State Allocations

The Congressional Research Service has created the following two tables detailing estimates of the allocation of funds by state under the Younger Americans Act (H.R. 17 and S. 1005), introduced in the 107th Congress:

• Fiscal Year 2002 (estimated appropriations of $500 million)
• Fiscal Year 2003 (estimated appropriations of $750 million)

The estimates are based on the following provisions of H.R. 17:

• Grants to Native American organizations equal to 1% of total appropriations.
• Grants to outlying areas equal to 1% of total appropriations.
• Funds for federal discretionary programs equal to 3% of total appropriations.
• From the remainder, one-half is allocated to states based on each state's share of the U.S. population between the ages of 10 and 19 (with Puerto Rico included) and one-half is allocated to states based on each state's share of the total number of children receiving free or reduced-price lunches under the school lunch program established under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (with Puerto Rico included).
• No state receives less than 0.4% of the total appropriation after taking into account funds for grants and discretionary programs.

The population data used are estimates from the Bureau of the Census. Except for Puerto Rico, the estimates are for July 1, 1999. For Puerto Rico, the population estimates are for mid-year 2000, with the estimated number of persons between the ages of 10 and 19 reduced by the percentage increase in Puerto Rico's total estimated population from mid-year 1999 to mid-year 2000.

Data on participation in the School Lunch program were provided to CRS by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The data are from October 1999 and represent the estimated average daily number of children participating in the free and reduced school lunch program (adjusted for student absenteeism) at the beginning of the 1999-2000 school year. The data include schoolchildren of all ages (from kindergarten through 12th grade), not just youth from the ages of 10 to 19. An age break-out by state is not available.

Some states differ in how they determine who will receive free or reduced price school lunches. Certain areas (e.g., Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and Mississippi) offer free lunches to virtually all children. Therefore, in these areas, some children receive free lunches although they would not be eligible otherwise. As a result, allocating federal funds based on the number of children who participate in the free or reduced price school lunch program would favor those areas that offer free lunches to virtually all children.