Advisory committee on paperwork reduction

(a) Clerical amendments Section 17 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766) is amended— (1) in subsection (a)— (A) in paragraph (2)(F), by striking subsection (t) and inserting subsection (s); and (B) in paragraph (3), by striking subsection (r) and inserting subsection (q); (2) in subsection (c), by moving paragraphs (5) and (6) so as to appear in numerical order; (3) in subsection (t)(1), by striking Stewart B. McKinney and inserting McKinney-Vento; (4) by redesignating subsections (n), (q), (r), (s), (t), and (u) as subsections (u), (p), (q), (r), (s), and (t), respectively, and moving the subsections so as to appear in alphabetical order; and (5) in subsection (u) (as so redesignated), by striking the subsection designation and all that follows through hereby and inserting the following: (u) Authorization of appropriations There are. (b) Advisory committee Section 17 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766) (as amended by subsection (a)(4)) is amended by inserting after subsection (m) the following: (n) Advisory committee on paperwork reduction (1) Establishment Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement Act, the Secretary shall establish an advisory committee (referred to in this subsection as the Advisory Committee) to carry out the duties described in paragraph (2). (2) Duties The duties of the Advisory Committee shall be— (A) to examine the feasibility of reducing unnecessary or duplicative paperwork resulting from regulations and recordkeeping requirements, including paperwork resulting from additional State requirements, for entities participating, or seeking to participate, in the program under this section, including State agencies, family child care homes, child care centers, and sponsoring organizations; and (B) to provide to the Secretary recommendations to reduce the paperwork described in subparagraph (A) for participants in the program under this section, while ensuring that proper accountability and program integrity are maintained. (3) Membership The Advisory Committee shall be composed of not fewer than 14 members, of whom— (A) 1 shall be a representative of a public nonprofit center; (B) 1 shall be a representative of a private nonprofit center; (C) 1 shall be a representative of a family or group day care home; (D) 1 shall be a representative of a Head Start center; (E) 1 shall be a representative of a for-profit center; (F) 1 shall be a representative of an emergency shelter; (G) 1 shall be a representative of an adult day care center; (H) 1 shall be a representative of a State agency; (I) 1 shall be a representative of a sponsoring organization for the entities referred to in subparagraphs (A), (B), (D), (E), (F), and (G); (J) 1 shall be a representative of a sponsoring organization of family or group day care homes; (K) 1 shall be a representative of an anti-hunger advocacy organization; (L) 1 shall be a representative of an at-risk, afterschool program; (M) 1 shall be a representative of a child care advocacy organization; and (N) 1 shall be a representative of an advocacy organization representing parents with young children. (4) Considerations In developing recommendations under paragraph (2)(B), the Advisory Committee shall take into consideration— (A) information, recommendations, and reports from the paperwork reduction work group established by the Food and Nutrition Service pursuant to section 119(i) of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (42 U.S.C. 1766 note; Public Law 108–265); (B) the use of electronic systems and recordkeeping technologies to reduce paperwork for program participants and program operators; and (C) duplicative requirements across multiple Federal programs. (5) Guidance and regulations Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement Act, the Secretary shall issue guidance and, as appropriate, regulations based on the recommendations described in paragraph (2)(B) for streamlined and consolidated paperwork and recordkeeping requirements for the program under this section, including recommendations and actions carried out to reduce paperwork for parents and program operators by streamlining and modernizing— (A) applications; and (B) the monitoring and auditing of programmatic documentation and recordkeeping, including— (i) eliminating the use of the enrollment form for the purpose of claiming meals; (ii) allowing the use of direct certification in all States; (iii) requiring States to accept as documentation digital forms, digitized and electronic signatures, and electronic records; (iv) allowing the use of electronic data collection systems containing all required Federal child and adult care food program standards; (v) addressing nonmandated State-specific requirements; and (vi) requiring the adoption of generally accepted technologies for client-facing technology, virtual visits, and technology used for administrative functions by the program to reduce the burden on participants and program operators and administrators. (6) Report Not later than 180 days after the date on which guidance or regulations are issued under paragraph (5), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Education and Workforce of the House of Representatives a report containing— (A) for each instance in which the Secretary did not implement a recommendation of the Advisory Committee, an explanation regarding why the recommendation was not implemented; and (B) additional recommendations with respect to legislative action that may— (i) strengthen and streamline the application and monitoring process of the program under this section; and (ii) reduce administrative burdens on grantees, program participants, the Federal Government, and State and local governments..