II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1119 

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

the stigmatization of children who are unable to pay for meals. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 10, 2019 

Mr. UDALL (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CASEY, Mr. GARDNER, Ms. 

SMITH, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. LEAHY, 

Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

Act to prohibit the stigmatization of children who are 

unable to pay for meals. 

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 ‘‘Anti-Lunch Shaming 

5 Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON STIGMATIZATION OF CHILDREN 

2 WHO ARE UNABLE TO PAY FOR MEALS. 

3 Section 9(b)(10) of the Richard B. Russell National 

4 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(10)) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘(10) No physical’’ and insert6 ing the following: 

7 ‘‘(10) DISCRIMINATORY OR STIGMATIZING

8 TREATMENT OF CHILDREN BY SCHOOLS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) DISCRIMINATION BASED ON ELIGI10 BILITY.—No physical’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(B) STIGMATIZATION BASED ON LACK OF

13 FUNDS OR DEBT.— 

14 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF COVERED

15 CHILD.—In this subparagraph, the term 

16 ‘covered child’ means a child who— 

17 ‘‘(I) is a student at a school that 

18 participates in— 

19 ‘‘(aa) the school lunch pro20 gram established under this Act; 

21 or 

22 ‘‘(bb) the school breakfast 

23 program established by section 4 

24 of the Child Nutrition Act of 

25 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773); and 


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1 ‘‘(II)(aa) does not have funds to 

2 pay for a lunch or breakfast at the 

3 school; or 

4 ‘‘(bb) has outstanding credit that 

5 was extended by a school food author6 ity for a lunch or breakfast at the 

7 school. 

8 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS OF SCHOOL

9 FOOD AUTHORITIES.— 

10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A school food 

11 authority shall not permit— 

12 ‘‘(aa) the public identifica13 tion or stigmatization of a cov14 ered child, such as by requiring 

15 the covered child to wear a wrist16 band or display a hand stamp to 

17 identify the covered child as a 

18 covered child; or 

19 ‘‘(bb) any requirement that 

20 a covered child, because of the 

21 status of the covered child as a 

22 covered child— 

23 ‘‘(AA) perform chores 

24 or any other activity that is 


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1 not required of students 

2 generally; or 

3 ‘‘(BB) dispose of a 

4 lunch or breakfast after it 

5 has been served to the cov6 ered child. 

7 ‘‘(II) COMMUNICATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—Sub9 ject to item (bb), a school food 

10 authority shall require that any 

11 communication relating to an 

12 outstanding credit described in 

13 clause (i)(II)(bb) of a covered 

14 child— 

15 ‘‘(AA) shall be directed 

16 to a parent or guardian of 

17 the covered child; and 

18 ‘‘(BB) shall not be di19 rected to the covered child. 

20 ‘‘(bb) LETTERS.—A school 

21 food authority may permit a re22 quirement that a covered child 

23 deliver a letter addressed to a 

24 parent or guardian of the covered 

25 child that contains a communicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:02 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1119.IS S1119

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1 tion described in item (aa), sub2 ject to the condition that the let3 ter shall not be distributed to the 

4 covered child in a manner that 

5 stigmatizes the covered child.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Agri8 culture should ensure that— 

9 (1)(A) to the maximum extent practicable, an 

10 application for a free or reduced price lunch under 

11 the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 

12 (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) is distributed— 

13 (i) in an understandable and uniform for14 mat; and 

15 (ii) by not later than July 1 of each year; 

16 and 

17 (B) a school food authority offers technical as18 sistance to a parent or legal guardian to complete an 

19 application described in subparagraph (A); 

20 (2) each school food authority coordinates 

21 with— 

22 (A) the local educational agency liaison 

23 designated under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the 

24 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

25 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)) to ensure that homeVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:02 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1119.IS S1119

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1 less children and youths eligible to receive free 

2 lunches and breakfasts under section 

3 9(b)(12)(A)(iv) of the Richard B. Russell Na4 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 1758(b)(12)(A)(iv)) receive those free lunches 

6 and breakfasts; and 

7 (B) the State agency responsible for ad8 ministering the State plans under parts B and 

9 E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 

10 U.S.C. 621 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 670 et seq.) to 

11 ensure that foster children eligible to receive 

12 free lunches and breakfasts under section 

13 9(b)(12)(A)(vii) of the Richard B. Russell Na14 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 1758(b)(12)(A)(vii)) receive those free lunches 

16 and breakfasts; and 

17 (3) a school food authority that participates in 

18 the school lunch program or the school breakfast 

19 program under the Richard B. Russell National 

20 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) or sec21 tion 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 

22 1773), respectively— 

23 (A) shall provide to a child who requests a 

24 lunch or breakfast a lunch or breakfast, regard25 less of whether the child— 


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1 (i) has money to pay for the lunch or 

2 breakfast; or 

3 (ii) owes money for a lunch or break4 fast; 

5 (B) shall not provide to a child who quali6 fies for a free or reduced price lunch or break7 fast an alternate meal that is not provided to 

8 students generally; and 

9 (C) shall explore innovative ways to use 

10 technology to improve and coordinate commu11 nications with parents and guardians with re12 spect to functions such as— 

13 (i) prepayment for meals; 

14 (ii) checking balances for school 

15 meals; 

16 (iii) adding funds to accounts for 

17 school meals; 

18 (iv) addressing outstanding debt for 

19 school meals; and 

20 (v) sending automatic emails when an 

21 account balance is low. 

Æ 


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