House File 2116 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2116 BY ISENHART A BILL FOR An Act establishing a reduced-fee lunch assistance fund to 1 provide moneys to educational facilities to further reduce 2 the cost of reduced-fee lunches for eligible children and 3 making appropriations. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 5797YH (4) 88 md/jh

H.F. 2116 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 283A.6 Reduced-fee lunches —— state 1 assistance. 2 1. a. A reduced-fee lunch assistance fund is created in 3 the state treasury under the authority of the department of 4 education. For each fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 5 2020, there is appropriated from the general fund of the state 6 to the department of education an amount necessary, but not to 7 exceed one million five hundred thousand dollars, to fund the 8 payment of all reduced-fee lunch assistance payments under this 9 section for the fiscal year. 10 b. Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection 2, interest or 11 earnings on moneys deposited in the fund shall be credited to 12 the fund. Moneys in the fund are not subject to the provisions 13 of section 8.33 and shall not be transferred, used, obligated, 14 appropriated, or otherwise encumbered except as provided in 15 this section. 16 2. In order to provide educational facilities with funding 17 to provide additional assistance to children in kindergarten 18 through grade five who are eligible for reduced-fee meals under 19 the federal National School Lunch Act of 1966, 42 U.S.C. §1751 20 et seq., and the federal Child Nutrition Act of 1966, 42 U.S.C. 21 §1771 et seq., the department of education shall annually 22 calculate and pay to each educational facility a reduced-fee 23 lunch assistance payment. Each reduced-fee lunch assistance 24 payment shall be the proportionate share of the balance of the 25 reduced-fee lunch assistance fund following deposit of the 26 appropriation for the fiscal year under subsection 1 that is 27 equal to the proportion of the educational facility’s share of 28 the statewide number of children in kindergarten through grade 29 five who are eligible for reduced-fee meals under the federal 30 National School Lunch Act of 1966, 42 U.S.C. §1751 et seq., 31 and the federal Child Nutrition Act of 1966, 42 U.S.C. §1771 32 et seq. 33 3. Each educational facility shall use funds received under 34 this section for the purpose of further reducing the cost of 35 -1- LSB 5797YH (4) 88 md/jh 1/ 3

H.F. 2116 lunches purchased by children in kindergarten through grade 1 five who are eligible for reduced-fee meals under the federal 2 National School Lunch Act of 1966, 42 U.S.C. §1751 et seq., 3 and the federal Child Nutrition Act of 1966, 42 U.S.C. §1771 4 et seq. If the amount received by the educational facility 5 exceeds the amount necessary to provide free lunches to all 6 children in kindergarten through grade five who are eligible 7 for reduced-fee meals, the excess amount shall be used to 8 reduce the cost of lunches purchased by children in grades six 9 through twelve who are eligible for reduced-fee meals. 10 4. For purposes of this section, “educational facility” 11 means a school district, nonpublic school, or children’s 12 residential facility, as defined in section 237C.1. 13 Sec. 2. Section 298A.11, Code 2020, is amended to read as 14 follows: 15 298A.11 School nutrition fund. 16 1. A school nutrition fund is an enterprise fund. A school 17 nutrition fund must be established in any school corporation 18 receiving moneys from the school meal program authorized under 19 chapter 283A . 20 2. Moneys received by the school district under section 21 283A.6 shall be deposited in a reduced-fee lunch assistance 22 account within the school nutrition fund to be used by the 23 school district only for the purposes authorized under section 24 283A.6, subsection 3. Amounts received under section 283A.6 25 shall be considered miscellaneous income for purposes of 26 chapter 257. A school district may also deposit available 27 moneys from the school district’s general fund into the 28 reduced-fee lunch assistance account to be used for the 29 purposes of section 283A.6, subsection 3. 30 EXPLANATION 31 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 32 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 33 This bill establishes a reduced-fee lunch assistance fund 34 under the authority of the department of education for the 35 -2- LSB 5797YH (4) 88 md/jh 2/ 3

H.F. 2116 purpose of providing educational facilities with funding to 1 provide additional assistance to children in kindergarten 2 through grade five who are eligible for reduced-fee meals under 3 federal law. The bill defines “educational facility” to mean a 4 school district, nonpublic school, or children’s residential 5 facility, as defined in Code section 237C.1. 6 For each fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 2020, 7 the bill appropriates from the general fund of the state to 8 the reduced-fee lunch assistance fund an amount necessary to 9 fund reduced-fee lunch assistance payments under the program, 10 but not to exceed $1.5 million. Each reduced-fee lunch 11 assistance payment shall be the proportionate share of the 12 balance of the reduced-fee lunch assistance fund that is equal 13 to the proportion of the educational facility’s share of the 14 statewide number of children in kindergarten through grade 15 five who are eligible for reduced-fee meals under federal law. 16 Amounts received by each educational facility shall be used 17 to further reduce the cost of lunches purchased by children 18 in kindergarten through grade five who are eligible for 19 reduced-fee meals. If the amount received by the educational 20 facility exceeds the amount necessary to provide free lunches 21 to all eligible children in kindergarten through grade five, 22 the excess amount shall be used to reduce the cost of lunches 23 purchased by eligible children in grades 6 through 12. 24 The bill also authorizes a school district to deposit 25 available moneys from the school district’s general fund into 26 the reduced-fee lunch assistance account created in the school 27 nutrition fund to be used for the purposes established in the 28 bill. 29 -3- LSB 5797YH (4) 88 md/jh 3/ 3