Bill Text: TX HB3589 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the transfer of the administration of school nutrition programs from the Texas Department of Agriculture to the Texas Education Agency.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-16 - Referred to State Affairs [HB3589 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB3589-Introduced.html
88R11036 AMF-D | ||
By: King of Hemphill | H.B. No. 3589 |
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relating to the transfer of the administration of school nutrition | ||
programs from the Texas Department of Agriculture to the Texas | ||
Education Agency. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 12.0025, Agriculture Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 12.0025. NUTRITION PROGRAMS. The department shall | ||
administer the following federal and state nutrition programs: | ||
(1) the commodity supplemental food program under 7 | ||
U.S.C. Section 612c; | ||
(2) the food distribution program under 7 U.S.C. | ||
Section 612c; | ||
(3) the emergency food assistance program under 7 | ||
U.S.C. Section 7501 et seq.; and | ||
(4) [ |
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U.S.C. Section 1766[ |
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SECTION 2. Chapter 38, Education Code, is amended by adding | ||
Subchapter H to read as follows: | ||
SUBCHAPTER H. SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMS | ||
Sec. 38.401. SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMS. The agency shall | ||
administer the following nutrition programs: | ||
(1) the school lunch program under 42 U.S.C. Section | ||
1751 et seq.; | ||
(2) the summer food service program under 42 U.S.C. | ||
Section 1761; | ||
(3) the special milk program under 42 U.S.C. Section | ||
1772; and | ||
(4) the school breakfast program under 42 U.S.C. | ||
Section 1773. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 12.0026, Agriculture Code, is | ||
transferred to Subchapter H, Chapter 38, Education Code, as added | ||
by this Act, redesignated as Section 38.402, Education Code, and | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 38.402 [ |
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COORDINATION TASK FORCE. (a) To promote a healthy diet for | ||
schoolchildren and the business of small to mid-sized local farms | ||
and ranches, the interagency farm-to-school coordination task | ||
force shall develop and implement a plan to facilitate the | ||
availability of locally grown food products in public schools. | ||
(b) The task force is composed of: | ||
(1) a representative of: | ||
(A) the agency [ |
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commissioner; | ||
(B) the Texas Department of Agriculture [ |
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(C) the Department of State Health Services, | ||
appointed by the commissioner of state health services; and | ||
(2) at least one representative of each of the | ||
following groups, appointed by the commissioner: | ||
(A) fruit and vegetable producer organizations; | ||
(B) school food service organizations; | ||
(C) food distribution businesses; | ||
(D) child nutrition and advocacy organizations; | ||
(E) parent organizations; | ||
(F) educational institutions that conduct | ||
research in the areas of agriculture and nutrition; and | ||
(G) health nutrition educators who serve school | ||
districts. | ||
(c) A member of the task force serves at the will of the | ||
official who appointed the member. | ||
(d) The representative of the agency [ |
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presiding officer. The task force may elect other necessary | ||
officers from its members. | ||
(e) The task force shall meet at the call of the presiding | ||
officer. | ||
(f) The agency whose commissioner appoints a member is | ||
responsible for the expenses of a member's service on the task | ||
force. A member of the task force is not entitled to additional | ||
compensation for serving on the task force. | ||
(g) Each appropriate agency or group represented on the task | ||
force shall provide the personnel and resources necessary to | ||
implement a task force measure under this section. | ||
(h) The task force shall: | ||
(1) design new education resources, or review or | ||
update existing resources, on nutrition and food education that may | ||
be used by schools and school districts; | ||
(2) expand food-focused experiential education | ||
programs; | ||
(3) offer assistance in identifying funding sources | ||
and grants that allow schools and school districts to recover the | ||
costs associated with purchasing locally grown food products; | ||
(4) develop a database of available locally grown food | ||
products for use by school food service agencies that includes | ||
contact and purchasing information for the products; | ||
(5) identify, design, or make available training | ||
programs to enable local farmers and ranchers to market their | ||
products to schools and school districts, including programs | ||
related to: | ||
(A) crop production; | ||
(B) marketing of crops; | ||
(C) postharvest handling of crops; | ||
(D) food safety; | ||
(E) business management; | ||
(F) liability and risk management; and | ||
(G) other topics deemed appropriate by the task | ||
force; | ||
(6) advise schools and school districts on methods by | ||
which a school or school district may improve its facilities to | ||
allow for the use of minimally processed, fresh, and locally | ||
produced foods in school meals; | ||
(7) provide technical assistance to school food | ||
service agencies to establish procedures, recipes, menu rotations, | ||
and other internal processes that accommodate the use of locally | ||
grown foods in public schools; | ||
(8) offer advanced skills development training to | ||
school food service employees regarding the proper methods of | ||
handling, preparing, and serving locally grown foods; and | ||
(9) conduct any other activity considered by the task | ||
force as necessary to achieve its goals under this section. | ||
(i) The task force may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and | ||
donations from public and private entities to use for the purposes | ||
of this section. | ||
(j) The task force may use any existing program or procedure | ||
that it determines to be useful in performing its duties under this | ||
section. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 12.041, Agriculture Code, is transferred | ||
to Subchapter H, Chapter 38, Education Code, as added by this Act, | ||
redesignated as Section 38.403, Education Code, and amended to read | ||
as follows: | ||
Sec. 38.403 [ |
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(a) The agency [ |
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shall ensure that applicable information maintained by each entity | ||
is used on at least a quarterly basis to identify children who are | ||
categorically eligible for free meals under the national free or | ||
reduced-price breakfast and lunch program. In complying with this | ||
subsection, the agency, department, [ |
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use information that corresponds to the months of the year in which | ||
enrollment in the food stamp program is customarily higher than | ||
average. | ||
(b) The agency [ |
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of establishing a process under which school districts verify | ||
student eligibility for the national free or reduced-price | ||
breakfast and lunch program through a direct verification process | ||
that uses information maintained under the food stamp and Medicaid | ||
programs, as authorized by 42 U.S.C. Section 1758(b)(3), [ |
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Sections 245.6a(a)(1) and (3) and 245.6a(b)(3). If the agency | ||
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feasible, the agency [ |
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SECTION 5. Section 12.0029, Agriculture Code, is | ||
transferred to Subchapter H, Chapter 38, Education Code, as added | ||
by this Act, redesignated as Section 38.404, Education Code, and | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 38.404 [ |
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this section: | ||
(1) "Field office" means a field office of a nutrition | ||
program administered by the agency [ |
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(2) "Summer nutrition program" means the summer food | ||
service program under 42 U.S.C. Section 1761. The term includes the | ||
seamless summer option under 42 U.S.C. Section 1761(a)(8). | ||
(b) Unless the agency [ |
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a waiver under Subsection (f), a district in which 50 percent or | ||
more of the students are eligible to participate in the national | ||
free or reduced-price lunch program under 42 U.S.C. Section 1751 et | ||
seq. shall provide or arrange for the provision of a summer | ||
nutrition program for at least 30 days during the period in which | ||
district schools are recessed for the summer. | ||
(c) Not later than October 31 of each year, the agency | ||
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Subsection (b) of the district's responsibility concerning | ||
provision of a summer nutrition program during the next period in | ||
which school is recessed for the summer. | ||
(d) Not later than November 30 of each year, the board of | ||
trustees of a school district that intends to request a waiver under | ||
Subsection (e)(2) must send written notice of the district's | ||
intention to the district's local school health advisory council. | ||
The notice must include an explanation of the district's reason for | ||
requesting a waiver of the requirement. | ||
(e) Each school district that receives a notice under | ||
Subsection (c) shall, not later than January 31 of the year | ||
following the year in which the notice was received: | ||
(1) inform the agency [ |
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district intends to provide or arrange for the provision of a summer | ||
nutrition program during the next period in which district schools | ||
are recessed for the summer; or | ||
(2) request in writing that the agency [ |
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grant the district a waiver of the requirement to provide or arrange | ||
for the provision of a summer nutrition program. | ||
(f) The agency [ |
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waiver of the requirement to provide or arrange for the provision of | ||
a summer nutrition program only if: | ||
(1) the district: | ||
(A) provides documentation, verified by the | ||
agency [ |
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(i) there are fewer than 100 children in the | ||
district currently eligible for the national free or reduced-price | ||
lunch program; | ||
(ii) transportation to enable district | ||
students to participate in the program is an insurmountable | ||
obstacle to the district's ability to provide or arrange for the | ||
provision of the program despite consultation by the district with | ||
public transit providers; | ||
(iii) the district is unable to provide or | ||
arrange for the provision of a program due to renovation or | ||
construction of district facilities and the unavailability of an | ||
appropriate alternate provider or site; or | ||
(iv) the district is unable to provide or | ||
arrange for the provision of a program due to another specified | ||
extenuating circumstance and the unavailability of an appropriate | ||
alternate provider or site; and | ||
(B) has worked with the field offices to identify | ||
another possible provider for the program in the district; or | ||
(2) the cost to the district to provide or arrange for | ||
provision of a program would be cost-prohibitive, as determined by | ||
the agency [ |
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established under Subsection (g). | ||
(g) The agency [ |
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criteria and a methodology for determining whether the cost to a | ||
school district to provide or arrange for provision of a summer | ||
nutrition program would be cost-prohibitive for purposes of | ||
granting a waiver under Subsection (f)(2). | ||
(h) A waiver granted under Subsection (f) is for a one-year | ||
period. | ||
(i) If a school district has requested a waiver under | ||
Subsection (e)(2) and has been unable to provide to the agency | ||
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program, the field offices shall continue to attempt to identify an | ||
alternate provider for the district's summer nutrition program. | ||
(j) Not later than December 31 of each even-numbered year, | ||
the agency [ |
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a report that, for each year of the biennium: | ||
(1) states the name of each school district that | ||
receives a notice under Subsection (c) and indicates whether the | ||
district: | ||
(A) has provided or arranged for the provision of | ||
a summer nutrition program; or | ||
(B) has not provided or arranged for the | ||
provision of a program and did not receive a waiver; | ||
(2) identifies the funds, other than federal funds, | ||
used by school districts and the state in complying with this | ||
section; and | ||
(3) identifies the total amount of any profit made or | ||
loss incurred through summer nutrition programs under this section. | ||
(k) The agency [ |
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agency's [ |
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required by Subsection (j). | ||
SECTION 6. Section 12.0028, Agriculture Code, is | ||
transferred to Subchapter H, Chapter 38, Education Code, as added | ||
by this Act, redesignated as Section 38.405, Education Code, and | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 38.405 [ |
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SCHOOL DISTRICTS FOR SALE OF FOODS OF MINIMAL NUTRITIONAL VALUE. | ||
(a) The commissioner shall adopt rules determining the minimal | ||
nutritional value of meals under this section [ |
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(b) The agency [ |
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district a sanction, including disallowing meal reimbursement, | ||
based on the sale to students at a high school of food of minimal | ||
nutritional value, if the sale is approved in advance by the school | ||
and is made: | ||
(1) outside of a school area designated for food | ||
service or food consumption or during a period other than a school | ||
meal service period; and | ||
(2) for the purpose of raising money for a student | ||
organization or activity sponsored or sanctioned by the school or | ||
the school district in which the school is located. | ||
SECTION 7. The change in law made by Section 38.402, | ||
Education Code, as transferred, redesignated, and amended by this | ||
Act, applies only to a member of the Interagency Farm-to-Market | ||
Coordination Task Force appointed on or after the effective date of | ||
this Act. | ||
SECTION 8. All records, contracts, assets, personal | ||
property, and personnel of the Department of Agriculture associated | ||
with or engaged in the administration of a nutrition program | ||
transferred to the Texas Education Agency by this Act are | ||
transferred to the Texas Education Agency on the effective date of | ||
this Act. | ||
SECTION 9. A rule or form adopted by the Department of | ||
Agriculture for the administration of a nutrition program | ||
transferred by this Act is a rule or form of the Texas Education | ||
Agency until changed by the Texas Education Agency. | ||
SECTION 10. (a) The unobligated and unexpended balance of | ||
any appropriations made to the Department of Agriculture in | ||
connection with or relating to a nutrition program transferred | ||
under this Act, for the state fiscal biennium ending August 31, | ||
2025, is transferred to the Texas Education Agency for the purpose | ||
of implementing the powers, duties, and obligations transferred to | ||
that agency under this Act. | ||
(b) The Department of Agriculture shall continue, as | ||
necessary, to perform the duties and functions being transferred to | ||
the Texas Education Agency until the transfer of department duties | ||
and functions is complete. | ||
SECTION 11. If, before implementing any provision of this | ||
Act, an agency of this state determines that a waiver or | ||
authorization from a federal agency is necessary for implementation | ||
of that provision, the agency affected by the provision shall | ||
request the waiver or authorization and may delay the | ||
implementation of that provision until the waiver or authorization | ||
is granted. | ||
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |