3.0.0 2663 2023-03-08T20:12:14Z 2023-03-08T20:12:14Z Senate S 2021-08-05 117 ssaf00 Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2021-08-05T22:56:56Z School MEALS Act of 2021 117 5223 HR 2021-09-10 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. Related bill CRS 2021-08-05 ssaf00 Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. IntroReferral 2021-08-05 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress C001070 Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA] Bob Casey D PA N B000944 Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH] Sherrod Brown D OH 2021-08-05 True Agriculture and Food Agriculture and Food 00 2021-08-05 Introduced in Senate 2022-02-03T18:52:12Z School Modernization and Efficient Access to Lunches for Students Act of 2021 or the School MEALS Act of 2021

This bill establishes programs and revises requirements relating to direct certification processes for the National School Lunch Program. Direct certification allows schools to use data matching procedures to approve school meals without the need for applications for children who receive assistance under other programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program).

Specifically, the bill directs the Department of Agriculture to provide grants and technical assistance for states and tribal organizations to improve their direct certification processes, including with respect to children who receive assistance under a food distribution program on Indian reservations.

The bill also expands the time frame for schools to elect and gather eligibility data for the Community Eligibility Provision that permits schools in high-poverty areas to serve free meals to all enrolled students without the need for applications.

]]> School MEALS Act of 2021 Official Title as Introduced A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve direct certification, and for other purposes. Introduced in Senate IS Display Title School MEALS Act of 2021 Short Title(s) as Introduced School MEALS Act of 2021 Introduced in Senate IS Short Title(s) as Introduced School Modernization and Efficient Access to Lunches for Students Act of 2021 Introduced in Senate IS Introduced in Senate 2021-08-05T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-117s2663is/xml/BILLS-117s2663is.xml 2021-08-05 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.