Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB1431 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 1431
5	5	To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve
6	6	program requirements and direct certification, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	APRIL10, 2025
9	9	Mr. F
10	10	ETTERMANintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and
11	11	referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
12	12	A BILL
13	13	To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch
14	14	Act to improve program requirements and direct certifi-
15	15	cation, and for other purposes.
16	16	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
17	17	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
18	18	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
19	19	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘School Meal Mod-4
20	20	ernization and Hunger Elimination Act’’. 5
21	21	SEC. 2. DIRECT CERTIFICATION. 6
22	22	Section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National 7
23	23	School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)) is amended— 8
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26	26	•S 1431 IS
27	27	(1) in paragraph (4)(F)(iii)(II)(bb), by insert-1
28	28	ing ‘‘in not more than 3 school years’’ after ‘‘meas-2
29	29	ures’’; and 3
30	30	(2) in paragraph (5)— 4
31	31	(A) in the paragraph heading, by striking 5
32	32	‘‘D
33	33	ISCRETIONARY CERTIFICATION ’’ and insert-6
34	34	ing ‘‘D
35	35	IRECT CERTIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL 7
36	36	LOW-INCOME CHILDREN’’; 8
37	37	(B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 9
38	38	(A), by striking ‘‘may certify’’ and inserting 10
39	39	‘‘(including any school operated by the Bureau 11
40	40	of Indian Education) shall certify’’; 12
41	41	(C) in subparagraph (B), by inserting a 13
42	42	closing parenthesis before the semicolon at the 14
43	43	end; 15
44	44	(D) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘or’’ 16
45	45	at the end; and 17
46	46	(E) in subparagraph (E)— 18
47	47	(i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 19
48	48	the end; 20
49	49	(ii) in clause (ii)— 21
50	50	(I) by striking ‘‘who’’ and insert-22
51	51	ing ‘‘whom’’; and 23
52	52	(II) by striking the period at the 24
53	53	end and inserting a semicolon; and 25
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56	56	•S 1431 IS
57	57	(iii) by adding at the end the fol-1
58	58	lowing: 2
59	59	‘‘(iii) a child whose placement with a care-3
60	60	giver was carried out with the involvement of 4
61	61	an agency that administers a State plan under 5
62	62	part B or E of title IV of the Social Security 6
63	63	Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or a Tribal child 7
64	64	welfare agency, without regard to whether the 8
65	65	agency is responsible for the care and place-9
66	66	ment of the child; 10
67	67	‘‘(iv) a child for whom an adoption assist-11
68	68	ance payment is made under section 473(a) of 12
69	69	the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)) or 13
70	70	under a similar State-funded or State-operated 14
71	71	program, as determined by the Secretary; 15
72	72	‘‘(v) a child for whom a kinship guardian-16
73	73	ship assistance payment is made under section 17
74	74	473(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 18
75	75	673(d)) or under a similar State-funded or 19
76	76	State-operated program, as determined by the 20
77	77	Secretary, without regard to whether the child 21
78	78	was previously in foster care; or 22
79	79	‘‘(vi) a child of a family that— 23
80	80	‘‘(I) lives in housing dedicated to low- 24
81	81	income families with a caregiver who is a 25
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84	84	•S 1431 IS
85	85	grandparent or another older person that 1
86	86	cares for the child full-time; or 2
87	87	‘‘(II) receives housing or housing as-3
88	88	sistance under the Native American Hous-4
89	89	ing Assistance and Self-Determination Act 5
90	90	of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.); or 6
91	91	‘‘(F) a child who receives supplemental se-7
92	92	curity income payments under title XVI of the 8
93	93	Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.).’’. 9
94	94	SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY OF TRANSFERRED CHILDREN; RETRO-10
95	95	ACTIVE REIMBURSEMENT. 11
96	96	Section 9(b)(9) of the Richard B. Russell National 12
97	97	School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(9)) is amended— 13
98	98	(1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub-14
99	99	paragraph (D); 15
100	100	(2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol-16
101	101	lowing: 17
102	102	‘‘(C) E
103	103	LIGIBILITY OF TRANSFERRED CHIL -18
104	104	DREN.— 19
105	105	‘‘(i) D
106	106	EFINITION OF COVERED 20
107	107	CHILD.—In this subparagraph, the term 21
108	108	‘covered child’ means a child that— 22
109	109	‘‘(I) has been determined eligible 23
110	110	for free or reduced price meals under 24
111	111	this Act by a local educational agency 25
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114	114	•S 1431 IS
115	115	(referred to in this subparagraph as 1
116	116	the ‘original local educational agen-2
117	117	cy’); and 3
118	118	‘‘(II) transfers to another school 4
119	119	that is under the jurisdiction of a dif-5
120	120	ferent local educational agency (re-6
121	121	ferred to in this subparagraph as the 7
122	122	‘new local educational agency’). 8
123	123	‘‘(ii) E
124	124	LIGIBILITY.—An eligibility de-9
125	125	termination made by an original local edu-10
126	126	cational agency with respect to a covered 11
127	127	child shall be transferred to, and honored 12
128	128	by, the new local educational agency, in-13
129	129	cluding the period for which that deter-14
130	130	mination was authorized, subject to an ex-15
131	131	tension under clause (iii). 16
132	132	‘‘(iii) E
133	133	XTENSION OF DURATION .—A 17
134	134	new local educational agency shall honor 18
135	135	the eligibility determination for a covered 19
136	136	child under clause (ii) for a period that is 20
137	137	1 year longer than the period for which 21
138	138	that determination was authorized by the 22
139	139	original local educational agency if the cov-23
140	140	ered child began living with a caregiver— 24
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143	143	•S 1431 IS
144	144	‘‘(I) during the 12-month period 1
145	145	preceding the date on which the cov-2
146	146	ered child is enrolled in a school under 3
147	147	the jurisdiction of a new local edu-4
148	148	cational agency; and 5
149	149	‘‘(II) who is a grandparent or 6
150	150	other relative and— 7
151	151	‘‘(aa) has legal authority to 8
152	152	secure services for the child 9
153	153	through an educational or 10
154	154	healthcare consent affidavit, 11
155	155	power of attorney, or other legal 12
156	156	documentation; or 13
157	157	‘‘(bb) has legal custody of 14
158	158	the child or has commenced the 15
159	159	process of seeking legal custody 16
160	160	of the child in a court of law.’’; 17
161	161	(3) in subparagraph (D) (as so redesignated)— 18
162	162	(A) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as 19
163	163	subclauses (I) and (II), respectively, and in-20
164	164	denting appropriately; 21
165	165	(B) in the matter preceding subclause (I) 22
166	166	(as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘Except as’’ 23
167	167	and all that follows through ‘‘(3)(H)(ii)’’ and 24
168	168	inserting the following: 25
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171	171	•S 1431 IS
172	172	‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as other-1
173	173	wise specified in clause (ii), subparagraph 2
174	174	(C), subparagraphs (E) and (H)(ii) of 3
175	175	paragraph (3)’’; and 4
176	176	(C) by adding at the end the following: 5
177	177	‘‘(ii) E
178	178	XTENSION FOR CERTAIN CHIL -6
179	179	DREN.—A school food authority shall ex-7
180	180	tend the eligibility determination made by 8
181	181	a local educational agency with respect to 9
182	182	a child for a period that is 1 year longer 10
183	183	than the period for which that determina-11
184	184	tion was authorized by the local edu-12
185	185	cational agency, if the child began living 13
186	186	with a caregiver— 14
187	187	‘‘(I) during the 12-month period 15
188	188	preceding the date on which the cov-16
189	189	ered child is enrolled in the new 17
190	190	school; and 18
191	191	‘‘(II) who is a grandparent or 19
192	192	other relative and— 20
193	193	‘‘(aa) has legal authority to 21
194	194	secure services for the child 22
195	195	through an educational or 23
196	196	healthcare consent affidavit, 24
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199	199	•S 1431 IS
200	200	power of attorney, or other legal 1
201	201	documentation; or 2
202	202	‘‘(bb) has legal custody of 3
203	203	the child or has commenced the 4
204	204	process of seeking legal custody 5
205	205	of the child in a court of law.’’; 6
206	206	and 7
207	207	(4) by adding at the end the following: 8
208	208	‘‘(E) R
209	209	ETROACTIVE REIMBURSEMENT .— 9
210	210	‘‘(i) D
211	211	EFINITIONS.—In this subpara-10
212	212	graph: 11
213	213	‘‘(I) C
214	214	HANGE IN ELIGIBILITY.— 12
215	215	The term ‘change in eligibility’ means, 13
216	216	with respect to eligibility for the 14
217	217	school lunch program under this 15
218	218	Act— 16
219	219	‘‘(aa) a change from eligi-17
220	220	bility for reduced price meals to 18
221	221	eligibility for free meals; and 19
222	222	‘‘(bb) a change from non-20
223	223	eligibility to eligibility for free or 21
224	224	reduced price meals. 22
225	225	‘‘(II) M
226	226	EAL CLAIM.—The term 23
227	227	‘meal claim’ means any documenta-24
228	228	tion provided by a school food author-25
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231	231	•S 1431 IS
232	232	ity to a State agency in order to re-1
233	233	ceive reimbursement under this Act 2
234	234	for the cost of a meal served to a 3
235	235	child by the school food authority. 4
236	236	‘‘(III) P
237	237	REVIOUSLY SUB -5
238	238	MITTED.—The term ‘previously sub-6
239	239	mitted’, with respect to a meal claim, 7
240	240	means a meal claim submitted on or 8
241	241	after the retroactive date. 9
242	242	‘‘(IV) R
243	243	ETROACTIVE DATE.—The 10
244	244	term ‘retroactive date’ means the first 11
245	245	day of the current school year. 12
246	246	‘‘(ii) R
247	247	ETROACTIVITY.— 13
248	248	‘‘(I) S
249	249	UBMISSION OF MEAL 14
250	250	CLAIMS.—A local educational agency 15
251	251	shall— 16
252	252	‘‘(aa) revise and resubmit a 17
253	253	previously submitted meal claim 18
254	254	to reflect a change in eligibility 19
255	255	described in subclause (i)(I)(aa) 20
256	256	of a child; and 21
257	257	‘‘(bb) submit a meal claim 22
258	258	for any meal provided on or after 23
259	259	the retroactive date for a child 24
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262	262	•S 1431 IS
263	263	that has a change of eligibility 1
264	264	described in subclause (i)(I)(bb). 2
265	265	‘‘(II) R
266	266	EIMBURSEMENT BY SEC -3
267	267	RETARY.—The Secretary shall reim-4
268	268	burse each meal claim submitted by a 5
269	269	local educational agency under sub-6
270	270	clause (I). 7
271	271	‘‘(iii) R
272	272	EIMBURSEMENT TO FAMI -8
273	273	LIES.—A local educational agency that re-9
274	274	ceives a reimbursement under clause 10
275	275	(ii)(II) shall reimburse the household of a 11
276	276	child for any fees paid by the household on 12
277	277	or after the retroactive date and prior to 13
278	278	the change in eligibility of the child.’’. 14
279	279	SEC. 4. EXPANDING AUTOMATIC ELIGIBILITY. 15
280	280	(a) I
281	281	NGENERAL.—Section 9(b)(12)(A) of the Rich-16
282	282	ard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 17
283	283	1758(b)(12)(A)) is amended— 18
284	284	(1) by conforming the margins of clauses (iv) 19
285	285	through (vii) to the margin of clause (iii); and 20
286	286	(2) in clause (vii)— 21
287	287	(A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 22
288	288	the end; 23
289	289	(B) in subclause (II)— 24
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292	292	•S 1431 IS
293	293	(i) by striking ‘‘who’’ and inserting 1
294	294	‘‘whom’’; and 2
295	295	(ii) by striking the period at the end 3
296	296	and inserting a semicolon; and 4
297	297	(C) by adding at the end the following: 5
298	298	‘‘(III) a child whose placement with a 6
299	299	caregiver was carried out with the involve-7
300	300	ment of an agency that administers a 8
301	301	State plan under part B or E of title IV 9
302	302	of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 10
303	303	et seq.) or a Tribal child welfare agency, 11
304	304	without regard to whether the agency is re-12
305	305	sponsible for the care and placement of the 13
306	306	child; 14
307	307	‘‘(IV) a child for whom an adoption 15
308	308	assistance payment is made under section 16
309	309	473(a) of the Social Security Act (42 17
310	310	U.S.C. 673(a)) or under a similar State- 18
311	311	funded or State-operated program, as de-19
312	312	termined by the Secretary; 20
313	313	‘‘(V) a child for whom a kinship 21
314	314	guardianship assistance payment is made 22
315	315	under section 473(d) of the Social Security 23
316	316	Act (42 U.S.C. 673(d)) or under a similar 24
317	317	State-funded or State-operated program, 25
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320	320	•S 1431 IS
321	321	as determined by the Secretary, without 1
322	322	regard to whether the child was previously 2
323	323	in foster care; or 3
324	324	‘‘(VI) a child of a family that— 4
325	325	‘‘(aa) lives in housing dedicated 5
326	326	to low-income families with a care-6
327	327	giver who is a grandparent or another 7
328	328	older person that cares for the child 8
329	329	full-time; or 9
330	330	‘‘(bb) receives housing or housing 10
331	331	assistance under the Native American 11
332	332	Housing Assistance and Self-Deter-12
333	333	mination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 13
334	334	4101 et seq.).’’. 14
335	335	(b) C
336	336	ONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.—Section 9(d)(2) of 15
337	337	the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 16
338	338	U.S.C. 1758(d)(2)) is amended— 17
339	339	(1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘(iv) or 18
340	340	(v)’’ and inserting ‘‘(ii), (iii), (iv), (v), or (vii)’’; 19
341	341	(2) in subparagraph (E), by adding ‘‘or’’ after 20
342	342	the semicolon; 21
343	343	(3) by striking subparagraph (F); and 22
344	344	(4) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as sub-23
345	345	paragraph (F) and conforming the margin of the 24
346	346	subparagraph appropriately. 25
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349	349	•S 1431 IS
350	350	SEC. 5. UNIVERSAL MEDICAID DIRECT CERTIFICATION. 1
351	351	Section 9(b)(15) of the Richard B. Russell National 2
352	352	School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(15)) is amended— 3
353	353	(1) in subparagraph (A)— 4
354	354	(A) by striking clause (i) and inserting the 5
355	355	following: 6
356	356	‘‘(i) E
357	357	LIGIBLE CHILD.— 7
358	358	‘‘(I) I
359	359	N GENERAL.—The term ‘el-8
360	360	igible child’ means a child who— 9
361	361	‘‘(aa)(AA) is eligible for and 10
362	362	receiving medical assistance 11
363	363	under the Medicaid program; and 12
364	364	‘‘(BB) is a member of a 13
365	365	family with an income as meas-14
366	366	ured by the Medicaid program 15
367	367	that does not exceed, in the case 16
368	368	of eligibility for free meals, 133 17
369	369	percent of the poverty line (as 18
370	370	defined in section 673(2) of the 19
371	371	Community Services Block Grant 20
372	372	Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)), includ-21
373	373	ing any revision required by such 22
374	374	section) applicable to a family of 23
375	375	the size used for purposes of de-24
376	376	termining eligibility for the Med-25
377	377	icaid program, or, in the case of 26
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380	380	•S 1431 IS
381	381	eligibility for reduced price meals, 1
382	382	the applicable family size income 2
383	383	level under the income eligibility 3
384	384	guidelines for reduced price 4
385	385	meals; or 5
386	386	‘‘(bb) is a member of a 6
387	387	household (as that term is de-7
388	388	fined in section 245.2 of title 7, 8
389	389	Code of Federal Regulations (or 9
390	390	successor regulations)) with a 10
391	391	child described in item (aa). 11
392	392	‘‘(II) O
393	393	THER CHILDREN .—The 12
394	394	term ‘eligible child’ includes a child 13
395	395	who is eligible for and receiving med-14
396	396	ical assistance under the Medicaid 15
397	397	program under subclause (I) of sec-16
398	398	tion 1902(a)(10)(A)(i) of the Social 17
399	399	Security Act (42 U.S.C. 18
400	400	1396a(a)(10)(A)(i))— 19
401	401	‘‘(aa) on the basis of receiv-20
402	402	ing aid or assistance under the 21
403	403	State plan approved under part 22
404	404	E of title IV of that Act (42 23
405	405	U.S.C. 670 et seq.); 24
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408	408	•S 1431 IS
409	409	‘‘(bb) by reason of section 1
410	410	473(b) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 2
411	411	673(b)); or 3
412	412	‘‘(cc) under subclause (II) of 4
413	413	section 1902(a)(10)(A)(i) of that 5
414	414	Act (42 U.S.C. 6
415	415	1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)).’’; and 7
416	416	(B) by adding at the end the following: 8
417	417	‘‘(iii) W
418	418	ITHOUT FURTHER APPLICA -9
419	419	TION.—The term ‘without further applica-10
420	420	tion’ has the meaning given the term in 11
421	421	paragraph (4)(G).’’; and 12
422	422	(2) by striking subparagraphs (B) through (H) 13
423	423	and inserting the following: 14
424	424	‘‘(B) A
425	425	GREEMENT.—For the school year 15
426	426	beginning on July 1, 2025, and each school 16
427	427	year thereafter, each State shall enter into an 17
428	428	agreement described in subparagraph (C) with 18
429	429	the 1 or more State agencies conducting eligi-19
430	430	bility determinations for the Medicaid program. 20
431	431	‘‘(C) P
432	432	ROCEDURES.— 21
433	433	‘‘(i) I
434	434	N GENERAL.—Subject to sub-22
435	435	paragraph (D) and paragraph (6), an 23
436	436	agreement entered into under subpara-24
437	437	graph (B) shall establish procedures under 25
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440	440	•S 1431 IS
441	441	which an eligible child shall be certified as 1
442	442	eligible, without further application, for— 2
443	443	‘‘(I) free or reduced price lunch 3
444	444	under this Act; and 4
445	445	‘‘(II) free or reduced price break-5
446	446	fast under section 4 of the Child Nu-6
447	447	trition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773). 7
448	448	‘‘(ii) F
449	449	REE MEALS.—Each agreement 8
450	450	entered into under subparagraph (B) shall 9
451	451	ensure that a child who is simultaneously 10
452	452	eligible for reduced price meals under this 11
453	453	paragraph or based on an income eligibility 12
454	454	determination, and for free meals based on 13
455	455	documentation provided under subsection 14
456	456	(d)(2), shall be certified for free meals. 15
457	457	‘‘(D) C
458	458	ERTIFICATION.—Subject to para-16
459	459	graph (6), and according to an agreement en-17
460	460	tered into under subparagraph (B), the local 18
461	461	educational agency conducting eligibility deter-19
462	462	minations under that agreement shall certify an 20
463	463	eligible child as eligible, without further applica-21
464	464	tion, for— 22
465	465	‘‘(i) free or reduced price lunch under 23
466	466	this Act; and 24
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469	469	•S 1431 IS
470	470	‘‘(ii) free or reduced price breakfast 1
471	471	under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act 2
472	472	of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).’’. 3
473	473	SEC. 6. DIRECT CERTIFICATION FOR CHILDREN RECEIVING 4
474	474	SOCIAL SECURITY INCOME. 5
475	475	Section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National 6
476	476	School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)) is amended by add-7
477	477	ing at the end the following: 8
478	478	‘‘(16) D
479	479	ATA FROM SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINIS -9
480	480	TRATION.—In the case of direct certification under 10
481	481	paragraph (5) or (12)(A) of a child who receives 11
482	482	supplemental security income payments under title 12
483	483	XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et 13
484	484	seq.), the Commissioner of Social Security shall pro-14
485	485	vide a local educational agency with the data nec-15
486	486	essary to certify the child in accordance with a data- 16
487	487	sharing agreement between the Commissioner and 17
488	488	the State in which the local educational agency is lo-18
489	489	cated.’’. 19
490	490	SEC. 7. DIRECT CERTIFICATION IMPROVEMENT GRANTS 20
491	491	AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 21
492	492	Section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National 22
493	493	School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)) (as amended by 23
494	494	section 6) is amended by adding at the end the following: 24
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497	497	•S 1431 IS
498	498	‘‘(17) DIRECT CERTIFICATION IMPROVEMENT 1
499	499	GRANTS AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE .— 2
500	500	‘‘(A) D
501	501	EFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 3
502	502	‘‘(i) E
503	503	LIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘el-4
504	504	igible entity’ means— 5
505	505	‘‘(I) a State agency; and 6
506	506	‘‘(II) a Tribal organization. 7
507	507	‘‘(ii) I
508	508	NDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘In-8
509	509	dian Tribe’ has the meaning given the 9
510	510	term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter-10
511	511	mination and Education Assistance Act 11
512	512	(25 U.S.C. 5304). 12
513	513	‘‘(iii) R
514	514	ATE OF DIRECT CERTIFI -13
515	515	CATION.—The term ‘rate of direct certifi-14
516	516	cation’ means the percentage of children 15
517	517	eligible for direct certification under para-16
518	518	graphs (4) and (5) for a school year that 17
519	519	were directly certified under those para-18
520	520	graphs for that school year. 19
521	521	‘‘(iv) T
522	522	RIBAL ORGANIZATION .—The 20
523	523	term ‘Tribal organization’ has the meaning 21
524	524	given the term in section 4 of the Indian 22
525	525	Self-Determination and Education Assist-23
526	526	ance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 24
527	527	‘‘(B) G
528	528	RANTS.— 25
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531	531	•S 1431 IS
532	532	‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 1
533	533	shall provide grants to eligible entities that 2
534	534	administer the school lunch program under 3
535	535	this Act to improve the rate of direct cer-4
536	536	tification in the State or Indian Tribe in 5
537	537	which the eligible entity is located. 6
538	538	‘‘(ii) P
539	539	RIORITY.—In providing grants 7
540	540	under clause (i), the Secretary shall give 8
541	541	priority to States and Tribal organizations 9
542	542	with the lowest rates of direct certification. 10
543	543	‘‘(iii) U
544	544	SE OF FUNDS.—An eligible en-11
545	545	tity that receives a grant under clause (i) 12
546	546	shall use the grant funds to pay costs re-13
547	547	lating to improving the rate of direct cer-14
548	548	tification in the State or Indian Tribe, as 15
549	549	applicable, including the cost of— 16
550	550	‘‘(I) improving technology relat-17
551	551	ing to direct certification; 18
552	552	‘‘(II) providing technical assist-19
553	553	ance to local educational agencies; 20
554	554	‘‘(III) newly implementing or re-21
555	555	vising a direct certification system or 22
556	556	process in the State (including at local 23
557	557	educational agencies in the State) or 24
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560	560	•S 1431 IS
561	561	Indian Tribe, including the cost of 1
562	562	equipment; and 2
563	563	‘‘(IV) coordinating with multiple 3
564	564	public benefits programs to increase 4
565	565	the rate of direct certification, includ-5
566	566	ing by conducting feasibility studies 6
567	567	and demonstration projects under sec-7
568	568	tion 18(c). 8
569	569	‘‘(C) F
570	570	OOD DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM ON 9
571	571	INDIAN RESERVATIONS.— 10
572	572	‘‘(i) I
573	573	N GENERAL.—The Secretary 11
574	574	shall provide grants to States and Tribal 12
575	575	organizations administering the food dis-13
576	576	tribution program on Indian reservations 14
577	577	under section 4(b) of the Food and Nutri-15
578	578	tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2013(b))— 16
579	579	‘‘(I) in the case of a Tribal orga-17
580	580	nization, if applicable, to establish a 18
581	581	rate of direct certification of children 19
582	582	that are members of households re-20
583	583	ceiving assistance under that pro-21
584	584	gram; or 22
585	585	‘‘(II) to improve the rate of di-23
586	586	rect certification of children that are 24
587	587	VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Apr 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1431.IS S1431
588	588	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 21
589	589	•S 1431 IS
590	590	members of households receiving as-1
591	591	sistance under that program. 2
592	592	‘‘(ii) U
593	593	SE OF FUNDS.—A State or 3
594	594	Tribal organization receiving a grant under 4
595	595	this subparagraph shall use the funds to 5
596	596	pay the costs described in subparagraph 6
597	597	(B)(iii). 7
598	598	‘‘(D) T
599	599	ECHNICAL ASSISTANCE .—The Sec-8
600	600	retary shall provide technical assistance to as-9
601	601	sist the recipients of grants under subpara-10
602	602	graphs (B) and (C), and other eligible entities, 11
603	603	as appropriate, in improving the rates of direct 12
604	604	certification. 13
605	605	‘‘(E) F
606	606	UNDING.— 14
607	607	‘‘(i) I
608	608	N GENERAL.—On October 1, 15
609	609	2025, out of any funds in the Treasury not 16
610	610	otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of 17
611	611	the Treasury shall transfer to the Sec-18
612	612	retary to carry out this paragraph 19
613	613	$28,000,000, to remain available until ex-20
614	614	pended. 21
615	615	‘‘(ii) F
616	616	OOD DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM 22
617	617	ON INDIAN RESERVATIONS .—Of the funds 23
618	618	transferred to the Secretary under clause 24
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621	621	•S 1431 IS
622	622	(i), the Secretary shall use not less than 1
623	623	$2,000,000 to carry out subparagraph (C). 2
624	624	‘‘(iii) T
625	625	ECHNICAL ASSISTANCE .—Of 3
626	626	the funds transferred to the Secretary 4
627	627	under clause (i), the Secretary shall use 5
628	628	not more than $3,000,000 to carry out 6
629	629	subparagraph (D). 7
630	630	‘‘(iv) R
631	631	ECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE .— 8
632	632	The Secretary shall be entitled to receive, 9
633	633	shall accept, and shall use to carry out this 10
634	634	paragraph the funds transferred under 11
635	635	clause (i), without further appropriation.’’. 12
636	636	SEC. 8. ENHANCING THE COMMUNITY ELIGIBILITY OPTION. 13
637	637	(a) I
638	638	NGENERAL.—Section 11(a)(1)(F) of the Rich-14
639	639	ard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 15
640	640	1759a(a)(1)(F)) is amended— 16
641	641	(1) in clause (iv)— 17
642	642	(A) in subclause (I)(bb)— 18
643	643	(i) by striking ‘‘as of April 1 of the 19
644	644	prior school year’’ and inserting ‘‘during 20
645	645	the period beginning on April 1 of the 21
646	646	prior school year and ending on the last 22
647	647	day of that school year’’; and 23
648	648	(ii) by striking ‘‘as of April 1 of the 24
649	649	school year prior’’ and all that follows 25
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652	652	•S 1431 IS
653	653	through ‘‘subparagraph’’ and inserting 1
654	654	‘‘during the period beginning on April 1 of 2
655	655	the covered school year and ending on the 3
656	656	last day of the covered school year’’; and 4
657	657	(B) by adding at the end the following: 5
658	658	‘‘(III) D
659	659	EFINITION OF COVERED 6
660	660	SCHOOL YEAR.—In this clause, the 7
661	661	term ‘covered school year’ means the 8
662	662	school year prior to the first school 9
663	663	year that a school or local educational 10
664	664	agency elected to receive special as-11
665	665	sistance payments under this subpara-12
666	666	graph.’’; 13
667	667	(2) by striking clause (vii) and inserting the fol-14
668	668	lowing: 15
669	669	‘‘(vii) M
670	670	ULTIPLIER.—For each school 16
671	671	year beginning on or after July 1, 2025, 17
672	672	the multiplier shall be 2.5.’’; and 18
673	673	(3) in clause (x)— 19
674	674	(A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘for the 20
675	675	next school year if, not later than June 30 of 21
676	676	the current school year,’’ and inserting ‘‘if’’; 22
677	677	(B) in subclause (II)(aa), by inserting ‘‘, 23
678	678	based on counts conducted by schools of identi-24
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681	681	•S 1431 IS
682	682	fied students beginning on or after April 1 of 1
683	683	that school year,’’ after ‘‘clause (viii)’’; and 2
684	684	(C) in subclause (IV)(aa), by inserting ‘‘, 3
685	685	based on counts conducted by schools of identi-4
686	686	fied students beginning on or after April 1 of 5
687	687	that school year,’’ after ‘‘clause (viii)’’. 6
688	688	(b) C
689	689	ONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 7
690	690	11(a)(1)(F)(xi) of the Richard B. Russell National School 8
691	691	Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(a)(1)(F)(xi)) is amended by 9
692	692	striking subclause (III). 10
693	693	SEC. 9. STATEWIDE FREE UNIVERSAL SCHOOL MEALS DEM-11
694	694	ONSTRATION PROJECTS. 12
695	695	Section 11(a)(1) of the Richard B. Russell National 13
696	696	School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(a)(1)) is amended by 14
697	697	adding at the end the following: 15
698	698	‘‘(G) S
699	699	TATEWIDE FREE UNIVERSAL 16
700	700	SCHOOL MEALS DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS .— 17
701	701	‘‘(i) D
702	702	EFINITIONS.—In this subpara-18
703	703	graph: 19
704	704	‘‘(I) D
705	705	EMONSTRATION 20
706	706	PROJECT.—The term ‘demonstration 21
707	707	project’ means a demonstration 22
708	708	project carried out under clause (ii). 23
709	709	‘‘(II) E
710	710	LIGIBLE SCHOOL.— 24
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713	713	•S 1431 IS
714	714	‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—The 1
715	715	term ‘eligible school’ means a 2
716	716	school that participates in the 3
717	717	school lunch program under this 4
718	718	Act and the school breakfast pro-5
719	719	gram under section 4 of the 6
720	720	Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 7
721	721	U.S.C. 1773). 8
722	722	‘‘(bb) E
723	723	XCLUSION.—The 9
724	724	term ‘eligible school’ does not in-10
725	725	clude residential child care insti-11
726	726	tutions (as defined in section 12
727	727	210.2 of title 7, Code of Federal 13
728	728	Regulations (or successor regula-14
729	729	tions)). 15
730	730	‘‘(III) I
731	731	DENTIFIED STUDENTS .— 16
732	732	The term ‘identified students’ has the 17
733	733	meaning given the term in subpara-18
734	734	graph (F)(i). 19
735	735	‘‘(IV) S
736	736	ELECTED STATE .—The 20
737	737	term ‘selected State’ means a State 21
738	738	selected to carry out a demonstration 22
739	739	project under clause (iii)(I). 23
740	740	‘‘(ii) E
741	741	STABLISHMENT.—Not later 24
742	742	than July 1, 2026, the Secretary shall 25
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745	745	•S 1431 IS
746	746	carry out demonstration projects in se-1
747	747	lected States under which school meals are 2
748	748	provided at no charge to every student at 3
749	749	an eligible school in the selected State. 4
750	750	‘‘(iii) S
751	751	TATE SELECTION.— 5
752	752	‘‘(I) I
753	753	N GENERAL.—The Sec-6
754	754	retary shall select not more than 5 7
755	755	States to each carry out a demonstra-8
756	756	tion project. 9
757	757	‘‘(II) A
758	758	PPLICATIONS.—A State 10
759	759	seeking to carry out a demonstration 11
760	760	project shall submit to the Secretary 12
761	761	an application at such time, in such 13
762	762	manner, and containing such informa-14
763	763	tion as the Secretary may require. 15
764	764	‘‘(III) P
765	765	RIORITY.—In carrying 16
766	766	out subclause (I), the Secretary shall 17
767	767	give priority to a State based on— 18
768	768	‘‘(aa) the level of childhood 19
769	769	poverty in the State; 20
770	770	‘‘(bb) the extent to which 21
771	771	the State has implemented sub-22
772	772	paragraph (F); 23
773	773	‘‘(cc) the extent to which the 24
774	774	direct certification rate of the 25
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777	777	•S 1431 IS
778	778	State meets the required percent-1
779	779	age (as defined in section 2
780	780	9(b)(4)(F)(i)); 3
781	781	‘‘(dd) the extent to which 4
782	782	the State demonstrates a com-5
783	783	mitment to providing technical 6
784	784	assistance to local educational 7
785	785	agencies that will implement the 8
786	786	demonstration project in the 9
787	787	State; and 10
788	788	‘‘(ee) the extent to which the 11
789	789	State demonstrates a commit-12
790	790	ment to providing non-Federal 13
791	791	funding under clause (vi)(III). 14
792	792	‘‘(iv) S
793	793	TART DATE.—A demonstration 15
794	794	project shall begin in a selected State on 16
795	795	the first day of the school year in that 17
796	796	State. 18
797	797	‘‘(v) S
798	798	PECIAL ASSISTANCE PAY -19
799	799	MENTS.— 20
800	800	‘‘(I) F
801	801	IRST YEAR.—For each 21
802	802	month of the first school year during 22
803	803	which a demonstration project is car-23
804	804	ried out, a selected State shall receive 24
805	805	special assistance payments at the 25
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808	808	•S 1431 IS
809	809	rate for free meals for a percentage of 1
810	810	all reimbursable meals served in eligi-2
811	811	ble schools in the State in an amount 3
812	812	equal to the product obtained by mul-4
813	813	tiplying— 5
814	814	‘‘(aa) 1.9; and 6
815	815	‘‘(bb) the percentage of 7
816	816	identified students in eligible 8
817	817	schools in the State as of the last 9
818	818	day of the prior school year, up 10
819	819	to a maximum of 100 percent. 11
820	820	‘‘(II) S
821	821	UBSEQUENT YEARS .—For 12
822	822	each month of the second school year 13
823	823	and each subsequent school year dur-14
824	824	ing which a demonstration project is 15
825	825	carried out, a selected State shall re-16
826	826	ceive special assistance payments at 17
827	827	the rate for free meals for a percent-18
828	828	age of all reimbursable meals served 19
829	829	in eligible schools in the State in an 20
830	830	amount equal to the product obtained 21
831	831	by multiplying— 22
832	832	‘‘(aa) 1.9; and 23
833	833	‘‘(bb) the higher of— 24
834	834	VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Apr 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1431.IS S1431
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836	836	•S 1431 IS
837	837	‘‘(AA) the percentage 1
838	838	of identified students in eli-2
839	839	gible schools as of the last 3
840	840	day of the prior school year; 4
841	841	and 5
842	842	‘‘(BB) the percentage 6
843	843	of identified students in eli-7
844	844	gible schools as of the last 8
845	845	day of the school year prior 9
846	846	to the first school year dur-10
847	847	ing which a demonstration 11
848	848	project is carried out, up to 12
849	849	a maximum of 100 percent. 13
850	850	‘‘(III) P
851	851	AYMENT FOR OTHER 14
852	852	MEALS.—With respect to the reim-15
853	853	bursable meals described in subclauses 16
854	854	(I) and (II) for which a selected State 17
855	855	is not receiving special assistance pay-18
856	856	ments under this clause, the reim-19
857	857	bursement rate shall be the rate pro-20
858	858	vided under section 4. 21
859	859	‘‘(IV) P
860	860	AYMENTS IN LIEU OF.—A 22
861	861	special assistance payment made 23
862	862	under this clause shall be in lieu of 24
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865	865	•S 1431 IS
866	866	any other special assistance payment 1
867	867	made under this paragraph. 2
868	868	‘‘(vi) S
869	869	TATE IMPLEMENTATION .— 3
870	870	‘‘(I) P
871	871	RELIMINARY ACTIVITIES.— 4
872	872	Each selected State shall, in the 5
873	873	school year preceding the first school 6
874	874	year during which the demonstration 7
875	875	project shall be carried out in the 8
876	876	State— 9
877	877	‘‘(aa) identify each eligible 10
878	878	school in the State; 11
879	879	‘‘(bb) in consultation with 12
880	880	the Secretary, combine the per-13
881	881	centage of identified students 14
882	882	across eligible schools for the 15
883	883	purpose of calculating the max-16
884	884	imum reimbursement rate to en-17
885	885	sure that the special assistance 18
886	886	payments received under clause 19
887	887	(v) are for the maximum amount; 20
888	888	‘‘(cc) inform local edu-21
889	889	cational agencies of the dem-22
890	890	onstration project; and 23
891	891	‘‘(dd) coordinate with local 24
892	892	educational agencies to provide 25
893	893	VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Apr 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1431.IS S1431
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895	895	•S 1431 IS
896	896	information about the demonstra-1
897	897	tion project to parents or guard-2
898	898	ians of students attending eligible 3
899	899	schools. 4
900	900	‘‘(II) M
901	901	EAL SERVICE.—As part 5
902	902	of a demonstration project, an eligible 6
903	903	school in a selected State— 7
904	904	‘‘(aa) shall not collect appli-8
905	905	cations for free and reduced price 9
906	906	lunches under this Act; and 10
907	907	‘‘(bb) shall make school 11
908	908	meals available to all children at 12
909	909	the school at no charge. 13
910	910	‘‘(III) N
911	911	ON-FEDERAL FUND -14
912	912	ING.— 15
913	913	‘‘(aa) I
914	914	N GENERAL.—Each 16
915	915	selected State may support the 17
916	916	demonstration project using— 18
917	917	‘‘(AA) funds from State 19
918	918	and local sources that are 20
919	919	used for the maintenance of 21
920	920	the free lunch program 22
921	921	under this Act and the free 23
922	922	breakfast program under 24
923	923	section 4 of the Child Nutri-25
924	924	VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Apr 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1431.IS S1431
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926	926	•S 1431 IS
927	927	tion Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1
928	928	1773); and 2
929	929	‘‘(BB) State revenues 3
930	930	appropriated or used for 4
931	931	program purposes under sec-5
932	932	tion 7. 6
933	933	‘‘(bb) N
934	934	ON-FEDERAL CON-7
935	935	TRIBUTIONS.—In addition to the 8
936	936	funding received under this Act 9
937	937	and the Child Nutrition Act of 10
938	938	1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.), 11
939	939	each selected State shall provide 12
940	940	funding from non-Federal 13
941	941	sources to ensure that local edu-14
942	942	cational agencies in the State re-15
943	943	ceive the free reimbursement rate 16
944	944	for not less than 90 percent of 17
945	945	the meals served at eligible 18
946	946	schools. 19
947	947	‘‘(cc) C
948	948	ONTINUATION OF 20
949	949	FREE RATE.—A selected State 21
950	950	that receives special assistance 22
951	951	payments at the free reimburse-23
952	952	ment rate under subparagraph 24
953	953	(F) for more than 90 percent of 25
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956	956	•S 1431 IS
957	957	the meals served at eligible 1
958	958	schools during the school year 2
959	959	preceding the first school year 3
960	960	during which a demonstration 4
961	961	project is carried out shall con-5
962	962	tinue to receive the free reim-6
963	963	bursement rate for not less than 7
964	964	the same percentage of meals in 8
965	965	each school year during which a 9
966	966	demonstration project is carried 10
967	967	out. 11
968	968	‘‘(vii) R
969	969	EPORT.— 12
970	970	‘‘(I) I
971	971	N GENERAL.—Not later 13
972	972	than September 30, 2030, the Sec-14
973	973	retary, acting through the Adminis-15
974	974	trator of the Food and Nutrition 16
975	975	Service, shall submit to the Com-17
976	976	mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 18
977	977	Forestry of the Senate and the Com-19
978	978	mittees on Agriculture and Education 20
979	979	and Labor of the House of Represent-21
980	980	atives a report that evaluates the im-22
981	981	pact of each demonstration project in 23
982	982	a selected State with respect to— 24
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985	985	•S 1431 IS
986	986	‘‘(aa) academic achievement, 1
987	987	absenteeism, tardiness, the school 2
988	988	environment, child food insecu-3
989	989	rity in the selected State, and 4
990	990	other key factors identified in 5
991	991	consultation with the Secretary 6
992	992	of Education; 7
993	993	‘‘(bb) the rate of participa-8
994	994	tion in the free lunch program 9
995	995	under this Act and the free 10
996	996	breakfast program under section 11
997	997	4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 12
998	998	1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773) among 13
999	999	identified students and other stu-14
1000	1000	dents; 15
1001	1001	‘‘(cc) school meal services, 16
1002	1002	finances, and operations in the 17
1003	1003	selected State; 18
1004	1004	‘‘(dd) administrative costs to 19
1005	1005	the selected State and the school 20
1006	1006	food authorities participating in 21
1007	1007	the demonstration project; and 22
1008	1008	‘‘(ee) the integrity of the op-23
1009	1009	eration of the free lunch program 24
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1012	1012	•S 1431 IS
1013	1013	under this Act in the selected 1
1014	1014	State. 2
1015	1015	‘‘(II) F
1016	1016	UNDING.— 3
1017	1017	‘‘(aa) I
1018	1018	N GENERAL.—On Oc-4
1019	1019	tober 1, 2026, out of any funds 5
1020	1020	in the Treasury not otherwise ap-6
1021	1021	propriated, the Secretary of the 7
1022	1022	Treasury shall transfer to the 8
1023	1023	Secretary to carry out this clause 9
1024	1024	$3,000,000, to remain available 10
1025	1025	until September 30, 2030. 11
1026	1026	‘‘(bb) R
1027	1027	ECEIPT AND AC -12
1028	1028	CEPTANCE.—The Secretary shall 13
1029	1029	be entitled to receive, shall ac-14
1030	1030	cept, and shall use to carry out 15
1031	1031	this clause the funds transferred 16
1032	1032	under item (aa), without further 17
1033	1033	appropriation.’’. 18
1034	1034	SEC. 10. STATE PERFORMANCE ON ENROLLING CHILDREN 19
1035	1035	RECEIVING PROGRAM BENEFITS FOR FREE 20
1036	1036	SCHOOL MEALS. 21
1037	1037	Section 4301(b) of the Food, Conservation, and En-22
1038	1038	ergy Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 1758a(b)) is amended— 23
1039	1039	(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 24
1040	1040	end; 25
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1043	1043	•S 1431 IS
1044	1044	(2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 1
1045	1045	the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 2
1046	1046	(3) by adding at the end the following: 3
1047	1047	‘‘(4) in the case of a State identified under 4
1048	1048	clause (ii)(I) of section 9(b)(4)(F) of the Richard B. 5
1049	1049	Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 6
1050	1050	1758(b)(4)(F)), a description of— 7
1051	1051	‘‘(A) the technical assistance provided to 8
1052	1052	the State; and 9
1053	1053	‘‘(B) the progress made by the State in 10
1054	1054	implementing the measures and meeting the 11
1055	1055	goals described in items (aa) through (cc) of 12
1056	1056	clause (iii)(II) of that section.’’. 13
1057	1057	Æ
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