HouseH.R. 9474119th Congress
Local Foods for Healthy Schools Act of 2026
Full Text
Official text as published. Use Ctrl+F / Cmd+F to search within the document.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9474 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9474
To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to direct the Secretary
of Agriculture to establish the Local Foods for Healthy Schools
Program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 25, 2026
Ms. McDonald Rivet (for herself and Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to direct the Secretary
of Agriculture to establish the Local Foods for Healthy Schools
Program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Local Foods for Healthy Schools Act
of 2026''.
SEC. 2. LOCAL FOODS FOR HEALTHY SCHOOLS PROGRAM.
Subtitle A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 210B. LOCAL FOODS FOR HEALTHY SCHOOLS PROGRAM.
``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a program, to
be known as the `Local Foods for Healthy Schools Program', (in this
section referred to as the `Program') under which the Secretary shall
enter into noncompetitive cooperative agreements with eligible units of
government for the purpose of--
``(1) purchasing local foods from covered producers; and
``(2) facilitating the distribution of such foods to
schools operating in the geographic boundaries of each such
eligible unit of government.
``(b) Use of Funds.--Under a cooperative agreement entered into
under this section, an eligible unit of government shall--
``(1) with respect to the use of any funds received under
the Program--
``(A) purchase only local foods from a covered
producer and distribute such food to any school food
authority that is interested in receiving such food; or
``(B) disburse such funds to any such school food
authority to purchase only local foods from a covered
producer; and
``(2) reserve not more than 5 percent of any funds received
under the Program to--
``(A) provide training and technical assistance to
persons involved in carrying out the activities
described under this section;
``(B) with respect to purchasing local foods from a
covered producer, pay the cost such producer incurs in
obtaining any required food safety certification;
``(C) conduct oversight and reporting in the State
of such eligible unit of government; and
``(D) administer the activities described under
this section.
``(c) Application.--An eligible unit of government seeking to enter
into a cooperative agreement under the Program shall submit to the
Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and containing
such information as the Secretary may require, including--
``(1) a plan that--
``(A) identifies the lead agency responsible for
carrying out such plan;
``(B) identifies any community partner, including
an aggregator, that will contribute to implementation
of such plan;
``(C) describes the proposed use of any funds
received under the Program; and
``(D) demonstrates that, to the extent possible
based on availability and local conditions, a wide
variety of local foods will be purchased and
distributed using funds received under the Program; and
``(2) an assurance that--
``(A) the funds received under this section will
supplement, and not supplant, funds provided by the
State in support of providing local foods to school
food authorities or for school meals; and
``(B) the eligible unit of government has
sufficient mechanisms in place to ensure the efficient
and reliable transfer of funds received under the
Program, or distribution of food, to school food
authorities, schools, covered producers, and community
partners in accordance with the plan required under
paragraph (1).
``(d) Coordination.--In carrying out any requirements of the
Program, an eligible unit of government shall coordinate with any other
applicable eligible unit of government in the State in which such unit
of government operates.
``(e) Noncompetitive Allocation.--
``(1) Allocation formula.--Of the amounts available to
carry out the Program for each fiscal year, the Secretary shall
develop an allocation formula that provides--
``(A) a State-based allocation that is equal for
each State;
``(B) that any funds remaining after the allocation
under subparagraph (A) are distributed such that the
amount a State receives under this subparagraph bears
the same proportion to such remaining funds as the
number of students receiving meals under the programs
described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection
(h)(4) in that State bears to the number of such
students in all States; and
``(C) in the case of funds allocated to an eligible
unit of government that are not obligated by the end of
the applicable performance period, for the rescission
and reallocation, in the manner described in
subparagraph (B), of such funds for purposes of
carrying out the Program.
``(2) Limitation.--In developing the allocation formula
under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall allot not more than 30
percent of the total funds available to carry out this section
under subsection (g) to the State-based allocation under
paragraph (1)(A).
``(3) Reallocation.--From any funds that an eligible unit
of government has not obligated by the end of the performance
period for the cooperative agreement of such eligible unit of
government, the Secretary may reallocate, in the manner
described in paragraph (1)(B), such funds to 1 or more States
in which an eligible unit of government has entered into a
cooperative agreement with the Secretary, if such eligible unit
of government in such a State has the capacity to expend
additional funds.
``(f) Reports.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date on
which the Secretary requires any funds received under the
Program to be expended, each eligible unit of government that
enters into a cooperative agreement under the Program shall
submit to the Secretary a report containing data relating to
the purchase and distribution of local foods described under
subsection (b)(1), including the amount of any funds expended,
the name of the covered producer receiving any such funds, and
the local foods purchased from such producer.
``(2) Determination by secretary.--In establishing any
additional requirement related to the submission of a report
under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall minimize any
administrative burden on eligible units of government, school
food authorities, schools, and community partners involved in
carrying out the activities described under this section.
``(3) Publication.--An eligible unit of government that
submits a report under paragraph (1) shall make such report
available to the public on the website of the State educational
agency (as defined in section 8101 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)) of the
applicable State at the time of such submission.
``(g) Funding.--
``(1) Mandatory funding.--For fiscal year 2026, and each
fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary shall use $200,000,000 of
the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out this
section.
``(2) Authorization of appropriations.--In addition to
other funds and authorities available to the Secretary, there
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$200,000,000 for fiscal year 2026, and each fiscal year
thereafter, to remain available until expended.
``(3) Administration.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, the Secretary may reserve not more than 0.50 percent of
the total amount of funds made available under this subsection
each fiscal year to support Federal administrative activities
to carry out this section.
``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Covered producer.--The term `covered producer' means
a farmer, producer, rancher, processor, distributor, or other
such business involved in food production or distribution
that--
``(A) is in the geographic boundaries of a State in
which an eligible unit of government has entered into a
cooperative agreement with the Secretary under this
section;
``(B) is in a 400-mile radius of the location of
the school food authority receiving a distribution
under the Program; or
``(C) meets such other requirement proposed by such
eligible unit of government and approved by the
Secretary.
``(2) Eligible unit of government.--The term `eligible unit
of government' means an agency, commission, or department of a
State responsible for agriculture, child nutrition,
procurement, food distribution, or such other similar
activities, as determined appropriate by the Secretary, in such
State.
``(3) Local foods.--The term `local foods' means
agricultural products that--
``(A) are minimally processed, including products
that are whole, cut, pureed, fresh, frozen, canned, or
dried; and
``(B) are produced and distributed--
``(i) in the same State;
``(ii) in a 400-mile radius of the school
food authority receiving or purchasing such
products under the Program; or
``(iii) in a manner that meets any such
other requirement proposed by such eligible
unit of government and approved by the
Secretary.
``(4) School.--The term `school' means a school (as defined
in section 12(d) of the Richard B. Russell National School
Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(d))) that participates in--
``(A) the school lunch program established under
the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42
U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); or
``(B) the school breakfast program established
under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42
U.S.C. 1773).
``(5) School food authority.--The term `school food
authority' means the governing body that--
``(A) is responsible for the administration of a
program described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of
paragraph (4) in one or more schools; and
``(B) has legal authority to receive from an
eligible unit of government a distribution of local
foods or disbursement of funds under the Program.
``(6) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of Agriculture.
``(7) State.--The term `State' means any of the fifty
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.''.
<all>