(a) Any school food authority that participates in a federal child nutrition program and is reimbursed pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 41350 for meals served pursuant to this article may be reimbursed at the current rate as determined by the State Department of Education, pursuant to subdivision (d). If the sum appropriated for purposes of this section is not sufficient to make the allowances specified by this section, the allowances shall be reduced proportionately. This rate shall be in addition to the reimbursement currently provided under Section 49536. The additional funds shall be used exclusively to supplement the meals served pursuant to Section 49550.

(b) The State Department of Education shall make allowances to school food authorities from the General Fund on at least a quarterly basis. Program providers shall submit claims to the department within 10 calendar days of the end of each quarter. Within 45 calendar days of submission of a valid claim, the State Department of Education shall tender reimbursement.

(c) (1) The State Department of Education shall, upon enactment of the annual Budget Act, prescribe an adjustment in the state meal contribution rates for the next fiscal year. The adjustments shall reflect the changes in the cost of operating a school breakfast, snack, morning supplement, and lunch program and shall be effective July 1 of each year. The adjustment shall be based on the average of the separate indices of the “Food Away From Home Index” for Los Angeles and San Francisco, as prepared by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

(2) In giving effect to the cost-of-living provisions of this subdivision, the State Department of Education shall prescribe a calendar month for the computation of the percentage change in the cost of living after July 1, 1985. The same month shall be used annually thereafter. The product of any percentage increase or decrease in the average index and the per meal reimbursement disbursement rate shall be adjusted by the amount of any cost-of-living change currently in effect pursuant to this subdivision. For the purposes of this subdivision, state reimbursement shall be made for the breakfast or lunch which qualifies for reimbursement pursuant to the nutritional requirements of Section 49553.

(Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 1078, Sec. 10. Effective January 1, 1999. Became operative on July 1, 2000, pursuant to Sec. 13 of Ch. 1078.)