I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3519 

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

a permanent, nationwide electronic benefits transfer program for children 

during school closures, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 25, 2021 

Mr. LEVIN of California (for himself and Mrs. HAYES) 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 establish a permanent, nationwide electronic benefits transfer program for children during school closures, 

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 ‘‘Stop Child Hunger 

5 Act of 2021’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3519 IH

1 SEC. 2. SUMMER ELECTRONIC BENEFITS TRANSFER FOR 

2 CHILDREN PROGRAM. 

3 Section 13(a) of the Richard B. Russell National 

4 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(a)) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(13) SCHOOL CLOSURE ELECTRONIC BENE7 FITS TRANSFER FOR CHILDREN PROGRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(i) COVERED PERIOD.—The term 

10 ‘covered period’ means a period in which 

11 an elementary school or secondary school is 

12 closed, operating remotely, or operating in 

13 a hybrid-manner for 5 or more consecutive 

14 weekdays during the calendar year. 

15 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLD.—The 

16 term ‘eligible household’ means a house17 hold that includes 1 or more children who 

18 are eligible to receive free or reduced-price 

19 lunches under this Act or free or reduced20 price breakfasts under the Child Nutrition 

21 Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.), in22 cluding children eligible for such meals 

23 pursuant to section 11(a)(1)(F). 

24 ‘‘(iii) FREE RATE.—The term ‘free 

25 rate’ has the meaning given the term in 

26 section 1101(j)(4) of the Families First 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3519 IH

1 Coronavirus Response Act (7 U.S.C. 2011 

2 note). 

3 ‘‘(iv) SCHOOL CLOSURE EBT CARD.— 

4 The term ‘school closure EBT card’ means 

5 an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card 

6 that is issued to an eligible household 

7 under this paragraph and limited to food 

8 purchases. 

9 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall es10 tablish a program under which the Secretary 

11 shall provide to eligible households school clo12 sure EBT cards for the purpose of providing 

13 access to food for children during covered peri14 ods— 

15 ‘‘(i) to reduce or eliminate the food in16 security and hunger of children; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) to improve the nutritional status 

18 of children. 

19 ‘‘(C) USE.—An eligible household may use 

20 a school closure EBT card only to purchase 

21 food from retail food stores that have been ap22 proved for participation in the supplemental nu23 trition assistance program established under the 

24 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3519 IH

1 2011 et seq.), in accordance with section 7(b) 

2 of that Act (7 U.S.C. 2016(b)). 

3 ‘‘(D) AMOUNT.—The amount of a school 

4 closure EBT card issued pursuant to this para5 graph shall be, with respect to a covered period, 

6 not less than the value of meals at the free rate 

7 for each day of such covered period. 

8 ‘‘(E) FUNDING.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—On October 1, 

10 2021, and on each October 1 thereafter, 

11 out of any funds in the Treasury not oth12 erwise appropriated, the Secretary of the 

13 Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary 

14 such sums as are necessary to carry out 

15 this paragraph (including administrative 

16 expenses), to remain available until ex17 pended. 

18 ‘‘(ii) RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE.— 

19 The Secretary shall be entitled to receive, 

20 shall accept, and shall use to carry out this 

21 section the funds transferred under clause 

22 (i), without further appropriation. 

23 ‘‘(F) REGULATIONS.— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3519 IH

1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than Oc2 tober 1, 2021, the Secretary shall issue 

3 regulations to carry out this paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—Regulations 

5 issued under this subparagraph shall re6 quire that— 

7 ‘‘(I) children shall be eligible to 

8 participate and shall be enrolled into 

9 the program under this paragraph for 

10 a covered period without further ap11 plication if the children are enrolled to 

12 participate in the free or reduced13 price lunch program under this Act or 

14 the free or reduced-price breakfast 

15 program under the Child Nutrition 

16 Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.); 

17 ‘‘(II) local educational agencies 

18 shall support the administration of 

19 the program under this paragraph 

20 by— 

21 ‘‘(aa) communicating to the 

22 State agency when any school is 

23 closed, operating remotely, or op24 erating in a hybrid-manner for 

25 more than 5 days; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3519 IH

1 ‘‘(bb) providing data on the 

2 children eligible to participate in 

3 the program under this para4 graph; 

5 ‘‘(III) State agencies shall pro6 vide information on children eligible to 

7 participate in the program under this 

8 paragraph with the State agency con9 ducting eligibility determinations for 

10 the supplemental nutrition assistance 

11 program established under the Food 

12 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 

13 2011 et seq.); and 

14 ‘‘(IV) State agencies conducting 

15 eligibility determinations described in 

16 subclause (III) shall— 

17 ‘‘(aa) distribute the school 

18 closure EBT cards; 

19 ‘‘(bb) provide information to 

20 households regarding the pro21 gram under this paragraph, in22 cluding eligibility rules and how 

23 children in eligible households 

24 that are not automatically enVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3519.IH H3519

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3519 IH

1 rolled under subclause (I) may 

2 apply for program benefits; and 

3 ‘‘(cc) administer the pro4 gram under this paragraph in ac5 cordance with regulations pro6 mulgated by the Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(G) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

9 shall carry out a program to make grants 

10 to States to support the development of 

11 data systems or upgrades to existing data 

12 systems that are necessary to implement 

13 this paragraph. 

14 ‘‘(ii) FUNDING.—In addition to 

15 amounts made available under subpara16 graph (E), on October 1, 2021, out of any 

17 funds in the Treasury not otherwise appro18 priated, the Secretary of the Treasury 

19 shall transfer to the Secretary to carry out 

20 this subparagraph $50,000,000, to remain 

21 available until expended.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS