SB 499-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2024 SESSION

24-2907

05/10

SENATE BILL 499-FN

AN ACT relative to reduction of hunger for children, older adults, and people with disabilities.

SPONSORS: Sen. Whitley, Dist 15; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Sen. Ricciardi, Dist 9; Sen. Fenton, Dist 10; Sen. Rosenwald, Dist 13; Sen. Prentiss, Dist 5; Sen. Soucy, Dist 18; Sen. Perkins Kwoka, Dist 21; Sen. Altschiller, Dist 24; Sen. Carson, Dist 14; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Chandley, Dist 11; Rep. Bordes, Belk. 5; Rep. Brennan, Merr. 9; Rep. McMahon, Rock. 17; Rep. Simpson, Rock. 33; Rep. Wolf, Merr. 7

COMMITTEE: Health and Human Services

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ANALYSIS

This bill directs the department of education to expand options for free and reduced priced meals to students and directs the department of health and human services to implement a summer EBT program to provide assistance to families with children eligible for free and reduced price meals over the summer.  The bill also directs the department of health and human services to participate in the elderly simplified application project within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to provide food assistance to eligible older adults and people with disabilities.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

24-2907

05/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four

AN ACT relative to reduction of hunger for children, older adults, and people with disabilities.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1  Schools; Food and Nutrition Programs.  Amend RSA 189:11-a, I to read as follows:

I.(a)  Each school board shall make [at least one meal] breakfast and lunch available during school hours to every pupil under its jurisdiction. Such meals shall be served without cost or at a reduced cost to any child who meets federal income eligibility guidelines. The state board of education shall ensure compliance with this section and shall establish minimum nutritional standards for such meals as well as income guidelines set for the family size used in determining eligibility for free and reduced price meals. [Nothing in this section shall prohibit the operation of both a breakfast and lunch program in the same school.]

(b) The department of education shall reimburse school districts for the initial costs for equipment necessary to implement an alternative breakfast delivery service that provides breakfast after the start of the school day, such as, but not limited to carts, mobile refrigeration, and storage.

(c)  An "alternative breakfast delivery service" shall be defined as, but not limited to, a service that provides breakfast after the start of the school day and before any lunch period begins for students at that public school.

2  Schools; Food and Nutrition Programs.  Amend RSA 189:11-a, VII to read as follows:

VII.(a)  Each school district [which participates] shall participate in the National School Breakfast Program unless the school district implements its own breakfast program or if less than 10 percent of enrolled pupils are eligible for free or reduced price lunch in the last academic year, according to the department of education’s statistics, and each school district shall maintain annual statistics on the number of breakfast meals served to pupils.

(b)  Each school district that participates in the National School Lunch Program shall maintain annual statistics on the number of lunch meals served to pupils.

(c)  Such school which demonstrates to the department of education that an approved school wellness policy, as required under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, Public Law 111-296, and the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, 42 U.S.C. section 1758b is in effect, and that such school is providing breakfast meals to pupils that meet or exceed the United States Department of Agriculture's child nutrition criteria may apply for and receive a 3 cent reimbursement for each breakfast meal served to a pupil and an additional 27 cent reimbursement for each meal served to students eligible for a reduced price meal.  The department of education shall request biennial appropriations in an amount sufficient to meet projected school breakfast reimbursements to ensure students eligible for reduced price meals are offered breakfast at no cost.  The department of education shall prescribe forms as necessary under this paragraph.

(d)  Such school which demonstrates to the department of education that an approved school wellness policy, as required under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, Public Law 111-296, and the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, 42 U.S.C. section 1758b is in effect, and that such school is providing lunch meals to pupils that meet or exceed the United States Department of Agriculture's child nutrition criteria may apply for and receive a reimbursement for each lunch meal served to a pupil and an additional reimbursement for each meal served to students eligible for a reduced price meal.  The department of education shall request biennial appropriations in an amount sufficient to meet projected school lunch reimbursements to ensure students eligible for reduced price meals are offered lunch at no cost.  The department of education shall prescribe forms as necessary under this paragraph.

3  New Paragraphs; Schools; Food and Nutrition Programs.  Amend RSA 189:11-a by inserting after paragraph VIII the following new paragraphs:

IX.  By May 15th of each year, the department of education shall approve and announce to the public the summer meal sponsors and sites for the Summer Food Service Program, Seamless Summer Option, and extension of the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.

X.  The department of education shall adopt rules under RSA 541-A requiring school districts to offer online and physical free or reduced price school meals applications.  The rules shall not prevent school districts from offering other innovative ways to distribute or collect free or reduced price meal applications, in addition to offering online and physical free or reduced price school meals applications.

(a)  The department of education shall provide administrative or technical assistance to school districts establishing an online application for free or reduced price school meals and shall include in its biennial budget request under RSA 9:4, funding for costs associated with providing such assistance.

(b)  For the biennium ending June 30, 2027, and each biennium thereafter, the department of education shall include in its biennial budget request under RSA 9:4, funding for school districts to purchase software to create an online application for free or reduced price school meals.

XI.  Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, beginning with the 2024 - 2025 school year and each school year thereafter, for each breakfast and lunch meal that is served at a school participating in the federal community eligibility provision program that is reimbursed at the federal reimbursement rate for a paid meal, the department shall reimburse the school food authority the difference between (a) the combined state and federal reimbursement rate for a paid meal for the current school year and (b) the combined state and federal reimbursement rate for a free meal for the current school year, provided that the total reimbursement rate for each meal served shall equal the combined state and federal reimbursement rate for a free meal for the current school year.

4  New Paragraphs; Human Service; Summer EBT and Elderly Simplified Application.  Amend RSA 161:2 by inserting after paragraph XIII-b the following new paragraphs:

XIII-c.  Summer EBT.  The department shall apply for and meet all deadlines to participate in the federal Summer EBT program so that families whose children are eligible for free and reduced price meals can receive benefits on an EBT card in the summer.  The department shall include in its biennial budget request under RSA 9:4 funding for any administrative costs related to administering the federal Summer EBT program.

XIII-d.  Elderly Simplified Application.  The department shall apply for and participate in the elderly simplified application project within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.  The department shall include in its biennial budget request under RSA 9:4 funding for any administrative costs related to administering Summer EBT and the SNAP Elderly Simplified Application.

5  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.

LBA

24-2907

Revised 12/28/23

SB 499-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT relative to reduction of hunger for children, older adults, and people with disabilities.

FISCAL IMPACT:      [ X ] State              [    ] County               [ X ] Local              [    ] None

METHODOLOGY:

This bill directs the Department of Education to expand options for free and reduced price meals to students. In particular, the bill requires the following:

• All school nutrition and food service programs, regardless of participation in the National School Lunch (NSLP) or School Breakfast Programs (SBP), must provide breakfast and lunch during school to every pupil under its jurisdiction.
• Each school district must participate in the National School Breakfast Program (SBP) or implement their own breakfast program.
• Each school district must provide an alternative breakfast delivery service.
• All schools must offer online free and reduced priced meal applications and the Department of Education will be required to provide assistance in establishing the platform for these applications.
• The state will reimburse school districts for the student’s out-of-pocket cost of the reduced priced lunch meals.

The Department calculates the following costs with respect to the bill's provisions:

• Executing the new responsibilities will require three full-time Program Specialist IV (Grade 25 Step 5).  Total salary and benefits for all the combined positions are estimated at $351,000 (FY25), $345,000 (FY26), and $357,000 (FY27).
• To provide alternative breakfast delivery startup costs of equipment will be approximately $9,940,000 in FY25 only.
• To provide reduced priced lunch at no cost to the student will be $499,104 per year.
• To provide funding for the school districts to purchase software to offer an online application is indeterminable.
• To provide funding for each breakfast and lunch for a school participating in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program will cost the state $14,334,874 per year after federal reimbursement.

The Department states that the bill's impact on local expenditures is indeterminable.  Costs will be determined by each district's unique startup costs, labor start-up costs, labor costs, cost of meal pricing, projected participation, actual participation, and continuous ongoing costs for operation of the programs.  Anticipated and estimated start-up costs include the following:

• Start-up costs for schools to start a breakfast and or lunch program: equipment (building and location), labor (training and wages), and communication;
• Labor start-up costs will include cost to onboard, train, and manage labor;
• Labor costs will further include the cost to procure, plan, prepare, serve, and keep records of participation.

In addition to the impacts on the educational system, the bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to implement a summer electronic benefits transfer (EBT) program to provide assistance to families eligible for free and reduced price meals over the summer.  The bill also directs the Department of Health and Human Services to participate in the elderly simplified application project within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to provide food assistance to older adults and people with disabilities.  The Department expects there to be substantial startup costs for the systems changes necessary to implement a summer EBT program.  In particular, the Department estimates the following, all of which are expected to be paid for with 50 percent state general funds and 50 percent federal funds:

• $750,000 will be needed to make systems changes to the New HEIGHTS eligibility system.
• Changes will need to be made to the Random Moment Sampling (RMS) system used to allocate the percentage of employee effort identified to benefiting services, grants, programs or activities based on methodologies contained in the Department's federally approved Public Assistance Cost Allocation Plan (PACAP). The anticipated cost is approximately $15,000.
• The Department will need to amend its contract with the EBT vendor at a cost of approximately $20,000.
• There will be ongoing costs of implementing the program.  The Department will need to pay $6.84 per household per year to issue benefits through a new EBT card.  Assuming 26,000 households receive summer EBT benefits each year, this will be a cost of $177,840 per year in FY25.  The Department expects this cost to increase by 5 percent annually in subsequent years.
• Increased staffing will be needed to cover finance, quality assurance, eligibility, and customer service.  The Department expects to require two part-time positions and two  full-time positions. Combined, these positions (including salary, benefits, and miscellaneous expenses) will cost $273,000 in FY25, $267,000 in FY26, and $276,000 in FY27.

Finally, with respect to the elderly simplified application, the Department again expects it will need to make changes to the New HEIGHTS eligibility system, at a one-time cost of $75,000.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services