American Food for American Schools Act of 2021
Latest action · Jan 25, 2021 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJan 25, 2021
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
American Food for American Schools Act of 2021
This bill requires school food authorities (SFAs) to request a waiver from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to purchase foreign commodities or products for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). SFAs may purchase foreign commodities or products without a waiver if the commodities or products are not produced or available domestically.
Under current law, Buy American provisions require SFAs to purchase, to the maximum extent practicable, domestic commodities or products for the NSLP. There are limited exceptions which permit the purchase of foreign products in circumstances when using domestic products is truly not practicable. If an SFA uses an exception, there is no requirement to request a waiver to purchase a foreign product or commodity, but the SFA must keep documentation justifying the exception.
USDA may not provide a waiver for an SFA to purchase foreign commodities or products unless (1) the commodities or products are not produced domestically in sufficient amounts or of satisfactory quality, (2) the domestic commodities or products would be significantly higher in price than foreign commodities or products, and (3) the SFA agrees to make the waiver publicly available on its website and email a notification of the waiver to parents or guardians of students who will be served the foreign commodity or product purchased pursuant to the waiver.
Cosponsors 26
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jan 25, 2021 to Mar 9, 2022; 7 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-WA | Derek Kilmer | Original | Jan 25, 2021 |
| R-AK | Don Young | Original | Jan 25, 2021 |
| R-CA | Doug LaMalfa | Original | Jan 25, 2021 |
| R-NE | Jeff Fortenberry | Original | Jan 25, 2021 |
| D-OH | Marcy Kaptur | Original | Jan 25, 2021 |
| D-CA | Salud O. Carbajal | Original | Jan 25, 2021 |
| D-OH | Tim Ryan | Original | Jan 25, 2021 |
| R-CA | David G. Valadao | Jan 28, 2021 | |
| D-CA | Jim Costa | Jan 28, 2021 | |
| D-TX | Sheila Jackson Lee | Feb 2, 2021 | |
| D-HI | Ed Case | Feb 4, 2021 | |
| D-GU | Michael F. Q. San Nicolas | Feb 4, 2021 | |
| D-NY | Brian Higgins | Feb 18, 2021 | |
| D-CA | Josh Harder | Feb 18, 2021 | |
| D-WA | Suzan K. DelBene | Feb 18, 2021 | |
| R-FL | Kat Cammack | Mar 1, 2021 | |
| D-TN | Steve Cohen | Mar 18, 2021 | |
| D-ME | Chellie Pingree | May 7, 2021 | |
| D-HI | Kaiali'i Kahele | Sep 21, 2021 | |
| D-CA | Raul Ruiz | Sep 28, 2021 | |
| D-CA | Jimmy Panetta | Dec 9, 2021 | |
| R-PA | Brian K. Fitzpatrick | Feb 9, 2022 | |
| D-NY | Antonio Delgado | Feb 25, 2022 | |
| D-WA | Kim Schrier | Feb 25, 2022 | |
| D-FL | Darren Soto | Mar 1, 2022 | |
| R-WA | Jaime Herrera Beutler | Mar 9, 2022 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Jan 25, 2021 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jan 25, 2021Introduced in House
- Jan 25, 2021Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E67)
- Jan 25, 2021Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extensions | Debate and remarks E67 | John Garamendi D-CA | Jan 25, 2021 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 167, no. 14, January 25, 2021, page H233.
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require a school food authority to make publicly available any waiver of the Buy American requirement, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- American Food for American Schools Act of 2021
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Agriculture and Food.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 25, 2021Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
