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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2690 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2690

To create a universal, paperless school meal program that is nationally 
                               available.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 3, 2009

    Mr. Sestak (for himself and Mr. Braley of Iowa) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
                                 Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To create a universal, paperless school meal program that is nationally 
                               available.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``School Meal Enhancement Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Eligible school.--The term ``eligible school'' means 
        any school that is--
                    (A) eligible to participate in the National School 
                Lunch Program established under the Richard B. Russell 
                National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751) and the 
                National School Breakfast Program established under the 
                Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.);
                    (B) meets the participation threshold described in 
                section 3(a); and
                    (C) agrees to provide free meals to all enrolled 
                students through the school-wide paperless free school 
                meal program.
            (2) Estimated eligibility rate.--The term ``estimated 
        eligibility rate'' means the percentage of a school's enrolled 
        students eligible for free or reduced price meals under the 
        Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) and the 
        Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et 
        seq.) determined--
                    (A) in accordance with the guidance issued by the 
                Secretary under section 3(a)(2)(B)(ii); or
                    (B) through a method for determining the number of 
                students eligible for free or reduced price meals 
                approved within the last 4 years under section 18(c) of 
                the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 
                U.S.C. 1769(c)).
            (3) School-wide paperless free school meal program.--The 
        term ``school-wide paperless free school meal program'' means a 
        program to provide, to all enrolled students in a participating 
        school, without requiring the use of paper applications to 
        determine eligibility for--
                    (A) free or reduced price school breakfasts under 
                the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et 
                seq.); and
                    (B) free or reduced price school lunches under the 
                Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
                1751 et seq.).
            (4) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational 
        agency'' has the meaning given such term under section 12 of 
        the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
        1760).
            (5) Participating school.--The term ``participating 
        school'' means an eligible school that has been selected to 
        participate in the school-wide paperless free school meal 
        program by its local educational agency in accordance with the 
        guidance issued under section 3(a).
            (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.

SEC. 3. THE SCHOOL-WIDE PAPERLESS FREE SCHOOL MEAL PROGRAM.

    (a) Duties of the Secretary.--
            (1) Program implementation.--Not later than the July 1 
        following date of publication of the final guidance issued 
        under this subsection, the Secretary shall implement the 
        school-wide paperless free school meal program in accordance 
        with the requirements of this Act.
            (2) Guidance.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall publish in the 
                Federal Register and post on the website of the 
                Department of Agriculture--
                            (i) not later than 6 months after the date 
                        of enactment of this Act, for comment draft 
                        guidance for local educational agencies and 
                        participating schools on the requirements for 
                        carrying out the school-wide paperless free 
                        price school meal program; and
                            (ii) not later than 9 months after the date 
                        of the enactment of this Act, final guidance 
                        for carrying out such program.
                    (B) Requirements of the guidance.--
                            (i) Participation threshold.--The Secretary 
                        shall issue guidance that describes how a local 
                        educational agency shall demonstrate to the 
                        Secretary that an eligible school meets the 
                        participation threshold of--
                                    (I) at least 65 percent estimated 
                                eligibility rate for free meals under 
                                the Richard B. Russell National School 
                                Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) and 
                                the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 
                                U.S.C. 1771 et seq.); or
                                    (II) at least 75 percent estimated 
                                eligibility rate for free and reduced 
                                price meals under the Richard B. 
                                Russell National School Lunch Act (42 
                                U.S.C. 1751 et seq.).
                            (ii) Guidance on estimated eligibility 
                        rate.--The Secretary shall issue guidance that 
                        establishes an alternate, paperless method of 
                        determining an estimated eligibility rate. In 
                        issuing such guidance, the Secretary shall 
                        balance cost-effectiveness with obtaining an 
                        accurate estimated eligibility rate and take 
                        into account--
                                    (I) the number of students who are 
                                certified as eligible for free meals 
                                under section 9(b)(4) of the Richard B. 
                                Russell School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
                                1758(b)(4)) at each eligible school;
                                    (II) the number of students 
                                determined to be eligible for free or 
                                reduced price meals at each eligible 
                                school within the last 3 years on the 
                                basis of completed household 
                                applications (as defined in section 
                                9(b)(3)(A) of the Richard B. Russell 
                                School Lunch Act 1758(b)(3)(A));
                                    (III) the most recent income and 
                                poverty data available from reliable 
                                data sources, including--
                                            (aa) income and poverty 
                                        statistics provided by the 
                                        Small Area Income and Poverty 
                                        Estimates program of the Bureau 
                                        of the Census of the Department 
                                        of Commerce;
                                            (bb) data provided by the 
                                        American Community Survey of 
                                        the Bureau of the Census of the 
                                        Department of Commerce;
                                            (cc) determinations under 
                                        section 1124(c)(2) of the 
                                        Elementary and Secondary 
                                        Education Act (20 U.S.C. 
                                        6333(c)(2));
                                            (dd) data from other 
                                        Federal, State, or local means-
                                        tested programs, such as the 
                                        supplemental nutrition 
                                        assistance program established 
                                        under the Food and Nutrition 
                                        Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et 
                                        seq.) or the State Medicaid 
                                        program under title XIX of the 
                                        Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
                                        1396 et seq.); and
                                            (ee) other data sources the 
                                        Secretary deems to be reliable; 
                                        and
                                    (IV) any local educational agency-
                                wide data that the Secretary determines 
                                can be used to make statistically sound 
                                assumptions regarding the estimated 
                                eligibility rates for schools under its 
                                jurisdiction.
                            (iii) Survey.--The guidance issued under 
                        clause (ii) may also provide for phone and door 
                        to door sampling to be required when 
                        determining the estimated eligibility rate in 
                        order to increase the accuracy rate of the 
                        estimate. Any phone and door to door sampling 
                        requirement shall not be more than what is 
                        required for the estimated eligibility rate to 
                        reach a 95 percent statistical confidence 
                        interval about the estimate of no more than 
                        plus or minus 2 percentage points. This 
                        limitation shall not restrict local education 
                        agencies from choosing to conduct higher 
                        percentages of phone and door to door sampling.
                            (iv) Evaluation of the eligibility rate.--
                        The Secretary shall issue guidance--
                                    (I) requiring each local 
                                educational agency participating in the 
                                program to evaluate the estimated 
                                eligibility rate at least every 4 years 
                                in each participating school; and
                                    (II) on how to conduct such 
                                evaluation.
    (b) Reimbursement.--The reimbursement to each school food service 
authority of each local education agency that participates in the 
program under this Act shall be for each month of participation, in an 
amount equal to the sum of the product obtained by--
            (1) multiplying the total number lunches of served in the 
        school lunches by--
                    (A) the estimated eligibility rate of enrolled 
                students in the school eligible for free meals; and
                    (B) the special assistance factor for free lunches 
                prescribed by the Secretary under section 11(a)(3)(A) 
                of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 
                U.S.C. 1759a(a)(3)(A));
            (2) multiplying the total number of breakfasts served in 
        the school by--
                    (A) the estimated eligibility rate of enrolled 
                students in the school eligible for free meals; and
                    (B) the national average payment rate for free 
                breakfasts established under section 4(b) of the Child 
                Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773(b));
            (3) multiplying the total number of lunches served in the 
        school by--
                    (A) by the estimated eligibility rate of enrolled 
                students in the school eligible for reduced price 
                meals; and
                    (B) by the special assistance factor for reduced 
                price lunches established under section 11(a) of the 
                Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
                1759a(b));
            (4) multiplying the total number of breakfasts served in 
        the school by--
                    (A) the estimated eligibility rate of enrolled 
                students in the school eligible for reduced price 
                meals; and
                    (B) the national average payment rate for reduced 
                price breakfasts established under section 4(b) of the 
                Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773(b));
            (5) multiplying the number of students not eligible for 
        free or reduced price lunches in the school by the national 
        average payment rate for lunches established under section 4 of 
        the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
        1753);
            (6) multiplying the number of students not eligible for 
        free or reduced price breakfasts in the school by the national 
        average payment rate for each breakfast served to a child not 
        eligible for free or reduced price meals established under 
        section 4(b) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 
        1773(b)); and
            (7) multiplying the total number of lunches served in the 
        school by the commodity assistance rate established under 
        section 6(c) of the Richard B. Russell School Lunch Act (42 
        U.S.C. 1755(c)).
    (c) Number of Students Not Eligible for Free or Reduced Price 
Lunches.--The number of students not eligible for free or reduced price 
lunches is equal to the difference obtained by subtracting the number 
of free and reduced price lunches served in the school (based on the 
estimated eligibility rate of enrolled student eligible for free and 
reduce priced meals in the school) from the total number of lunches 
served in the school.
    (d) Number of Students Not Eligible for Free or Reduced Price 
Breakfasts.--The number of students not eligible for free or reduced 
price breakfasts is equal to the difference obtained by subtracting the 
number of free and reduced price breakfasts served in the school (based 
on the estimated eligibility rate of enrolled student eligible for free 
and reduce priced meals in the school) from the total number of 
breakfasts served in the school.

SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than 2 years after implementing the program under this 
Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to Congress that shall 
include--
            (1) the increase in the number of students who are eligible 
        to receive free or reduced meals under the Child Nutrition Act 
        of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) and Richard B. Russell 
        National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) receiving 
        such meals as a result of the program; and
            (2) recommendations for legislation to increase the number 
        of children eligible to participate in the program, while 
        reducing waste and cost for schools and local educational 
        agencies, including recommendations for increasing direct 
        certification.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums 
as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
                                 <all>
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