I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2803 

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

paperless enrollment and efficiency for the national school lunch and 

school breakfast programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 10, 2009 

Mr. FATTAH (for himself, Ms. SCHWARTZ, and Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania) 

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 improve paperless enrollment and efficiency for 

the national school lunch and school breakfast 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 ‘‘Paperless Enrollment 

5 for School Meals Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DATA-BASED ELIGIBILITY FOR SCHOOL MEALS PRO2 GRAMS. 

3 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—Section 11(a)(1) of the Richard B. 

4 Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 1759a(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(F) DATA-BASED ELIGIBILITY.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A school or local 

9 educational agency may elect to receive 

10 special assistance payments under clause 

11 (ii) in lieu of special assistance payments 

12 otherwise made available under this para13 graph based on applications for free and 

14 reduced price lunches if the school or local 

15 educational agency— 

16 ‘‘(I) elects to serve all children in 

17 the school or local educational agency 

18 free lunches and breakfasts under the 

19 school lunch program and school 

20 breakfast program established under 

21 section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 

22 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773), during a pe23 riod of 5 successive school years; and 

24 ‘‘(II) pays, from sources other 

25 than Federal funds, the costs of serv26 ing the lunches or breakfasts that are 


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1 in excess of the value of assistance re2 ceived under this Act and the Child 

3 Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 

4 1771 et seq.). 

5 ‘‘(ii) ALTERNATIVE DATA SOURCES.— 

6 Subject to criteria established by the Sec7 retary not later than December 31, 2010, 

8 special assistance payments under clause 

9 (i) may be based on an estimate of the 

10 number of children eligible for free and re11 duced price lunches under section 

12 9(b)(1)(A) derived from recent data other 

13 than applications, including— 

14 ‘‘(I) a socioeconomic survey of a 

15 representative sample of households of 

16 students, which may exclude students 

17 who have been directly certified under 

18 paragraphs (4) and (5) of section 

19 9(b); 

20 ‘‘(II) data from the American 

21 Community Survey of the Bureau of 

22 the Census; 

23 ‘‘(III) data on receipt of income24 tested public benefits by students or 

25 the households of students or income 


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1 data collected by public benefit pro2 grams, including— 

3 ‘‘(aa) the supplemental nu4 trition assistance program estab5 lished under the Food and Nutri6 tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 

7 et seq.); 

8 ‘‘(bb) the medical assistance 

9 program under the State Med10 icaid program under title XIX of 

11 the Social Security Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.); 

13 ‘‘(cc) the supplemental secu14 rity income program established 

15 under title XVI of that Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.); and 

17 ‘‘(dd) the program of block 

18 grants to States for temporary 

19 assistance for needy families es20 tablished under part A of title IV 

21 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et 

22 seq.); or 

23 ‘‘(IV) other data, including State 

24 or local survey data and State or local 

25 tax records. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) PAYMENTS.— 

2 ‘‘(I) FREE MEALS.—For each 

3 month of the period during which a 

4 school or local educational agency de5 scribed in clause (i) serves free 

6 lunches or breakfasts to all enrolled 

7 children, special assistance payments 

8 at the rate for free meals shall be 

9 made for a percentage of all reimburs10 able meals served that is equal to the 

11 percentage of students estimated to be 

12 eligible for free meals. 

13 ‘‘(II) REDUCED PRICE MEALS.— 

14 For each month of the period during 

15 which the school or local educational 

16 agency serves free lunches or break17 fasts to all enrolled children, special 

18 assistance payments at the rate for 

19 reduced price meals shall be made for 

20 a percentage of all reimbursable meals 

21 served that is equal to the percentage 

22 of students estimated to be eligible for 

23 reduced price meals. 

24 ‘‘(III) OTHER MEALS.—For each 

25 month of the period during which the 


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1 school or local educational agency 

2 serves free lunches or breakfasts to all 

3 enrolled children, food assistance pay4 ments at the rate provided under sec5 tion 4 shall be made for the remain6 der of the reimbursable meals served. 

7 ‘‘(iv) RENEWALS.— 

8 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A school or 

9 local educational agency described in 

10 clause (i) may reapply to the Sec11 retary at the end of the period de12 scribed in clause (i), and at the end of 

13 each period thereafter for which the 

14 school or local educational agency re15 ceives reimbursements and assistance 

16 under this subparagraph, for the pur17 pose of continuing to receive the reim18 bursements and assistance for a sub19 sequent 5-school-year period. 

20 ‘‘(II) APPROVAL.—The Secretary 

21 shall approve an application under 

22 this clause if available socioeconomic 

23 data demonstrate that the income 

24 level of the population of the school or 

25 local educational agency has remained 


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1 consistent with or below the income 

2 level of the population of the school or 

3 local educational agency in the last 

4 year in which reimbursement rates 

5 were determined under clause (ii). 

6 ‘‘(III) DATA.—Not later than 

7 December 31, 2010, the Secretary 

8 shall establish criteria regarding the 

9 socioeconomic data that may be used 

10 when applying for a renewal of the 

11 special assistance payments for a sub12 sequent 5-school-year period. 

13 ‘‘(G) HIGH-POVERTY AREAS.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A school or local 

15 educational agency may elect to receive 

16 special assistance payments under clause 

17 (ii) in lieu of special assistance payments 

18 otherwise made available under this para19 graph based on applications for free and 

20 reduced price lunches if the school or local 

21 educational agency— 

22 ‘‘(I) during a period of 2 succes23 sive school years, elects to serve all 

24 children in the school or local edu25 cational agency free lunches and 


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1 breakfasts under the school lunch pro2 gram under this Act and the school 

3 breakfast program established under 

4 section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 

5 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773); 

6 ‘‘(II) pays, from sources other 

7 than Federal funds, the costs of serv8 ing the lunches or breakfasts that are 

9 in excess of the value of assistance re10 ceived under this Act and the Child 

11 Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 

12 1771 et seq.); and 

13 ‘‘(III)(aa) for a local educational 

14 agency, for the prior school year, di15 rectly certified under paragraphs (4) 

16 and (5) of section 9(b) at least 50 

17 percent of the enrolled students; 

18 ‘‘(bb) for a school, for the prior 

19 school year, directly certified under 

20 paragraphs (4) and (5) of section 9(b) 

21 at least 60 percent of the enrolled stu22 dents; or 

23 ‘‘(cc) for a school or local edu24 cational agency that received pay25 ments under this subparagraph for 


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1 the prior school year, directly certifies 

2 under paragraphs (4) and (5) of sec3 tion 9(b) at least 40 or 50 percent, re4 spectively, of the enrolled students. 

5 ‘‘(ii) PAYMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For each 

7 month of the school year, special as8 sistance payments at the rate for free 

9 meals shall be made under this sub10 paragraph for a percentage of all re11 imbursable meals served in an amount 

12 equal to the product obtained by mul13 tiplying— 

14 ‘‘(aa) 1.5; by 

15 ‘‘(bb) the percentage of stu16 dents directly certified under 

17 paragraphs (4) and (5) of section 

18 9(b), up to a maximum of 100 

19 percent. 

20 ‘‘(II) OTHER MEALS.—The per21 centage of meals served that is not de22 scribed in subclause (I) shall be reim23 bursed at the rate provided under sec24 tion 4. 

25 ‘‘(iii) ELECTION OF OPTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Any school 

2 or local educational agency eligible for 

3 the option under clause (i) may elect 

4 to receive special assistance payments 

5 under clause (ii) for the next school 

6 year if the school or local educational 

7 agency provides to the State agency 

8 evidence of the percentage of students 

9 directly certified not later than June 

10 30 of the current school year. 

11 ‘‘(II) STATE AGENCY NOTIFICA12 TION.—Not later than May 1 of each 

13 school year, each State agency shall 

14 notify— 

15 ‘‘(aa) any local educational 

16 agency that appears, based on re17 ported verification summary 

18 data, to have directly certified at 

19 least 50 percent of the enrolled 

20 students for the current school 

21 year, that the local educational 

22 agency may be eligible to elect to 

23 receive special assistance pay24 ments under clause (ii) for the 

25 next school year and explain the 


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1 procedures for the local edu2 cational agency to make such an 

3 election; and 

4 ‘‘(bb) any local educational 

5 agency that appears, based on re6 ported verification summary 

7 data, to have directly certified at 

8 least 40 percent of the enrolled 

9 students for the current school 

10 year, that the local educational 

11 agency may become eligible to 

12 elect to receive special assistance 

13 payments under clause (ii) for a 

14 future school year if the local 

15 educational agency directly cer16 tifies at least 50 percent of the 

17 enrolled students. 

18 ‘‘(III) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

19 AGENCY NOTIFICATION.—Not later 

20 than May 1 of each school year, each 

21 local educational agency shall notify— 

22 ‘‘(aa) any school that di23 rectly certified at least 60 per24 cent of the enrolled students for 

25 the current school year, that the 


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1 school is eligible to elect to re2 ceive special assistance payments 

3 under clause (ii) for the next 

4 school year and explain the pro5 cedures for the school to make 

6 such an election; and 

7 ‘‘(bb) any school that di8 rectly certified at least 50 per9 cent of the enrolled students for 

10 the current school year, that the 

11 school may become eligible to 

12 elect to receive special assistance 

13 payments under clause (ii) for a 

14 future school year if the school 

15 directly certifies at least 60 per16 cent of the enrolled students. 

17 ‘‘(IV) PROCEDURES.—Not later 

18 than December 31, 2010, the Sec19 retary shall establish procedures for 

20 State agencies, local educational agen21 cies, and schools to exercise the op22 tions provided under this clause.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

24 11(a)(1)(B) of the Richard B. Russell National School 


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1 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(a)(1)(B)) is amended by 

2 striking ‘‘or (E)’’ and inserting ‘‘(E), (F), or (G)’’. 

Æ 


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