An Act to Establish the School Meal Equipment and Program Improvement Fund
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1183
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: SALISBURY, BRENNAN, CROCKETT, PLUECKER, SARGENT
Amends: 20-A MRSA §6664

Legislative Document
No. 1183
H.P. 755
House of Representatives, March 14, 2023
An Act to Establish the School Meal Equipment and Program 
Improvement Fund
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative SALISBURY of Westbrook.
Cosponsored by Representatives: BRENNAN of Portland, CROCKETT of Portland, 
PLUECKER of Warren, SARGENT of York.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §6664 is enacted to read:
§6664.  School Meal Equipment and Program Improvement Fund
1.  School Meal Equipment and Program Improvement Fund.  The School Meal 
Equipment and Program Improvement Fund, referred to in this section as "the fund," is 
established in the department to issue grants to eligible school administrative units to 
improve school meal equipment and programs.  The fund consists of money received as 
appropriations, allocations and contributions from private and public sources.  The fund 
must be held separate and apart from all other money, funds and accounts.  Eligible 
investment earnings credited to the assets of the fund become part of the assets of the fund.  
Any unexpended balances remaining in the fund at the end of any fiscal year do not lapse 
and must be carried forward to the next fiscal year.  The fund may be used to provide grants 
to eligible school administrative units to:
A.  Purchase school kitchen and cafeteria equipment needed to serve healthy meals that 
meet federal nutrition standards;
B.  Improve food safety in school kitchens and cafeterias;
C.  Support the maintenance and expansion of the National School Lunch Program and 
the School Breakfast Program within the school administrative unit; and
D.  Reimburse food costs related to medically necessary dietary restrictions of students.  
For the purposes of this subsection, "eligible school administrative unit" means a school 
administrative unit that participates in the National School Lunch Program under 7 Code 
of Federal Regulations, Part 210 and the School Breakfast Program under 7 Code of Federal 
Regulations, Part 220 and that meets federal compliance requirements established by the 
United States Department of Agriculture for those programs.
2.  Federal grant funding.  The department shall apply for any federal grants available 
for the purposes of this section. 
3.  Rules.  The department shall adopt routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A to carry out the purposes of the fund.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the School Meal Equipment and Program Improvement Fund in 
the Department of Education to issue grants to eligible school administrative units to  
purchase school kitchen and cafeteria equipment needed to serve healthy meals, to improve 
food safety in school kitchens and cafeterias, to support the maintenance and expansion of 
the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program and to reimburse food 
costs related to medically necessary dietary restrictions of students.  It also requires the 
department to apply for federal grants available to support these purposes.