[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1119 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1119

 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to prohibit 
    the stigmatization of children who are unable to pay for meals.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 10, 2019

Mr. Udall (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Casey, Mr. Gardner, Ms. Smith, 
  Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Wyden, Mr. 
Booker, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Van Hollen, and Mrs. Gillibrand) 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 to prohibit 
    the stigmatization of children who are unable to pay for meals.

    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 ``Anti-Lunch Shaming Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON STIGMATIZATION OF CHILDREN WHO ARE UNABLE TO PAY 
              FOR MEALS.

    Section 9(b)(10) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(10)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(10) No physical'' and inserting the 
        following:
            ``(10) Discriminatory or stigmatizing treatment of children 
        by schools.--
                    ``(A) Discrimination based on eligibility.--No 
                physical''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Stigmatization based on lack of funds or 
                debt.--
                            ``(i) Definition of covered child.--In this 
                        subparagraph, the term `covered child' means a 
                        child who--
                                    ``(I) is a student at a school that 
                                participates in--
                                            ``(aa) the school lunch 
                                        program established under this 
                                        Act; or
                                            ``(bb) the school breakfast 
                                        program established by section 
                                        4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 
                                        1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773); and
                                    ``(II)(aa) does not have funds to 
                                pay for a lunch or breakfast at the 
                                school; or
                                    ``(bb) has outstanding credit that 
                                was extended by a school food authority 
                                for a lunch or breakfast at the school.
                            ``(ii) Requirements of school food 
                        authorities.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--A school food 
                                authority shall not permit--
                                            ``(aa) the public 
                                        identification or 
                                        stigmatization of a covered 
                                        child, such as by requiring the 
                                        covered child to wear a 
                                        wristband or display a hand 
                                        stamp to identify the covered 
                                        child as a covered child; or
                                            ``(bb) any requirement that 
                                        a covered child, because of the 
                                        status of the covered child as 
                                        a covered child--

                                                    ``(AA) perform 
                                                chores or any other 
                                                activity that is not 
                                                required of students 
                                                generally; or

                                                    ``(BB) dispose of a 
                                                lunch or breakfast 
                                                after it has been 
                                                served to the covered 
                                                child.

                                    ``(II) Communications.--
                                            ``(aa) In general.--Subject 
                                        to item (bb), a school food 
                                        authority shall require that 
                                        any communication relating to 
                                        an outstanding credit described 
                                        in clause (i)(II)(bb) of a 
                                        covered child--

                                                    ``(AA) shall be 
                                                directed to a parent or 
                                                guardian of the covered 
                                                child; and

                                                    ``(BB) shall not be 
                                                directed to the covered 
                                                child.

                                            ``(bb) 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 
                                        described in item (aa), subject 
                                        to the condition that the 
                                        letter shall not be distributed 
                                        to the covered child in a 
                                        manner that stigmatizes the 
                                        covered child.''.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Agriculture 
should ensure that--
            (1)(A) to the maximum extent practicable, an application 
        for a free or reduced price lunch under the Richard B. Russell 
        National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) is 
        distributed--
                    (i) in an understandable and uniform format; and
                    (ii) by not later than July 1 of each year; and
            (B) a school food authority offers technical assistance to 
        a parent or legal guardian to complete an application described 
        in subparagraph (A);
            (2) each school food authority coordinates with--
                    (A) the local educational agency liaison designated 
                under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the McKinney-Vento 
                Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)) 
                to ensure that homeless children and youths eligible to 
                receive free lunches and breakfasts under section 
                9(b)(12)(A)(iv) of the Richard B. Russell National 
                School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(12)(A)(iv)) receive 
                those free lunches and breakfasts; and
                    (B) the State agency responsible for administering 
                the State plans under parts B and E of title IV of the 
                Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 
                670 et seq.) to ensure that foster children eligible to 
                receive free lunches and breakfasts under section 
                9(b)(12)(A)(vii) of the Richard B. Russell National 
                School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(12)(A)(vii)) 
                receive those free lunches and breakfasts; and
            (3) a school food authority that participates in the school 
        lunch program or the school breakfast program under the Richard 
        B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) 
        or section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 
        1773), respectively--
                    (A) shall provide to a child who requests a lunch 
                or breakfast a lunch or breakfast, regardless of 
                whether the child--
                            (i) has money to pay for the lunch or 
                        breakfast; or
                            (ii) owes money for a lunch or breakfast;
                    (B) shall not provide to a child who qualifies for 
                a free or reduced price lunch or breakfast an alternate 
                meal that is not provided to students generally; and
                    (C) shall explore innovative ways to use technology 
                to improve and coordinate communications with parents 
                and guardians with respect to functions such as--
                            (i) prepayment for meals;
                            (ii) checking balances for school meals;
                            (iii) adding funds to accounts for school 
                        meals;
                            (iv) addressing outstanding debt for school 
                        meals; and
                            (v) sending automatic emails when an 
                        account balance is low.
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