H.R. 1241: American Food for American Schools Act of 2017

115th Congress · introduced 2017-02-28 · Agriculture and Food · Latest: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2017-02-28 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. LaMalfa, Doug [R-CA-1] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

American Food for American Schools Act of 2017

Plain summary

American Food for American Schools Act of 2017 This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require 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 grant 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.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

American Food for American Schools Act of 2017

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. LaMalfa, Doug [R-CA-1] · 21 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

John Garamendi (D-CA), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Suzan K. DelBene (D-WA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), David G. Valadao (R-CA), Frank D. Lucas (R-OK), Salud O. Carbajal (D-CA), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Rick Larsen (D-WA)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-115hr1241.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/115/hr>

Record fed-us-cong115-hr1241 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115