[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1431 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1431
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve
program requirements and direct certification, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 10, 2025
Mr. Fetterman 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 improve
program requirements and direct certification, 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 ``School Meal Modernization and Hunger
Elimination Act''.
SEC. 2. DIRECT CERTIFICATION.
Section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act
(42 U.S.C. 1758(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (4)(F)(iii)(II)(bb), by inserting ``in not
more than 3 school years'' after ``measures''; and
(2) in paragraph (5)--
(A) in the paragraph heading, by striking
``Discretionary certification'' and inserting ``Direct
certification of additional low-income children'';
(B) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by
striking ``may certify'' and inserting ``(including any
school operated by the Bureau of Indian Education)
shall certify'';
(C) in subparagraph (B), by inserting a closing
parenthesis before the semicolon at the end;
(D) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``or'' at the
end; and
(E) in subparagraph (E)--
(i) in clause (i), by striking ``or'' at
the end;
(ii) in clause (ii)--
(I) by striking ``who'' and
inserting ``whom''; and
(II) by striking the period at the
end and inserting a semicolon; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(iii) a child whose placement with a caregiver
was carried out with the involvement of an agency that
administers a State plan under part B or E of title IV
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or a
Tribal child welfare agency, without regard to whether
the agency is responsible for the care and placement of
the child;
``(iv) a child for whom an adoption assistance
payment is made under section 473(a) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)) or under a similar
State-funded or State-operated program, as determined
by the Secretary;
``(v) a child for whom a kinship guardianship
assistance payment is made under section 473(d) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(d)) or under a
similar State-funded or State-operated program, as
determined by the Secretary, without regard to whether
the child was previously in foster care; or
``(vi) a child of a family that--
``(I) lives in housing dedicated to low-
income families with a caregiver who is a
grandparent or another older person that cares
for the child full-time; or
``(II) receives housing or housing
assistance under the Native American Housing
Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996
(25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.); or
``(F) a child who receives supplemental security
income payments under title XVI of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.).''.
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY OF TRANSFERRED CHILDREN; RETROACTIVE REIMBURSEMENT.
Section 9(b)(9) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act
(42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(9)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (D);
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
``(C) Eligibility of transferred children.--
``(i) Definition of covered child.--In this
subparagraph, the term `covered child' means a
child that--
``(I) has been determined eligible
for free or reduced price meals under
this Act by a local educational agency
(referred to in this subparagraph as
the `original local educational
agency'); and
``(II) transfers to another school
that is under the jurisdiction of a
different local educational agency
(referred to in this subparagraph as
the `new local educational agency').
``(ii) Eligibility.--An eligibility
determination made by an original local
educational agency with respect to a covered
child shall be transferred to, and honored by,
the new local educational agency, including the
period for which that determination was
authorized, subject to an extension under
clause (iii).
``(iii) Extension of duration.--A new local
educational agency shall honor the eligibility
determination for a covered child under clause
(ii) for a period that is 1 year longer than
the period for which that determination was
authorized by the original local educational
agency if the covered child began living with a
caregiver--
``(I) during the 12-month period
preceding the date on which the covered
child is enrolled in a school under the
jurisdiction of a new local educational
agency; and
``(II) who is a grandparent or
other relative and--
``(aa) has legal authority
to secure services for the
child through an educational or
healthcare consent affidavit,
power of attorney, or other
legal documentation; or
``(bb) has legal custody of
the child or has commenced the
process of seeking legal
custody of the child in a court
of law.'';
(3) in subparagraph (D) (as so redesignated)--
(A) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as
subclauses (I) and (II), respectively, and indenting
appropriately;
(B) in the matter preceding subclause (I) (as so
redesignated), by striking ``Except as'' and all that
follows through ``(3)(H)(ii)'' and inserting the
following:
``(i) In general.--Except as otherwise
specified in clause (ii), subparagraph (C),
subparagraphs (E) and (H)(ii) of paragraph
(3)''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) Extension for certain children.--A
school food authority shall extend the
eligibility determination made by a local
educational agency with respect to a child for
a period that is 1 year longer than the period
for which that determination was authorized by
the local educational agency, if the child
began living with a caregiver--
``(I) during the 12-month period
preceding the date on which the covered
child is enrolled in the new school;
and
``(II) who is a grandparent or
other relative and--
``(aa) has legal authority
to secure services for the
child through an educational or
healthcare consent affidavit,
power of attorney, or other
legal documentation; or
``(bb) has legal custody of
the child or has commenced the
process of seeking legal
custody of the child in a court
of law.''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(E) 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 first day
of the current school year.
``(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 by
secretary.--The Secretary shall
reimburse each meal claim submitted by
a local educational agency under
subclause (I).
``(iii) Reimbursement to families.--A local
educational agency that receives a
reimbursement under clause (ii)(II) shall
reimburse the household of a child for any fees
paid by the household on or after the
retroactive date and prior to the change in
eligibility of the child.''.
SEC. 4. EXPANDING AUTOMATIC ELIGIBILITY.
(a) In General.--Section 9(b)(12)(A) of the Richard B. Russell
National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(12)(A)) is amended--
(1) by conforming the margins of clauses (iv) through (vii)
to the margin of clause (iii); and
(2) in clause (vii)--
(A) in subclause (I), by striking ``or'' at the
end;
(B) in subclause (II)--
(i) by striking ``who'' and inserting
``whom''; and
(ii) by striking the period at the end and
inserting a semicolon; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(III) a child whose placement with a
caregiver was carried out with the involvement
of an agency that administers a State plan
under part B or E of title IV of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or a
Tribal child welfare agency, without regard to
whether the agency is responsible for the care
and placement of the child;
``(IV) a child for whom an adoption
assistance payment is made under section 473(a)
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a))
or under a similar State-funded or State-
operated program, as determined by the
Secretary;
``(V) a child for whom a kinship
guardianship assistance payment is made under
section 473(d) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 673(d)) or under a similar State-funded
or State-operated program, as determined by the
Secretary, without regard to whether the child
was previously in foster care; or
``(VI) a child of a family that--
``(aa) lives in housing dedicated
to low-income families with a caregiver
who is a grandparent or another older
person that cares for the child full-
time; or
``(bb) receives housing or housing
assistance under the Native American
Housing Assistance and Self-
Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C.
4101 et seq.).''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 9(d)(2) of the Richard B.
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(d)(2)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``(iv) or (v)'' and
inserting ``(ii), (iii), (iv), (v), or (vii)'';
(2) in subparagraph (E), by adding ``or'' after the
semicolon;
(3) by striking subparagraph (F); and
(4) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as subparagraph (F)
and conforming the margin of the subparagraph appropriately.
SEC. 5. UNIVERSAL MEDICAID DIRECT CERTIFICATION.
Section 9(b)(15) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch
Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(15)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A)--
(A) by striking clause (i) and inserting the
following:
``(i) Eligible child.--
``(I) In general.--The term
`eligible child' means a child who--
``(aa)(AA) is eligible for
and receiving medical
assistance under the Medicaid
program; and
``(BB) is a member of a
family with an income as
measured by the Medicaid
program that does not exceed,
in the case of eligibility for
free meals, 133 percent of the
poverty line (as defined in
section 673(2) of the Community
Services Block Grant Act (42
U.S.C. 9902(2)), including any
revision required by such
section) applicable to a family
of the size used for purposes
of determining eligibility for
the Medicaid program, or, in
the case of eligibility for
reduced price meals, the
applicable family size income
level under the income
eligibility guidelines for
reduced price meals; or
``(bb) is a member of a