[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3366 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3366
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to prohibit
the stigmatization of children who are unable to pay for school meals,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 19, 2019
Ms. Omar (for herself, Ms. Haaland, Ms. Lee of California, Ms.
Schakowsky, Mr. Takano, Mr. Kilmer, Ms. Norton, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr.
Espaillat, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Wild, Mr. Sean
Patrick Maloney of New York, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Cohen, Ms.
Tlaib, Ms. Pressley, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Lujan, and Ms. Johnson of
Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to prohibit
the stigmatization of children who are unable to pay for school meals,
and for other purposes.
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 ``No Shame at School Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. MANDATORY CERTIFICATION.
Section 9(b)(5) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act
(42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(5)) is amended by--
(1) striking ``Discretionary'' and inserting ``Mandatory'';
and
(2) striking ``may'' and inserting ``shall''.
SEC. 3. RETROACTIVE REIMBURSEMENT.
Section 9(b)(9)(C) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch
Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(9)(C)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Except'' and inserting the following:
``(i) In general.--Except'';
(2) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I)
and (II); and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) Retroactivity.--A local educational
agency shall revise a previously submitted meal
claim to reflect the eligibility approval of a
child for free or reduced price meals for the
period that begins on the earlier of the
following:
``(I) The first day of the current
school year.
``(II) The date that is 90 days
prior to the date of such eligibility
approval.
``(iii) Meal claim defined.--In this
subsection, the term `meal claim' means any
documentation provided by a school food
authority to a State agency in order to receive
reimbursement for the cost of a meal served to
a child by such school food authority.''.
SEC. 4. REDUCING STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH UNPAID SCHOOL MEAL FEES.
Section 9(b)(10) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch
Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(10)) is amended to read as follows:
``(10) Reducing stigma associated with unpaid school meal
fees.--
``(A) Overt identification prohibited.--A local
educational agency or school food authority may not,
based on the status of a covered child as a covered
child--
``(i) physically segregate such covered
child;
``(ii) overtly identify such covered
child--
``(I) through the use of special
tokens or tickets; or
``(II) by an announcement or a
published list of names; or
``(iii) identify or stigmatize such covered
child by any other means.
``(B) Eligibility determination by local
educational agency.--For any covered child who is a
member of a household that owes a week or more of
unpaid school meal fees, a local educational agency
shall--
``(i) attempt to directly certify such
covered child for free meals under paragraph
(4) or (5); or
``(ii) in a case where the local
educational agency is not able to directly
certify such covered child under paragraph (4)
or (5), provide to the household of such
covered child--
``(I) a household application and
applicable descriptive material; and
``(II) written and oral
communications to encourage submission
of the application.
``(C) Collection of unpaid school meal fees.--In
attempting to collect unpaid school meal fees from a
household, a local educational agency or school food
authority may not--
``(i) except as described in subparagraph
(D), direct any communication regarding unpaid
school meal fees to a covered child who is a
member of such household;
``(ii) withhold educational opportunities
from, or otherwise stigmatize, a covered child
due to the status of the covered child as a
covered child; or
``(iii) use a debt collector (as such term
is defined in section 803 of the Consumer
Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1692a)).
``(D) Letters.--A school food authority may permit
a requirement that a covered child deliver a letter
addressed to a parent or guardian of the covered child
that contains a communication relating to unpaid school
meal fees, subject to the condition that the letter
shall not be distributed to the covered child in a
manner that stigmatizes the covered child.
``(E) Eliminating stigma in meal service.--In
providing a meal to a covered child, a local
educational agency or school food authority may not,
based on the status of the covered child as a covered
child, dispose of or take away from the covered child
any food that has already been served to such covered
child.
``(F) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
``(i) Covered child.--The term `covered
child' means a child who--
``(I) is enrolled in a school that
participates in the school lunch
program under this Act or the school
breakfast program under section 4 of
the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42
U.S.C. 1773); and
``(II) is a member of a household
that owes unpaid school meal fees.
``(ii) Unpaid school meal fees.--The term
`unpaid school meal fees' means outstanding
fees owed by a household to a local educational
agency for lunches under this Act or breakfasts
under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of
1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).''.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Agriculture
should ensure that to the maximum extent practicable, a school food
authority that participates in the school lunch program under the
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.)
or the school breakfast program under section 4 of the Child Nutrition
Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773), shall provide to a child who requests a
lunch or breakfast the same reimbursable lunch or breakfast provided to
all students not certified to receive free school lunch or breakfast,
regardless of ability to pay for the lunch or breakfast.
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