

18 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

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

20 and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

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

22 by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

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

24 so redesignated, the following: 

25 ‘‘(v) a member of a household in 

26 which a child is a dependent of an active 


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1 duty member of the Armed Forces and 

2 such active duty member has a military in3 come (as defined in paragraph (16)(C)) 

4 that does not exceed 130 percent of the 

5 poverty line (as defined by the Office of 

6 Management and Budget).’’; 

7 (v) in subparagraph (E)— 

8 (I) by redesignating such sub9 paragraph as clause (vi) and adjusting 

10 the margins accordingly; and 

11 (II) by redesignating clauses (i) 

12 and (ii) of such subparagraph as sub13 clauses (I) and (II) and adjusting the 

14 margins accordingly; and 

15 (vi) by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(B) REDUCED PRICE LUNCHES OR

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

19 local educational agency may certify any child 

20 who is not eligible for free school lunch or 

21 breakfast as eligible for reduced price lunches 

22 or breakfasts, without further application, by 

23 directly communicating with the appropriate 

24 State or local agency to obtain documentation 

25 of the status of the child as a member of a 


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1 household in which a child is a dependent of an 

2 active duty member of the Armed Forces and 

3 such active duty member has a military income 

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

5 exceed 185 percent of the poverty line (as de6 fined by the Office of Management and Budg7 et).’’; 

8 (B) in paragraph (6)(A)— 

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

10 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

11 (ii) in clause (v), by striking the pe12 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (iii) by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(vi) a person directly connected with 

16 the administration or enforcement of the 

17 Department of Defense Integrated Per18 sonnel and Pay System.’’; and 

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

20 ‘‘(16) DIRECT CERTIFICATION FOR DEPENDENT

21 CHILDREN OF ACTIVE DUTY MEMBERS OF THE

22 ARMED FORCES.— 

23 ‘‘(A) AGREEMENT.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

25 making eligibility determinations with reVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6227.IH H6227

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1 spect to certifying children under subpara2 graph (A)(v) or (B) of paragraph (5), a 

3 State agency shall enter into an agreement 

4 with the Secretary of Defense. 

5 ‘‘(ii) WITHOUT FURTHER APPLICA6 TION.—Subject to paragraph (6), the 

7 agreement described in clause (i) shall es8 tablish procedures for certifying children 

9 under subparagraph (A)(v) or (B) of para10 graph (5), without further application (as 

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

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

13 carrying out this paragraph and subparagraph 

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

15 Defense shall provide the Secretary with access 

16 to non-classified income information as may be 

17 necessary to determine the military income of 

18 an active duty member of the Armed Forces. 

19 ‘‘(C) MILITARY INCOME.— 

20 ‘‘(i) MILITARY INCOME DEFINED.— 

21 For purposes of this subsection, the term 

22 ‘military income’ means, with respect to an 

23 active duty member of the Armed Forces, 

24 the basic pay, basic allowance for subsist25 ence, bonuses, and special and incentive 


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1 payments of such member, as reported by 

2 the Department of Defense Integrated Per3 sonnel and Pay System. 

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

5 child who is the dependent of one or more 

6 active duty members of the Armed Forces, 

7 the Secretary, in determining eligibility 

8 under subparagraph (A)(v) or (B) of para9 graph (5), shall use the lesser of the mili10 tary incomes of such members.’’; and 

11 (2) in subsection (d)(2)— 

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

13 the ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

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

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

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

17 ‘‘(H) documentation has been provided to 

18 the appropriate local educational agency or ad19 ministration of a school that is operated by the 

20 Department of Defense Education Activity 

21 showing the status of the child as a member of 

22 a household described in subparagraph (A)(v) 

23 or (B) of subsection (b)(5).’’. 

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

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


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1 provide a process for a parent or guardian whose child 

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

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

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

5 to remove such certification. 

Æ 


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