[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5184 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5184

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish 
 a summer meal delivery vehicle pilot program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 30, 2026

  Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Welch, and Mr. Wyden) 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 establish 
 a summer meal delivery vehicle pilot program, 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 ``Feeding Our Rural Kids Act of 2026'' 
or the ``FORK Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. SUMMER MEAL DELIVERY VEHICLE PILOT PROGRAM.

    Section 13(a) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1761(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(14) Summer meal delivery vehicle pilot program.--
                    ``(A) Definition of eligible entity.--In this 
                paragraph, the term `eligible entity' means a service 
                institution.
                    ``(B) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish 
                a pilot program (referred to in this paragraph as the 
                `pilot program'), to be carried out beginning with the 
                first summer following the date that is 180 days after 
                the date of enactment of this paragraph, to award 
                grants to eligible entities to purchase, retrofit, or 
                repair vehicles to facilitate the distribution of 
                noncongregate meals made available pursuant to this 
                section.
                    ``(C) Priority.--In awarding grants under the pilot 
                program, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible 
                entities located in--
                            ``(i) an area in which poor economic 
                        conditions exist;
                            ``(ii) an area outside a core-based 
                        statistical area (as defined in section 4 of 
                        the MAPS Act of 2021 (31 U.S.C. 6102 note; 
                        Public Law 117-219)); and
                            ``(iii) an area that serves a high 
                        proportion of students from socially 
                        disadvantaged backgrounds.
                    ``(D) Locations.--In awarding grants under the 
                pilot program, the Secretary shall ensure, to the 
                maximum extent practicable, that eligible entities 
                receiving grants are located in different States.
                    ``(E) Grants.--
                            ``(i) Term.--The term of a grant awarded 
                        under the pilot program shall be 1 year.
                            ``(ii) Maximum amount.--The amount of a 
                        grant awarded under the pilot program shall not 
                        exceed $100,000.
                            ``(iii) Administrative expenses.--An 
                        eligible entity awarded a grant under the pilot 
                        program shall use not more than 10 percent of 
                        grant funds for administrative expenses.
                            ``(iv) Report requirement.--An eligible 
                        entity awarded a grant under the pilot program 
                        shall periodically submit to the Secretary, at 
                        such intervals as determined by the Secretary, 
                        a report describing the use and impact of the 
                        grant funds, including--
                                    ``(I) the number of sites, and type 
                                of sites, that benefitted from the 
                                grant funds;
                                    ``(II) the number of children 
                                served as a result of the grant funds; 
                                and
                    ``(F) Technical assistance; best practices.--The 
                Secretary shall provide technical assistance to, and 
                share best practices with, eligible entities that 
                receive grants under the pilot program.
                    ``(G) Report.--Not later than 4 years after the 
                date of establishment of the pilot program, the 
                Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the 
                administration of the pilot program, including a 
                summary of the reports received by the Secretary under 
                subparagraph (E)(iv).
                    ``(H) Authorization of appropriations.--There is 
                authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
                out the pilot program $1,000,000 for each of fiscal 
                years 2027 through 2029.''.
                                 <all>