I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5731 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require 
the Secretary of Agriculture to make loan guarantees and grants to 
finance certain improvements to school lunch facilities, to train school 
food service personnel, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 10, 2025 
Mr. DESAULNIER (for himself and Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, 
and Appropriations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to make 
loan guarantees and grants to finance certain improve-
ments to school lunch facilities, to train school food 
service personnel, 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 ‘‘School Food Mod-
ernization Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. LOAN GUARANTEES AND GRANTS TO FINANCE CER-
TAIN IMPROVEMENTS TO SCHOOL LUNCH FA-
CILITIES. 
The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 
is amended by inserting after section 26 (42 U.S.C. 
1769g) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 27. LOAN GUARANTEES AND GRANTS TO FINANCE 
CERTAIN 
IMPROVEMENTS 
TO 
SCHOOL 
LUNCH FACILITIES. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) DURABLE EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘dura-
ble equipment’ means durable food preparation, han-
dling, cooking, serving, and storage equipment great-
er than $500 in value. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-
tity’ means— 
‘‘(A) a local educational agency or a school 
food authority administering or operating a 
school meal program; 
‘‘(B) a tribal organization; or 
‘‘(C) a consortium that includes a local 
educational agency or school food authority de-
scribed in subparagraph (A), a tribal organiza-
tion, or both. 
‘‘(3) INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term ‘infrastruc-
ture’ means a food storage facility, kitchen, food 
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service facility, cafeteria, dining room, or food prepa-
ration facility. 
‘‘(4) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 
‘local educational agency’ has the meaning given the 
term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
‘‘(5) SCHOOL
FOOD
AUTHORITY.—The term 
‘school food authority’ has the meaning given the 
term in section 210.2 of title 7, Code of Federal 
Regulations (or any successor regulation). 
‘‘(6) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘tribal 
organization’ has the meaning given the term in sec-
tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-
cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
‘‘(b) LOAN
GUARANTEES
FOR
ASSISTANCE
TO 
SCHOOLS
FOR INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS
AND 
DURABLE
EQUIPMENT
NECESSARY
TO
PROVIDE 
HEALTHY
MEALS
THROUGH
SCHOOL
MEAL
PRO-
GRAMS.— 
‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO GUARANTEE LOANS.—The 
Secretary shall issue a loan guarantee to an eligible 
lender for purposes of financing the construction, re-
modeling, or expansion of infrastructure or the pur-
chase of durable equipment that the Secretary deter-
mines will assist the eligible entity in providing 
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healthy meals through a school meal program au-
thorized under this Act. 
‘‘(2) PREFERENCES.—In issuing a loan guar-
antee under this subsection, the Secretary shall give 
a preference to an eligible entity that, as compared 
with other eligible entities seeking a loan guarantee 
under this subsection, the Secretary determines 
demonstrates substantial or disproportionate— 
‘‘(A) need for infrastructure improvement; 
or 
‘‘(B) durable equipment need or impair-
ment. 
‘‘(3) 
OVERSIGHT.—The 
Secretary, 
acting 
through the Under Secretary for Rural Develop-
ment, shall establish procedures to oversee any 
project or purchase for which a loan guarantee is 
issued under this subsection. 
‘‘(4) GUARANTEE AMOUNT.—A loan guarantee 
issued under this subsection may not guarantee 
more than 80 percent of the principal amount of the 
loan. 
‘‘(5) FEES AND COSTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
establish fees for loan guarantees under this 
subsection that are, to the maximum extent 
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practicable, equal to all costs of the loan guar-
antees as determined under the Federal Credit 
Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.), as 
determined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(B) FEE
SHORTFALL.—To the extent 
that the Secretary determines that fees de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) are not sufficient 
to pay for all of the costs for the loan guaran-
tees pursuant to the Federal Credit Reform Act 
of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.), the Secretary 
may use funds described in paragraph (6) to 
pay for the costs of loan guarantees not paid 
for by the fees. 
‘‘(6) FUNDING.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To provide loan guar-
antees under this subsection, the Secretary 
shall reserve $300,000,000 of the loan guar-
antee authority remaining and unobligated as of 
the date of enactment of the School Food Mod-
ernization Act under the program of community 
facility guaranteed loans under section 306(a) 
of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Develop-
ment Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)). 
‘‘(B) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec-
retary may use not more than 5 percent of the 
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amount made available to carry out this sub-
section for each fiscal year to provide technical 
assistance to applicants and prospective appli-
cants in preparing applications and creating fi-
nancing packages that leverage a mix of public 
and private funding sources. 
‘‘(c) EQUIPMENT GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) AUTHORITY
TO
MAKE
GRANTS.—Begin-
ning in fiscal year 2026 and subject to the avail-
ability of appropriations, provide grants to State 
agencies for competitive subgrants to local edu-
cational agencies and schools (tribes) to purchase 
the equipment needed to serve healthy meals, im-
prove food safety, and to help support the establish-
ment, maintenance and expansion of the school. 
‘‘(2) PREFERENCES.—In issuing a grant under 
this subsection, the State agency shall give a pref-
erence to an eligible entity that, as compared with 
other eligible entities seeking a loan guarantee under 
this subsection, the State agency determines dem-
onstrates substantial or disproportionate— 
‘‘(A) need for infrastructure improvement; 
or 
‘‘(B) durable equipment need or impair-
ment. 
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‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized 
to be appropriated $35,000,000 as may be nec-
essary to carry out this subsection for each of 
fiscal years 2026 through 2031. 
‘‘(B) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec-
retary may use not more than 5 percent of the 
amount made available to carry out this sub-
section for each fiscal year to provide technical 
assistance to applicants and prospective appli-
cants in preparing applications and creating fi-
nancing packages that leverage a mix of public 
and private funding sources.’’. 
SEC. 3. TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR 
SCHOOL FOOD SERVICE PERSONNEL. 
The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 
is amended by inserting after section 21 (42 U.S.C. 
1769b–1) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 21A. TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR 
SCHOOL FOOD SERVICE PERSONNEL. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 
grant program under which the Secretary shall award 
grants, on a competitive basis, to provide support to eligi-
ble third-party training institutions described in sub-
section (b) to develop and administer training and tech-
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nical assistance for school food service personnel to meet 
or exceed nutrition standards under section 4(b)(3) and 
improve efficacy and efficiency of the school lunch pro-
gram under this Act and the school breakfast program es-
tablished by section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 
(42 U.S.C. 1773). 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE THIRD-PARTY INSTITUTIONS DE-
FINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘eligible 
third-party institution’ means— 
‘‘(1) a nonprofit organization with dem-
onstrated experience in food or nutrition services 
training and technical assistance; 
‘‘(2) an institution of higher education as de-
fined in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002); 
‘‘(3) an area career and technical education 
school as defined in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins 
Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 
U.S.C. 2302); or 
‘‘(4) a consortium of entities described in para-
graphs (1), (2), and (3). 
‘‘(c) CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBLE THIRD-PARTY INSTI-
TUTIONS.—The Secretary shall establish specific criteria 
that eligible third-party training institutions shall meet to 
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qualify to receive grants under this section, which shall 
include— 
‘‘(1) a demonstrated capacity to administer ef-
fective training and technical assistance program-
ming to school food service personnel; 
‘‘(2) prior, successful experience in providing or 
engaging in training and technical assistance pro-
gramming or applied research activities involving eli-
gible entities, school food service administrators, or 
directors; 
‘‘(3) prior, successful experience in developing 
relevant educational training tools or course mate-
rials or curricula on topics addressing child and 
school nutrition or the updated nutrition standards 
under section 4(b)(3); and 
‘‘(4) the ability to deliver effective and cost-effi-
cient training and technical assistance programming 
to school food service personnel— 
‘‘(A) at training sites that are located 
within a proximate geographic distance to 
schools, central kitchens, or other worksites; or 
‘‘(B) through an online training and assist-
ance program on topics that do not require in- 
person attendance. 
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‘‘(d) PROGRAM ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 
assist the institutions receiving grants under this section 
in publicizing and disseminating training and other project 
materials and online tools to the maximum extent prac-
ticable. 
‘‘(e) FEDERAL SHARE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of costs 
for training and technical assistance funded through 
a grant awarded under this section shall not exceed 
80 percent of the total cost of the training and tech-
nical assistance. 
‘‘(2) MATCHING.—As a condition of receiving a 
grant under this section, the eligible third-party 
training institution shall provide matching support 
in the form of cash or in-kind contributions. 
‘‘(f) OVERSIGHT.—The Secretary shall establish pro-
cedures to enable the Secretary— 
‘‘(1) to oversee the administration and oper-
ation of training and technical assistance funded 
through grants awarded under this section; and 
‘‘(2) to ensure that the training and assistance 
is operated consistent with the goals and require-
ments of this Act. 
‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated $10,000,000 to carry out this section 
for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031. 
‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 
may use not more than 5 percent of the amount 
made available to carry out this section for each fis-
cal year to provide technical assistance to applicants 
and prospective applicants in preparing applications 
and creating financing packages that leverage a mix 
of public and private funding sources.’’. 
SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 
Not later than 1 year after funds are made available 
to carry out sections 21A and 27 of the Richard B. Russell 
National School Lunch Act (as added by this Act), and 
annually thereafter, the Secretary of Agriculture shall sub-
mit to Congress a report on the progress of the Secretary 
in implementing such sections. 
SEC. 5. STUDY AND REPORT TO CONGRESS ON THE USE OF 
STATE ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSE FUNDS. 
(a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall con-
duct a study on— 
(1) the use of State administrative expense 
funds by State agencies; 
(2) innovative, effective, replicable, model poli-
cies, practices, and training methods that may be 
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