[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 92 (Thursday, June 18, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6811-S6812]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BENNET (for himself, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Casey):
  S. 1293. A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act to improve automatic enrollment procedures for the national school 
lunch and school breakfast programs, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill with 
Senators Brown of Ohio and Casey of Pennsylvania called the Enhancing 
Child Health with Automatic Enrollment for School Meals Act. We wrote 
this legislation because too many kids across this country are not 
getting the free school meals their families are qualified to receive. 
As members of the Agriculture Committee's subcommittee on Nutrition, 
Senators Brown, Casey and I share an interest in eradicating childhood 
hunger and increasing the efficiency of the National School Lunch and 
Breakfast programs.
  Our bill builds on the foundation laid during the 2004 child 
nutrition reauthorization which included a mandatory phase-in of an 
automatic enrollment process called `direct certification.' Our bill 
stipulates that schools, districts, and states must directly certify at 
least 95 percent of children who can be enrolled in the national school 
lunch and breakfast programs using this method. The intent of this 
provision is to modernize the enrollment process by reducing reliance 
on paper applications and to improve access to school meal programs by 
ensuring kids who should be receiving free school meals actually 
receive them.
  Because we want to reward achievement and encourage improvements to 
the school meal enrollment process, our bill includes performance 
awards for the five states which make the best use of direct 
certification and for the five states which show the most improvement 
from one school year to the next. Additionally, our bill requires 
states which are unable to meet the 95 percent standard to submit a 
report to Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture that 
identifies the challenges prohibiting effective use of direct 
certification and maps out a plan for improvement.
  As former Superintendent of Denver Public Schools I cannot stress 
enough the importance of reducing red tape and administrative costs in 
schools. We cannot expect our children to focus on fractions when their 
stomachs are growling nor can we expect teachers, principals and school 
administrators to prepare our children to be tomorrow's leaders if they 
are spending their time filling out paperwork. That's why modernizing 
the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs is one of my top 
priorities for the child nutrition reauthorization this Fall and that 
is why I am introducing this bill today.
  Two additional provisions in the bill would eliminate paperwork and 
improve the existing system of determining whether or not kids qualify 
for free meals. The first is a clarification that sending a letter in 
the mail to a child's household letting them know they are eligible for 
free school meals is not an acceptable means of direct certification. A 
child who can be enrolled for free school meals automatically should be 
enrolled without any action on behalf of the child's household. We make 
this clarification because a vast number of paper notifications sent to 
families are not returned and, therefore, kids miss out on meals they 
should receive.
  The second is a request for a study from the U.S. Department of 
Education that would help determine how data the Department of 
Education is currently collecting is being used currently and could be 
used in the future to ensure all kids who should receive free school 
meals are provided those meals.
  Initially, Senators Brown, Casey and I were working on ways to expand 
access to free school meals independently, but now we are working 
collaboratively. Meeting President Obama's goal of ending childhood 
hunger by 2015 will require all hands on deck. Last week Senator Casey, 
along with Senator Specter and myself, introduced the Paperless 
Enrollment for School Meals Act to make it easier for schools and 
districts to serve free meals to all children. The bill we are 
introducing today is yet another installment in the ongoing dialog with 
Chairman Harkin, members of the Agriculture Committee and the USDA in 
preparation for reauthorizing child nutrition and WIC programs in the 
coming months.
  In Colorado and around the nation there is a renewed call for common 
sense measures to improve existing programs and provide assistance to 
those who need them most during these tough economic times. I encourage 
all Senators to do right by our children and support this legislation 
and the principles of the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs 
Senators Brown, Casey and I have outlined.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1293

       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 ``Enhancing Child Health with 
     Automatic School Meal Enrollment Act of 2009''.

     SEC. 2. IMPROVING DIRECT CERTIFICATION.

       (a) Performance Awards.--Section 9(b)(4) of the Richard B. 
     Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(4)) is 
     amended--
       (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ``food stamp'' 
     and inserting ``supplemental nutrition assistance program''; 
     and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(E) Performance awards.--
       ``(i) In general.--Effective for each of the schools years 
     beginning July 1, 2010, July 1, 2011, and July 1, 2012, the 
     Secretary shall offer performance awards to States to 
     encourage the States to ensure that all children eligible for 
     direct certification under this paragraph are certified in 
     accordance with this paragraph.
       ``(ii) Requirements.--For each school year described in 
     clause (i), the Secretary shall--

       ``(I) consider State data from the prior school year, 
     including estimates contained in the report required under 
     section 4301 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 
     2008 (42 U.S.C. 1758a); and
       ``(II) make performance awards to, as determined by the 
     Secretary--

       ``(aa) 5 States that demonstrate outstanding performance; 
     and

[[Page S6812]]

       ``(bb) 5 States that demonstrate substantial improvement.
       ``(iii) Funding.--

       ``(I) In general.--On October 1, 2009, and on each October 
     1 thereafter through October 1, 2011, out of any funds in the 
     Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the 
     Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary, to remain available 
     until expended--

       ``(aa) $2,000,000 to carry out clause (ii)(I); and
       ``(bb) $2,000,000 to carry out clause (ii)(II).

       ``(II) Receipt and acceptance.--The Secretary shall be 
     entitled to receive, shall accept, and shall use to carry out 
     this clause the funds transferred under subclause (I), 
     without further appropriation.''.

       (b) Corrective Action Plans.--Section 9(b)(4) of the 
     Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
     1758(b)(4)) (as amended by subsection (a)) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(F) Corrective action plans.--
       ``(i) In general.--Each school year, the Secretary shall--

       ``(I) identify, using estimates contained in the report 
     required under section 4301 of the Food, Conservation, and 
     Energy Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 1758a), States that directly 
     certify less than 95 percent of the total number of children 
     in the State who are eligible for direct certification under 
     this paragraph; and
       ``(II) require the States identified under subclause (I) to 
     implement a corrective action plan to fully meet the 
     requirements of this paragraph.

       ``(ii) Improving performance.--A State may include in a 
     corrective action plan under clause (i)(II) methods to 
     improve direct certification required under this paragraph or 
     paragraph (15) and discretionary certification under 
     paragraph (5).
       ``(iii) Failure to meet performance standard.--

       ``(I) In general.--A State that is required to implement a 
     corrective action plan under clause (i)(II) shall be required 
     to submit to the Secretary, for the approval of the 
     Secretary, a direct certification improvement plan for the 
     following school year.
       ``(II) Requirements.--A direct certification improvement 
     plan under subclause (I) shall include--

       ``(aa) specific measures that the State will use to 
     identify more children who are eligible for direct 
     certification;
       ``(bb) a timeline for the State to implement those 
     measures; and
       ``(cc) goals for the State to improve direct certification 
     results.''.
       (c) Without Further Application.--Section 9(b)(4) of the 
     Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
     1758(b)(4)) (as amended by subsection (b)) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(G) Without further application.--
       ``(i) In general.--In this paragraph, the term `without 
     further application' means that no action is required by the 
     household of the child.
       ``(ii) Clarification.--A requirement that a household 
     return a letter notifying the household of eligibility for 
     direct certification or eligibility for free school meals 
     does not meet the requirements of clause (i).''.

     SEC. 3. REPORT ON USING STATEWIDE EDUCATION DATABASES FOR 
                   DIRECT CERTIFICATION.

       (a) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall 
     prepare and submit to Congress a report regarding how 
     statewide databases developed by States to track compliance 
     with the requirements of part A of title I of the Elementary 
     and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) 
     can be used for purposes of direct certification under 
     section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
     Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)).
       (b) Contents.--The report described in subsection (a) 
     shall--
       (1) identify the States that have, as of the time of the 
     report, developed statewide databases to track compliance 
     with the requirements of part A of title I of the Elementary 
     and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.);
       (2) describe best practices regarding how such statewide 
     databases can be used for purposes of direct certification 
     under section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National School 
     Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b));
       (3) include case studies of States that have expanded such 
     statewide databases so that such statewide databases can be 
     used for direct certification purposes; and
       (4) identify States with such statewide databases that 
     would be appropriate for expansion for direct certification 
     purposes.
       (c) Funding.--
       (1) In general.--On October 1, 2009, out of any funds in 
     the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the 
     Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary to carry out this 
     section $500,000, to remain available through September 30, 
     2012.
       (2) Receipt and acceptance.--The Secretary shall be 
     entitled to receive, shall accept, and shall use to carry out 
     this section the funds transferred under paragraph (1), 
     without further appropriation.
                                 ______