I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5919 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve 
the child and adult care food program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 9, 2021 
Ms. BONAMICI (for herself and Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER) 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 the child and adult care food program, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Early Childhood Nutri-
tion Improvement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATION CRITERIA FOR PRO-
PRIETARY CHILD CARE CENTERS. 
Section 17(a)(6) of the Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(a)(6)) is amended— 
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(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 
by striking ‘‘criteria:’’ and inserting ‘‘criteria—’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(3) in subparagraph (F), by striking the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(G) in the case of an institution described 
in paragraph (2)(B), the eligibility of such in-
stitution shall be determined on an annual basis 
in accordance with this section.’’. 
SEC. 3. REVIEW OF SERIOUS DEFICIENCY PROCESS. 
Section 17(d)(5) of the Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(d)(5)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(F) SERIOUS DEFICIENCY PROCESS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 
year after the date of the enactment of this 
subparagraph, the Secretary shall review 
and issue guidance and, as appropriate, 
regulations regarding the serious deficiency 
process for the program under this section. 
‘‘(ii) REVIEW.—In carrying out clause 
(i), the Secretary shall review, at a min-
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imum, the processes for, and those in-
volved in— 
‘‘(I) determining when there is a 
serious deficiency with respect to an 
institution or a family or group day 
care home, including— 
‘‘(aa) what measures auto-
matically result in a finding of 
serious deficiency; and 
‘‘(bb) how to differentiate 
between— 
‘‘(AA) 
a 
reasonable 
margin of human error and 
systematic 
or 
intentional 
noncompliance; and 
‘‘(BB) State-specific re-
quirements and Federal reg-
ulations; 
‘‘(II) appealing and mediating a 
finding of serious deficiency with re-
spect to an institution or a family or 
group day care home, including— 
‘‘(aa) findings related to 
State-specific requirements; and 
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‘‘(bb) processes for ensuring 
officials involved in appeals and 
mediation are fair and impartial; 
‘‘(III) 
determining 
the 
cir-
cumstances under which a corrective 
action plan is acceptable; 
‘‘(IV) termination and disquali-
fication, including maintenance of the 
list under subparagraph (E); and 
‘‘(V) determining opportunities 
for strengthening the processes in-
tended to reduce additional State 
agency requirements on institutions or 
family or group day care homes that 
are in addition to those required 
under Federal law, including— 
‘‘(aa) State evaluation of 
practices used at the time of re-
view; 
‘‘(bb) regional approval of 
such additional State agency re-
quirements; and 
‘‘(cc) oversight through the 
management evaluation process. 
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‘‘(iii) 
STATE-SPECIFIC
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—The Secretary may not consider 
State-specific requirements in determining 
non-compliance or serious deficiency. 
‘‘(iv) 
GUIDANCE
AND
REGULA-
TIONS.— 
‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—After con-
ducting the review under clause (ii), 
the Secretary shall make findings 
from the information collected and 
issue guidance and, as appropriate, 
regulations from such findings that 
will— 
‘‘(aa) streamline and mod-
ernize the program; 
‘‘(bb) reduce the paperwork 
burden on parents; and 
‘‘(cc) assist sponsoring orga-
nizations, State agencies, and the 
Food and Nutrition Service in 
ensuring a fair, uniform, and ef-
fective administration of the seri-
ous deficiency process, while re-
taining program integrity. 
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‘‘(II) SCOPE.—The guidance or, 
as appropriate, regulations made or 
issued under subclause (I) shall in-
clude— 
‘‘(aa) clarity on the required 
measures for noncompliance, in-
cluding— 
‘‘(AA) an allowance for 
a 
reasonable 
margin 
of 
human error; and 
‘‘(BB) a distinction be-
tween a reasonable margin 
of human error and system-
atic 
or 
intentional 
non-
compliance; 
‘‘(bb) a formal appeals and 
mediation process that— 
‘‘(AA) is conducted by 
a trained official who is 
independent from and not 
affiliated with any person or 
agency involved in the deter-
mination being appealed or 
mediated; 
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‘‘(BB) provides an op-
portunity for a fair hearing 
for any institution or family 
or group day care home de-
termined to have a serious 
deficiency finding or inad-
equate 
corrective 
action 
plan; and 
‘‘(CC) provides for the 
evaluation and resolution of 
disputes over State agency 
requirements on institutions 
or family or group day care 
homes that are in addition 
to those required under Fed-
eral law; 
‘‘(cc) timeframes for accept-
able corrective action plans for 
group or family day care homes 
that are consistent with correc-
tive action timeframes for child 
care centers; and 
‘‘(dd) a process to dismiss a 
serious deficiency upon correction 
of such deficiency.’’. 
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SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF REIMBURSEMENTS FOR ADDI-
TIONAL MEAL OR SNACK. 
Section 17(f)(2) of the Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(f)(2)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph 
(B) of this paragraph’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(2) DISBURSEMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B)’’; and 
(2) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(B) 
LIMITATION.—No 
reimbursement 
may be made to any institution under this para-
graph, or to family or group day care home 
sponsoring organizations under paragraph (3), 
for more than— 
‘‘(i) 2 meals and 1 supplement or 1 
meal and 2 supplements per day per child; 
or 
‘‘(ii) 3 meals and 1 supplement or 2 
meals and 2 supplements per day per 
child, in the case of child care during 
which there are 8 or more hours between 
the beginning of the first meal service pe-
riod and the beginning of the fourth meal 
service period. 
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‘‘(C) STUDY ON THIRD MEAL.—The Sec-
retary shall— 
‘‘(i) conduct a study, not later than 2 
years after the date of the enactment of 
this subparagraph, on— 
‘‘(I) the prevalence of third meal 
reimbursement by program operators; 
‘‘(II) the role of the additional 
meal in effectively supporting working 
families; 
‘‘(III) the contribution of the ad-
ditional meal to the local economy; 
and 
‘‘(IV) the contribution of the ad-
ditional meal to the economic viability 
of child care and afterschool pro-
grams, including in rural areas; 
‘‘(ii) submit a report to the Com-
mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For-
estry of the Senate and the Committee on 
Education and Labor of the House of Rep-
resentatives that includes the findings of 
the study required under clause (i); and 
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‘‘(iii) based on the findings of such re-
port, provide guidance to program opera-
tors to— 
‘‘(I) improve implementation of 
the program under this section; 
‘‘(II) maximize the utility of the 
additional meal in supporting working 
families; and 
‘‘(III) limit unnecessary costs to 
program operators and parents of 
participating children.’’. 
SEC. 5. ADJUSTMENTS. 
Section 17(f)(3)(A) of the Richard B. Russell Na-
tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(f)(3)(A)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘Consumer Price Index for food at 
home’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Consumer 
Price Index for food away from home’’. 
SEC. 6. ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PAPERWORK REDUC-
TION. 
Section 17 of the Richard B. Russell National School 
Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(v) ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PAPERWORK REDUC-
TION.— 
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‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this sub-
section, the Secretary shall establish an advisory 
committee (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Ad-
visory Committee’) to carry out the duties described 
in paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The duties of the Advisory 
Committee shall be to— 
‘‘(A) examine the feasibility of reducing 
unnecessary or duplicative paperwork resulting 
from regulations and recordkeeping require-
ments, including paperwork resulting from ad-
ditional State requirements, for those partici-
pating or seeking to participate in the program 
under this section, including State agencies, 
family child care homes, child care centers, and 
sponsoring organizations; and 
‘‘(B) provide recommendations to the Sec-
retary to reduce such paperwork for partici-
pants in the program under this section while 
ensuring that proper accountability and pro-
gram integrity are maintained. 
‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Committee 
shall be composed of not fewer than 14 members, of 
whom: 
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‘‘(A) 1 shall be a representative of a public 
nonprofit center. 
‘‘(B) 1 shall be a representative of a pri-
vate nonprofit center. 
‘‘(C) 1 shall be a representative of a family 
or group day care home. 
‘‘(D) 1 shall be a representative of a Head 
Start center. 
‘‘(E) 1 shall be a representative of a for- 
profit center. 
‘‘(F) 1 shall be a representative of an 
emergency shelter. 
‘‘(G) 1 shall be a representative of an 
adult day care center. 
‘‘(H) 1 shall be a representative of a State 
agency. 
‘‘(I) 1 shall be a representative of a spon-
soring organization for the entities referred to 
in subparagraphs (A), (B), (D), (E), (F), and 
(G). 
‘‘(J) 1 shall be a representative of a spon-
soring organization of family or group day care 
homes. 
‘‘(K) 1 shall be a representative of an anti- 
hunger advocacy organization. 
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‘‘(L) 1 shall be a representative of an at- 
risk, after school program. 
‘‘(M) 1 shall be a representative of a child 
care advocacy organization. 
‘‘(N) 1 shall be a representative of an ad-
vocacy organization representing parents with 
young children. 
‘‘(4) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the rec-
ommendations described in paragraph (2)(B), the 
Advisory Committee shall consider— 
‘‘(A) information, recommendations, and 
reports from the Paperwork Reduction Work 
Group established by the Food and Nutrition 
Service pursuant to section 119(i) of the Child 
Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 
2004 (Public Law 108–265; 118 Stat. 755); 
‘‘(B) the use of electronic systems and rec-
ordkeeping technologies to reduce paperwork 
for program participants and program opera-
tors; and 
‘‘(C) duplicative requirements across mul-
tiple Federal programs. 
‘‘(5) GUIDANCE AND REGULATIONS.—Not later 
than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 
subsection, the Secretary shall issue guidance and, 
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