SPECIAL ASSISTANCE.

SEC. 103. SPECIAL ASSISTANCE. (a) School Eligibility Requirements for Payments.— Section 11(a)(1) of the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(a)(1)) is amended— (1) in subparagraph (C)— (A) in clause (i)(I), by striking “3 successive school years” each place it appears and inserting “4 successive school years”; and (B) in clauses (ii) and (iii), by striking “3-school-year period” each place it appears and inserting “4-school-year period”; (2) in subparagraph (D)— (A) in clause (i)— (i) by striking “3-school-year period” each place it appears and inserting “4-school-year period”; and (ii) by striking “2 school years” and inserting “4 school years”; (B) in clause (ii)— (i) by striking the first sentence; (ii) by striking “The school” and inserting “A school described in clause (i)”; and (iii) by striking “5-school-year period” each place it appears and inserting “4-school-year period”; and (C) in clause (iii), by striking “5-school-year period” and inserting “4-school-year period”; and (3) in subparagraph (E), by striking clause (iii). (b) Adjustments to Payment Rates.— (1) In general.— Section 11(a)(3)(B) of the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(a)(3)(B)) is amended— (A) by striking “(B) The annual” and inserting the following: “(B) Computation of adjustment.— “(i) In general.— The annual”; (B) by striking “Each annual” and inserting the following: “(ii) Basis.— Each annual”; (C) by striking “The adjustments” and inserting the following: “(iii) Rounding.— 112 STAT. 3146 “(I) Through june 30, 1999.— For the period ending June 30, 1999, the adjustments”; and (D) by adding at the end the following: “(II) July 1, 1999, and thereafter.— On July 1, 1999, and on each subsequent July 1, the national average payment rates for meals and supplements shall be adjusted to the nearest lower cent increment and shall be based on the unrounded amounts for the preceding 12-month period.”. (2) Conforming amendments.— Section 4(b) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773(b)) is amended— (A) in the second sentence of paragraph (1)(B), by striking “adjusted to the nearest one-fourth cent,”; and (B) in paragraph (2)(B)(ii), by striking “, which shall be adjusted” and all that follows and inserting “(as adjusted pursuant to section 11(a)(3)(B) of the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C 1759a(a)(3)(B))).”. (c) Information and Assistance Concerning Reimbursement Options.— (1) In general.— Section 11 of the National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a) is amended by adding at the end the following: “(f) Information and Assistance Concerning Reimbursement Options.— “(1) In general.— From funds made available under paragraph (3), the Secretary shall provide grants to not more than 10 State agencies in each of fiscal years 2000 and 2001 to enable the agencies, in accordance with criteria established by the Secretary, to— “(A) identify separately in a list— “(i) schools that are most likely to benefit from electing to receive special assistance under subparagraph (C) or (E) of subsection (a)(1); and “(ii) schools that may benefit from electing to receive special assistance under subparagraph (C) or (E) of subsection (a)(1); “(B) make the list of schools identified under this subsection available to each school district within the State and to the public; “(C) provide technical assistance to schools, or school districts containing the schools, to enable the schools to evaluate and receive special assistance under subparagraph (C) or (E) of subsection (a)(1); “(D) take any other actions the Secretary determines are consistent with receiving special assistance under subparagraph (C) or (E) of subsection (a)(1) and receiving a grant under this subsection; and “(E) as soon as practicable after receipt of the grant, but not later than September 30, 2001, take the actions described in subparagraphs (A) through (D). “(2) Report.— “(A) In general.— Not later than January 1, 2002, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry of 112 STAT. 3147the Senate a report on the activities of the State agencies receiving grants under this subsection. “(B) Contents.— In the report, the Secretary shall specify— “(i) the number of schools identified as likely to benefit from electing to receive special assistance under subparagraph (C) or (E) of subsection (a)(1); “(ii) the number of schools identified under this subsection that have elected to receive special assistance under subparagraph (C) or (E) of subsection (a)(1); and “(iii) a description of how the funds and technical assistance made available under this subsection have been used. “(3) Funding.— Out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall provide to the Secretary $2,250,000 for each of fiscal years 2000 and 2001 to carry out this subsection. The Secretary shall be entitled to receive the funds and shall accept the funds, without further appropriation.”. (2) Technical amendments.— The National School Lunch Act is amended in the second sentence of each of sections 21(e)(2)(A) and 26(d) (42 U.S.C. 1769b–1(e)(2)(A), 1769g(d)) by inserting at the end before the period “, without further appropriation”.