MAJORITY MEMBERS:

ROBERT C. SCOTT, VIRGINIA.

Chairman

SUSAN A. DAVIS. CALIFORNIA

RAUL M. GRIJALVA. ARIZONA

JOE COURTNEY. CONNECTICUT

MARCIA L. FUDGE. OHIO

GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN,
NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS

FREDERICA S. WILSON, FLORIDA

SUZANNE BONAMICI, OREGON

MARK TAKANO. CALIFORNIA

ALMA S. ADAMS. NORTH CAROLINA

MARK DESAULNIER, CALIFORNIA

DONALD NORCROSS, NEWI JERSEY

PRAM ILA JAYAPAL, WASHINGTON

JOSEPH D. MORELLE. NEW YORK

SUSAN WILD. 

JOSH HARDER, CALIFORNIA

LUCY MCBATH, GEORGIA

KIM SCHRIER, WASHINGTON

LAUREN UNDERWOOD, ILLINOIS

JAHANA HAYES, CONNECTICUT

DONNA E, SHALALA. FLORIDA

ANDY LEVIN, MICHIGAN

ILI-IAN OMAR, MINNESOTA

DAVID TRONE, MARYLAND

HALEY M. STEVENS. MICHIGAN

SUSIE LEE, NEVADA

LORI TRAHAN, MASSACHUSETTS

JOAQUIN CASTRO, TEXAS

 

COMMITTEE ON
EDUCATION AND LABOR

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2176 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING

WASHI NGTON, DC 20515-6100

July 26, 2019

The Honorable Sonny Perdue

Secretary

U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington DC 20250

Dear Secretary Perdue:

MINORITY MEMBERS:

VIRGINIA FOXK. NORTH CAROLINA.
Ranking Member

DAVID ROE. TENNESSEE

GLENN THOMPSON. 
TIM WALBERG, MICHIGAN

GUTHRIE, KENTUCKY
BRADLEY BYRNE, ALABAMA

GLENN GROTHMAN, WISCONSIN
ELISE M. STEFANIK, NEW YORK
RICK W.ALLEN, GEORGIA

LLOYD K. SMUCKER, 
JIM BANKS, INDIANA

MARK WALKER, NORTH CAROLINA
JAMES COMER. KENTUCKY

BEN CLINE, VIRGINIA

RUSS FULCHER, IDAHO

VAN TAYLOR, TEXAS

STEVEN C. WATKINS. .JR.. KANSAS
RON WRIGHT, TEXAS

DAN MEUSER. 
WILLIAM R. TIMMONS. IV. SOUTH CAROLINA
DUSTY JOHNSON. SOUTH DAKOTA
FRED KELLER. 

I am writing regarding the Department?s recently published proposed rule, Revision of
Categorical Eligibility in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). As you
know, the proposed rule will impact not only SNAP eligibility, but will also affect children?s
eligibility for school meal programs. Speci?cally, children who live in households that
participate in SNAP are directly certi?ed to receive free school meals. Additionally, SNAP
participation is used to determine eligibility for the Community Eligibility Provision, which

allows schools to provide free meals to all students in high?poverty communities.

In a phone briefing with House Committee on Education and Labor staff on July 22, 2019, your
staff stated that the Department?s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) estimates that the proposed
rule will result in more than 500,000 children losing their automatic eligibility for free school
meals. However, when the rule was published in the Federal Register, the Regulatory Impact
Analysis (RIA) did not include discussion of the rule?s impact on free school meal eligibility.

As you know, under section 1(b) of Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation and
Regulatory Review, the Department is required to provide ?for both proposed and ?nal rules,
timely online access to the rulemaking docket on regulations. gov, including relevant scienti?c
and technical findings.? The effect on school meal eligibility represents an important technical
finding that must be made public so that stakeholders have the opportunity to comment on all
aspects of the rule?s impact.

Therefore, I request that you provide the following information to the Committee:

The Honorable Sonny Perdue
July 26, 2019
Page 2

0 Please con?rm that the information provided to the Committee regarding the number of
children who will lose automatic eligibility for free school meals is accurate; and

0 Please provide an explanation of why the impact on school meal eligibility was not
included in the RIA published in the Federal Register.

Additionally, I request that the Department take the following immediate actions:

- Revise the proposed rule?s RIA published in the Federal Register to include any impact
on school meal eligibility, including the number of children who will lose automatic
eligibility for free school meals under the rule and how the Department calculated this

number; and
I Once the revision of the RIA is published in the Federal Register, restart the 60-day

comment period.

Thank you for your attention to this critical matter.

Sincerely,

 

ROBERT C. SCOTT
Chairman