School nutrition: guardian meal reimbursement.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on how the program will be run, leaving some aspects open to interpretation.

School Nutrition: Guardian Meal Reimbursement

The bill requires the State Department of Education to establish a process for reimbursing summer meal program operators who serve meals to guardians of eligible pupils during summer breaks, contingent on funding and federal approval.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the State Department of Education to set up a system to pay back summer meal programs that give free meals to guardians of children during summer break.
• Adjusts the reimbursement amount each year based on inflation to keep up with rising costs.
• Distributes information about federal food assistance programs for eligible pupils' guardians during summer breaks.
• Requires guardians to be present at meal sites unless special rules apply, and operators must report how many meals they give out.

Who It Names or Affects

• Summer meal program operators
• Guardians of eligible pupils

Terms To Know

Reimbursement

Money given back to a person or organization for expenses they have paid.

Inflation

An increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money over time.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill needs funding from the state budget to work.
• It depends on federal approval for certain parts, like getting extra reimbursement funds.
• Details about how the program will be run are not fully explained in this summary.

Official Summary Text

SB 225, as amended, McNerney.
Personal income taxes.
School nutrition: guardian meal reimbursement.
Existing law requires each school district, county superintendent of schools, and charter school to make available a nutritionally adequate breakfast, as defined, and a nutritionally adequate lunch, as defined, free of charge during each schoolday to any pupil who requests a meal, without consideration of the pupil’s eligibility for a federally funded free or reduced-price meal, as provided. Existing law defines “schoolday” for these purposes to mean any day that pupils in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, are present at a schoolsite for purposes of instruction or educational activities, including, among other things, pupil attendance at summer school, including incoming kindergarten pupils, as provided.
This bill would, contingent upon an appropriation
for its purposes and to the extent authorized by federal law, require the State Department of Education to establish a process for state reimbursement, adjusted annually for inflation, for federal summer meal program operators, as defined, for meals served to guardians of eligible pupils receiving a meal pursuant to a summer meal program, as provided. The bill would require the department to develop related guidance, as specified, and, if necessary, to apply for a waiver of federal law to secure federal reimbursement for these meals. The bill would require the department to distribute information about the federal Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children Program to guardians whose children are eligible for specified summer food programs. The bill would require a guardian of an eligible pupil to be present at the summer meal program site in order for the summer meal program operator to receive state-funded reimbursement for that meal, unless noncongregate rules are in place. The bill would require
summer meal program operators receiving state-funded reimbursement to report to the department the number of meals served to guardians by meal site no later than 30 days after the end of summer meal site operations.
The Personal Income Tax Law imposes taxes on income and provides definitions of specified terms for purposes of that law, including a definition for “taxable year.”
This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to that provision.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF