[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 610 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 610
To distribute Federal funds for elementary and secondary education in
the form of vouchers for eligible students and to repeal a certain rule
relating to nutrition standards in schools.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 23, 2017
Mr. King of Iowa (for himself, Mr. Harris, and Mr. Franks of Arizona)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To distribute Federal funds for elementary and secondary education in
the form of vouchers for eligible students and to repeal a certain rule
relating to nutrition standards in schools.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
TITLE I--CHOICES IN EDUCATION ACT
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``Choices in Education Act of
2017''.
SEC. 102. REPEAL OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT AND
LIMITATION ON SECRETARIAL AUTHORITY.
(a) Repeal.--The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is repealed.
(b) Limitation on Secretarial Authority.--The authority of the
Secretary under this title is limited to evaluating State applications
under section 104 and making payments to States under section 103. The
Secretary shall not impose any further requirements on States with
respect to elementary and secondary education beyond the requirements
of this title.
SEC. 103. BLOCK GRANTS TO STATES.
(a) Grants to States.--From amounts appropriated to carry out this
title for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall award grants (from
allotments made under subsection (b)) to qualified States to enable
such States to carry out an education voucher program under section
105.
(b) Allotment.--From amounts described in subsection (a) for a
fiscal year, the Secretary shall allot to each qualified State for that
fiscal year an amount that bears the same ratio to those amounts as the
number of eligible children in the qualified State (as determined by
the Secretary on the basis of the most recent satisfactory data) bears
to the number of all eligible children in all States in such school
year.
(c) Reallotment.--If a State does not receive funds under
subsection (b) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall allot the
remainder of such funds to each qualified State in an amount that bears
the same ratio to such remainder for such year as the amount received
under subsection (b) by such qualified State bears to the amount
received under such subsection for such year by all qualified States.
(d) Deficit Reduction.--Any amounts remaining after allotments are
made under subsection (c) for a fiscal year shall not be available for
any purpose other than deficit reduction.
SEC. 104. APPLICATION.
(a) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this
title, a State shall submit an application to the Secretary that
includes assurances that the State will--
(1) comply with the requirements of section 105; and
(2) make it lawful for parents of an eligible child to
elect--
(A) to enroll their child in any public or private
elementary or secondary school in the State; or
(B) to home-school their child.
(b) Approval.--Not later than 30 days after receiving an
application from a State that meets the requirements of subsection (a),
the Secretary shall approve such application.
SEC. 105. EDUCATION VOUCHER PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Education Voucher Program.--
(1) In general.--The State shall distribute funds received
under this title among the local educational agencies in the
State based on the number of eligible children enrolled in the
public schools operated by each local educational agency and
the number of eligible children within each local educational
agency's geographical area whose parents elect to send their
child to a private school or to home-school their child.
(2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
States should distribute non-Federal funds for elementary and
secondary education in a manner that promotes competition and
choices in education.
(b) Identification of Eligible Children; Allocation and
Distribution of Funds.--
(1) Identification of eligible children.--
(A) LEA identification.--On an annual basis, on a
date to be determined by the Secretary, each local
educational agency shall inform the State educational
agency of--
(i) the number of eligible children
enrolled in public schools served by the local
educational agency; and
(ii) the number of eligible children within
each local educational agency's geographical
area whose parents elect--
(I) to send their child to a
private school; or
(II) to home-school their child.
(B) State identification.--On an annual basis, on a
date to be determined by the Secretary, each State
educational agency shall inform the Secretary of the
total number of children identified by all local
educational agencies in the State under subparagraph
(A).
(2) Amount of payment.--
(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the
amount of payment for each eligible child in a State
shall be equal to--
(i) the total amount allotted to the State
under this title; divided by
(ii) the total number of eligible children
in the State identified under paragraph (1).
(B) Limitations.--
(i) In the case of a payment made to the
parent of an eligible child who elects to
attend a private school, the amount of the
payment described in subparagraph (A) for each
eligible child shall not exceed the cost for
tuition, fees, and transportation for the
eligible child to attend the private school.
(ii) In the case of a payment made to a
parent of an eligible child who elects to home-
school such child, the amount of the payment
described in subparagraph (A) for each eligible
child shall not exceed the cost of home-
schooling the child.
(3) Allocation to local educational agencies.--Based on the
identification of eligible children in paragraph (1), the State
educational agency shall provide to a local educational agency
an amount equal to the product of--
(A) the amount available for each eligible child in
the State, as determined in paragraph (2); multiplied
by
(B) the number of eligible children identified by
the local educational agency under paragraph (1)(A).
(4) Distribution to schools.--From amounts allocated under
paragraph (3), each local educational agency that receives
funds under such paragraph shall distribute a portion of such
funds to the public schools served by the local educational
agency, which amount shall--
(A) be based on the number of eligible children
enrolled in such schools and included in the count
submitted under paragraph (1)(A); and
(B) be distributed in a manner that would, in the
absence of such Federal funds, supplement the funds
made available from non-Federal resources for the
education of eligible children, and not to supplant
such funds.
(5) Distribution to parents.--
(A) In general.--From the amounts allocated under
paragraph (3), each local educational agency that
receives funds under such paragraph shall distribute a
portion of such funds, in an amount equal to the amount
described in paragraph (2), to the parents of each
eligible child within the local educational agency's
geographical area who elect to send their child to a
private school or to home-school their child (as the
case may be) and whose child is included in the count
of such eligible children under paragraph (1)(A), which
amount shall be distributed in a manner so as to ensure
that such payments will be used for appropriate
educational expenses.
(B) Reservation.--A local educational agency
described in this paragraph may reserve not more than 1
percent of the funds available for distribution under
subparagraph (A) to pay administrative costs associated
with carrying out the activities described in such
subparagraph.
(c) Rule of Construction.--Payments to parents under subsection
(b)(5) shall be considered assistance to the eligible child and shall
not be considered assistance to the school that enrolls the eligible
child. The amount of any payment under this section shall not be
treated as income of the child or his or her parents for purposes of
Federal tax laws or for determining eligibility for any other Federal
program.
SEC. 106. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) Eligible child.--The term ``eligible child'' means a
child aged 5 to 17, inclusive.
(2) Parent.--The term ``parent'' includes a legal guardian
or other person standing in loco parentis (such as a
grandparent or stepparent with whom the child lives, or a
person who is legally responsible for the child's welfare).
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Education.
(4) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States
and the District of Columbia.
(5) Qualified state.--The term ``qualified State'' means a
State that has an application approved by the Secretary under
section 104.
TITLE II--NO HUNGRY KIDS ACT
SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``No Hungry Kids Act''.
SEC. 202. REPEAL OF RULE.
The rule prescribed by the Food and Nutrition Service of the
Department of Agriculture relating to nutrition standards in the
national school lunch and school breakfast programs published on
January 26, 2012 (77 Fed. Reg. 4088 et seq.), and revising parts 210
and 220 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, shall have no force or
effect.
SEC. 203. LIMITS ON CERTAIN NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.
Section 9(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Richard B. Russell National School
Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(a)(1)(A)(i)) is amended by inserting before
the semicolon the following: ``, to establish a calorie maximum for
individual school lunches, or to prohibit a child from eating a lunch
provided by the child's parent or legal guardian''.
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