[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1907 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1907
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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 19, 2019
Ms. Smith 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 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--
(1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ``Discretionary''
and inserting ``Mandatory''; and
(2) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking
``may'' and inserting ``shall''.
SEC. 3. RETROACTIVE REIMBURSEMENT.
Section 9(b)(9) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act
(42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(9)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(D) Retroactive reimbursement.--
``(i) Definitions.--In this subparagraph:
``(I) Change in eligibility.--The
term `change in eligibility' means,
with respect to eligibility for the
school lunch program under this Act--
``(aa) a change from
eligibility for reduced price
meals to eligibility for free
meals; and
``(bb) a change from
noneligibility to eligibility
for free or reduced price
meals.
``(II) Meal claim.--The term `meal
claim' means any documentation provided
by a school food authority to a State
agency in order to receive
reimbursement under this Act for the
cost of a meal served to a child by the
school food authority.
``(III) Previously submitted.--The
term `previously submitted', with
respect to a meal claim, means a meal
claim submitted on or after the
retroactive date.
``(IV) Retroactive date.--The term
`retroactive date' means the date that
is the earlier of--
``(aa) the first day of the
current school year; and
``(bb) the date that is 90
days prior to the date of a
change in eligibility of a
child.
``(ii) Retroactivity.--
``(I) Submission of meal claims.--A
local educational agency shall--
``(aa) revise and resubmit
a previously submitted meal
claim to reflect a change in
eligibility described in
subclause (i)(I)(aa) of a
child; and
``(bb) submit a meal claim
for any meal provided on or
after the retroactive date for
a child that has a change of
eligibility described in
subclause (i)(I)(bb).
``(II) Reimbursement.--The
Secretary shall reimburse each meal
claim submitted by a local educational
agency under subclause (I).''.
SEC. 4. REDUCING STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH UNPAID SCHOOL MEAL FEES.
Section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act
(42 U.S.C. 1758(b)) is amended by striking paragraph (10) and inserting
the following:
``(10) Reducing stigma associated with unpaid school meal
fees.--
``(A) 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 lunch provided under this Act or
breakfast provided under section 4 of the Child
Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).
``(B) 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 the covered
child;
``(ii) overtly identify the 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 the covered
child by any other means.
``(C) Eligibility determination by local
educational agency.--For any covered child who is a
member of a household that has unpaid school meal fees
for 1 consecutive week of meals or more, a local
educational agency shall--
``(i) attempt to directly certify the
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 the covered child under paragraph (4)
or (5), provide to the household of the covered
child--
``(I) a household application for
free or reduced price lunch under this
Act and free breakfast under section 4
of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42
U.S.C. 1773) and applicable descriptive
material; and
``(II) written and oral
communication to encourage submission
of the application described in
subclause (I).
``(D) 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
(E), direct any communication regarding unpaid
school meal fees to a covered child who is a
member of the 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 defined in
section 803 of the Consumer Credit Protection
Act (15 U.S.C. 1692a)).
``(E) Letters.--
``(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii),
a school food authority may request a covered
child to deliver a letter addressed to a parent
or guardian of the covered child that contains
a communication relating to unpaid school meal
fees.
``(ii) Condition.--In carrying out clause
(i), a school food authority shall not provide
the letter to the covered child in a manner
that stigmatizes the covered child.
``(F) 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 the covered
child.''.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Agriculture
should ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that 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 lunch or breakfast provided to students not
certified to receive free or reduced price school lunch or breakfast
under those Acts, regardless of the ability of the child to pay for the
lunch or breakfast requested.
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