An Act To Transfer Authority for School Food Service Programs to the ][)epartment of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 0248
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: PERCY
Amends: 20-A MRSA §6601-A, 20-A MRSA §6602

FIRS'!' REGULAR SESSION-2009 
Legislative ][)ocument 
No. 248 
H.P.194 
House of Representatives, January 27,2009 
An Act To Transfer Authority for School Food Service Programs to 
the ][)epartment of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representative PERCY of Phippsburg. 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 7 MRS A §219 is enacted to read: 
§219. School food service programs 
The commissioner shall administer school food service programs in accordance with 
Title 20-A, chapter 223, subchapter 7. 
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §6601-A is enacted to read: 
§6601-A. 
Administration by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural 
Resources 
The Commissioner of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources shall administer school 
food service programs. For the purposes of this subchapter, "commissioner" means the 
Commissioner of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources and "department" means the 
Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources. 
Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §6602, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 693, §§5 and 8, is 
amended to read: 
3. Administration. The school board shall administer and onerate the food service 
DFOgrams. The school board upon approval of the commissioner: 
A. Shall make all contracts to provide material, personnel and equipment necessary 
to carry out section 6601; and 
B. 
Shall hire the necessary employees to manage and operate their school food 
service programs. 
Sec. 4. 20-A MRSA §6602, sub-§5, as enacted byPL 1981, c. 693, §§5 and 8, is 
amended to read: 
5. Rules. The commissioner shall adopt or amend, "'"ith the state board's approval, 
rules under this subchapter, including except that rules about the qualifications of food 
service programs' personnel are adopted by the Commissioner of Education. 
Rules 
adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 
375, subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 5. 20-A MRSA §6602, sub-§12, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 447, §1, is 
amended to read: 
12. 
Local Produce Fund. The Local Produce Fund is established within the 
Department of Education department. The fund is authorized to receive revenue from 
public and private sources. The fund must be held separate and apart from all other 
money, funds and accounts. Any balance remaining in the fund at the end of the fiscal 
year must be carried forward to the next fiscal year. The fund must be used to match $1 
for every $3 a school administrative unit pays for produce or minimally processed foods 
purchased directly from a farmer or farmers' cooperative in the State, to a maximum state 
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contribution of $1,000. At the end of the fiscal year, the school administrative unit may 
provide the department with receipts documenting purchases pursuant to this subsection 
during that year. For purposes of this subsection, "minimally processed" means only the 
washing, cleaning, trimming, drying, sorting and packaging of food items or a 
combination of those activities. 
Reimbursement or partial reimbursement to school 
administrative units may only be made up to the amount available in the fund. Failure to 
reimburse does not constitute an obligation on behalf of the State to a school 
administrative unit. 
Sec. 6. 
Waiver. 
The Commissioner of Education and the Commissioner of 
Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources shall make a formal request to the United States 
Department of Agriculture for a waiver of the requirement that the state educational 
agency administer the National School Lunch Program, 7 Code of Federal Regulations, 
Part 210.3(b), the School Breakfast Program, 7 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 
220.3(b) and the Special Milk Program for Children, 7 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 
215.3(b). 
Sec. 7. 
Transition provisions. 
All rules and procedures adopted by the 
Department of Education for administering school food service programs and in effect on 
the effective date of tIns Act continue in effect until the Commissioner of Agriculture, 
Food and Rural Resources has adopted rules and established procedures to implement 
administration of school food service programs. The commissioners shall work 
cooperatively to expedite the transfer of responsibilities. 
Sec. 8. Contingent effective date. Those sections of this Act that enact the 
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 7, section 219 and Title 20-A, section 6601-A and amend 
Title 20-A, section 6602, subsections 3, 5 and 12 do not take effect unless: 
1. The United States Department of Agriculture grants the State a waiver from the 
requirement that the state educational agency administer the National School Lunch 
Program, the School Breakfast Program and the Special Milk Program and approves the 
transfer of the administration for these programs from the Department of Education to the 
Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources; and 
2. 
The Commissioner of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources notifies the 
Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the House of Representatives 
and the~ Revisor of Statutes that written approval for the transfer has been received. 
In no event may this Act take effect until 90 days after adjournment of the 
Legislature. 
SUMMARY 
This bill transfers responsibilities for administering school food service programs 
from the Department of Education to the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural 
Resources upon approval of the United States Department of Agriculture. It provides for 
a transition period until the department has the necessary rules and procedures in place to 
implement the transfer.