I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1589 

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

nutrition in tribal areas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2023 

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ (for herself, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. STANSBURY, and 

Mr. GALLEGO) 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 nutrition in tribal areas, 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 ‘‘Tribal Nutrition Im5 provement Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CATEGORICAL ELIGIBILITY. 

7 Section 9(b)(5) of the Richard B. Russell National 

8 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(5)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (E)(ii), by striking the pe4 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(F) a child who is an enrolled member, or 

7 who has 1 or more parents who are enrolled 

8 members, of an Indian tribe (as defined in sec9 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 

10 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)).’’. 

11 SEC. 3. REIMBURSEMENT RATES. 

12 Section 12(f) of the Richard B. Russell National 

13 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(f)) is amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘the Common15 wealth’’; 

16 (2) by inserting ‘‘and geographic areas that 

17 serve Bureau-funded schools (as defined in section 

18 1141 of the Education Amendments of 1978 (25 

19 U.S.C. 2021)) and elementary schools and secondary 

20 schools (as those terms are defined in section 8101 

21 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

22 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)) on or near an Indian res23 ervation’’ before ‘‘the Secretary’’; 

24 (3) by inserting ‘‘or area, as applicable,’’ after 

25 ‘‘such State’’; and 


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1 (4) by inserting ‘‘or areas, as applicable,’’ after 

2 ‘‘those States’’. 

3 SEC. 4. TRIBALLY OPERATED MEAL PILOT PROGRAM. 

4 Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School 

5 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769) is amended by inserting after 

6 subsection (c) the following: 

7 ‘‘(d) TRIBALLY OPERATED MEAL PILOT PRO8 GRAM.— 

9 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

10 ‘‘(A) COVERED INSTITUTION.—The term 

11 ‘covered institution’ means— 

12 ‘‘(i) a Bureau-funded school (as de13 fined in section 1141 of the Education 

14 Amendments of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2021)); 

15 ‘‘(ii) a school (as such term is defined 

16 in section 12(d) of the Richard B. Russell 

17 National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

18 1760(d)) on or near an Indian reservation; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(iii) an early care and education fa21 cility, including a facility that participates 

22 in a Head Start program authorized under 

23 the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et 

24 seq.). 


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1 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi2 ble entity’ means— 

3 ‘‘(i) an Indian tribe or tribal organiza4 tion approved by an Indian tribe; 

5 ‘‘(ii) a tribal educational agency; 

6 ‘‘(iii) a consortium of Indian tribes; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(iv) a partnership between— 

9 ‘‘(I) an Indian tribe; and 

10 ‘‘(II)(aa) a State educational 

11 agency; 

12 ‘‘(bb) a local educational agency; 

13 ‘‘(cc) a tribal educational agency; 

14 or 

15 ‘‘(dd) the Bureau of Indian Edu16 cation. 

17 ‘‘(C) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian 

18 tribe’ has the meaning given the term in section 

19 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu20 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

21 ‘‘(D) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ 

22 means the pilot program established under 

23 paragraph (2). 

24 ‘‘(E) TRIBAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

25 The term ‘tribal educational agency’ has the 


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1 meaning given the term in section 6132(b) of 

2 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

3 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7452(b)). 

4 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es5 tablish a pilot program to award grants to 10 eligi6 ble entities to operate and implement in covered in7 stitutions 1 or more of the following programs: 

8 ‘‘(A) The school lunch program authorized 

9 under this Act. 

10 ‘‘(B) The summer food service program for 

11 children established under section 13. 

12 ‘‘(C) The child and adult care food pro13 gram established under section 17. 

14 ‘‘(D) The school breakfast program estab15 lished by section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act 

16 of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773). 

17 ‘‘(3) TERMS OF GRANT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant 

19 awarded to an eligible entity under the program 

20 shall be negotiated with the eligible entity, but 

21 shall be not less than $10,000 and not more 

22 than $100,000 for each fiscal year. 

23 ‘‘(B) PERIOD.—A grant awarded to an eli24 gible entity under the program shall be avail25 able for a period of 2 years after the date on 


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1 which the grant is received by the eligible enti2 ty. 

3 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

4 grant under the program, an eligible entity shall 

5 submit to the Secretary an application at such time, 

6 in such manner, and containing such information as 

7 the Secretary may require. 

8 ‘‘(5) CRITERIA FOR SELECTION.—In selecting 

9 eligible entities to receive grants under the program, 

10 the Secretary shall select eligible entities that— 

11 ‘‘(A) are located in diverse geographic 

12 areas; and 

13 ‘‘(B) serve Indian tribes of varying popu14 lation size. 

15 ‘‘(6) REIMBURSEMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

17 other provision of law, an eligible entity that re18 ceives a grant under the program to operate 

19 and implement a program described in subpara20 graphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (2) 

21 shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) with respect to the program de23 scribed in subparagraph (A) of that para24 graph, be reimbursed under that program 


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1 as if the eligible entity were a State de2 scribed in section 12(f); 

3 ‘‘(ii) with respect to the program de4 scribed in subparagraph (B) of that para5 graph, be reimbursed under that program 

6 as if the eligible entity were a State under 

7 section 13; 

8 ‘‘(iii) with respect to the program de9 scribed in subparagraph (C) of that para10 graph, be reimbursed under that program 

11 as if the eligible entity were a State under 

12 section 17; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) in the case of the program de14 scribed in subparagraph (D) of that para15 graph, shall be reimbursed under that pro16 gram as if the eligible entity were a State 

17 educational agency. 

18 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE FUNDS.—An eligi19 ble entity that receives a grant under the pro20 gram shall receive administrative funds at a 

21 rate that is consistent with the amount received 

22 by a State under section 7 of the Child Nutri23 tion Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1776). 

24 ‘‘(7) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

25 conclusion of the pilot program, the Secretary shall 


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1 submit to Congress a report on the outcomes of the 

2 pilot program.’’. 

Æ 


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