Suspend School Meal Debt Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6430 To require that school food authorities and local educational agencies not collect unpaid meal fees during the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 3, 2020 Ms. OMAR (for herself, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. MOORE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. NADLER, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. POCAN, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. SOTO, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. PIN- GREE, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illi- nois, and Ms. MCCOLLUM) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To require that school food authorities and local educational agencies not collect unpaid meal fees during the COVID– 19 pandemic, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Suspend School Meal 4 Debt Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:30 Apr 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6430.IH H6430 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6430 IH SEC. 2. SCHOOL MEAL DEBT DURING COVID–19 PANDEMIC. 1 (a) CANCELLATION OF MEAL DEBTS OWED AS OF 2 DATE OF ENACTMENT.—The Secretary shall reimburse 3 each school food authority and local educational agency 4 participating in the school lunch program under the Rich- 5 ard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 6 1751 et seq.) or the school breakfast program under sec- 7 tion 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 8 1773) for the unpaid meal fees owed to such authority 9 or agency as of the date of the enactment of this Act. 10 (b) DEBT COLLECTION PROHIBITION DURING EMER- 11 GENCY PERIOD.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 12 law, the Secretary shall require that during the emergency 13 period each school food authority and local educational 14 agency described in subsection (a) may not collect unpaid 15 meal fees or use a debt collector (as such term is defined 16 in section 803 of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 17 U.S.C. 1692a)) to collect such unpaid meal fees. 18 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 19 (1) EMERGENCY PERIOD.—The term ‘‘emer- 20 gency period’’ means the period— 21 (A) beginning on the date of the enactment 22 of this section; and 23 (B) ending 30 days after the date on which 24 the public health emergency declared by the 25 Secretary of Health and Human Services under 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:30 Apr 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6430.IH H6430 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6430 IH section 319 of the Public Health Service Act 1 (42 U.S.C. 247d) with respect to COVID–19 is 2 terminated under such section. 3 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 4 the Secretary of Agriculture. 5 (3) UNPAID MEAL FEES.—The term ‘‘unpaid 6 meal fees’’— 7 (A) means outstanding fees owed by a 8 household to a local educational agency or 9 school food authority for lunches under the 10 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 11 (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) or breakfasts under 12 section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 13 (42 U.S.C. 1773); and 14 (B) includes late fees associated with the 15 outstanding fees described in subparagraph (A). 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:30 Apr 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6430.IH H6430 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS