MEALS Act

Bill: 116-hr-6187
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Omar, Ilhan [D-MN-5]
Introduced: 2020-03-11
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures

Cardiovascular and respiratory health

Elementary and secondary education

Emergency medical services and trauma care

Food assistance and relief

Infectious and parasitic diseases

Intergovernmental relations

Nutrition and diet

Performance measurement

State and local government operations
Latest action: action_date: 2020-03-11
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Summaries:
action_date: 2020-03-11
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Maintaining Essential Access to Lunch for Students Act or the</b> <b>MEALS Act</b></p> <p>This bill modifies food and nutrition programs of the Department of Agriculture to allow certain waivers to requirements for the school meal programs, including waivers that increase federal costs during a school closure related to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). </p> <p>Such waivers must be requested by a state or service provider and be for purposes of providing meals and snacks during such a closure.</p>

tv_txt: I 116th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 6187 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 11, 2020 Ms. Omar (for herself, Ms. Fudge , Mr. Morelle , Mr. Courtney , Mr. Trone , Mr. Sablan , Ms. Jayapal , Mr. DeSaulnier , Mr. Grijalva , Mr. Takano , Ms. Wild , Mr. Levin of Michigan , Ms. Schrier , Mr. Smith of Washington , Ms. Adams , Mrs. Hayes , Ms. Pressley , and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To allow the Secretary of Agriculture to grant certain waivers under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to address school closures due to COVID–19, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Maintaining Essential Access to Lunch for Students Act or the MEALS Act . 2. Waiver exception for school closures due to COVID–19 (a) In general The requirements under section 12(l)(1)(A)(iii) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1760(l)(1)(A)(iii) ) shall not apply to a qualified COVID–19 waiver. (b) Allowable increase in Federal costs Notwithstanding paragraph (4) of section 12(l) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1760(l) ), the Secretary of Agriculture may grant a qualified COVID–19 waiver that increases Federal costs. (c) Termination after periodic review The requirements under section 12(l)(5) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1760(l)(5) ) shall not apply to a qualified COVID–19 waiver. (d) Qualified COVID–19 waiver In this section, the term qualified COVID–19 waiver means a waiver— (1) requested by a State (as defined in section 12(d)(8) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1760(d)(8) )) or eligible service provider under section 12(l) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1760(l) ); and (2) to waive any requirement under such Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) or the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 ( 42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.), or any regulation issued under either such Act, for purposes of providing meals and meal supplements under such Acts during a school closure due to COVID–19.