[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 581 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 581

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child 
   Nutrition Act of 1966 to require the exclusion of combat pay from 
  income for purposes of determining eligibility for child nutrition 
  programs and the special supplemental nutrition program for women, 
                         infants, and children.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 12, 2009

   Mr. Bennet (for himself, Mr. Casey, Mr. Johanns, and Mr. Sanders) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
           Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child 
   Nutrition Act of 1966 to require the exclusion of combat pay from 
  income for purposes of determining eligibility for child nutrition 
  programs and the special supplemental nutrition program for women, 
                         infants, and children.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Military Family Nutrition Protection 
Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. INCOME ELIGIBILITY.

    (a) Child Nutrition Programs.--Section 9(b) of the Richard B. 
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
            ``(14) Combat pay.--
                    ``(A) Definition of combat pay.--In this paragraph, 
                the term `combat pay' means any additional payment 
                under chapter 5 of title 37, United States Code, or 
                otherwise designated by the Secretary to be appropriate 
                for exclusion under this paragraph, that is received by 
                or from a member of the United States Armed Forces 
                deployed to a designated combat zone, if the additional 
                pay--
                            ``(i) is the result of deployment to or 
                        service in a combat zone; and
                            ``(ii) was not received immediately prior 
                        to serving in a combat zone.
                    ``(B) Exclusion.--Combat pay shall not be 
                considered to be income for the purpose of determining 
                the eligibility for free or reduced price meals of a 
                child who is a member of the household of a member of 
                the United States Armed Forces.''.
    (b) Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and 
Children.--Section 17(d)(2) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 
U.S.C. 1786(d)(2)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (D); 
        and
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
                    ``(C) Combat pay.--For the purpose of determining 
                income eligibility under this section, a State agency 
                shall exclude from income any additional payment under 
                chapter 5 of title 37, United States Code, or otherwise 
                designated by the Secretary to be appropriate for 
                exclusion under this subparagraph, that is received by 
                or from a member of the United States Armed Forces 
                deployed to a designated combat zone, if the additional 
                pay--
                            ``(i) is the result of deployment to or 
                        service in a combat zone; and
                            ``(ii) was not received immediately prior 
                        to serving in a combat zone.''.
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