No Hungry Kids in Schools Act
No Hungry Kids in Schools Act
Plain Language Summary
# No Hungry Kids in Schools Act Summary **What the Bill Would Do** This bill would allow states to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students in participating schools without requiring families to fill out applications. Currently, schools can only provide universal free meals if they meet a certain threshold of low-income students. This bill would lower that threshold to zero, meaning any state could choose to offer the program statewide if it provides funding to cover the costs. **Who It Affects** The bill primarily affects school children, schools, and state governments.
Students would gain access to free meals regardless of family income, eliminating the need for families to complete eligibility applications. States that participate would need to contribute state funds to reimburse schools for 100% of the meals served at the federally-funded free meal rate. **Current Status** The bill was introduced by Representative Pete Aguilar (D-California) in the 119th Congress and is currently in committee, meaning it has not yet been voted on by the full House of Representatives. No action has been taken since its introduction.
CRS Official Summary
No Hungry Kids in Schools ActThis bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish an option for states to utilize a statewide Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) for USDA school meal programs. As background, the CEP allows eligible schools, groups of schools, and school districts the option to offer free breakfast and lunch to all enrolled students without collecting household applications.Specifically, USDA must establish a statewide CEP option that may be used by a state agency. The state agency must provide state (nonfederal) funding to local educational agencies to reimburse applicable schools at the free reimbursement rate for 100% of the meals served.Eligibility for the statewide CEP must be based on a statewide calculation of the percentage of identified enrolled students, regardless of a school's local educational agency. Further, the bill lowers the CEP participation threshold for a statewide CEP to an identified student percentage (ISP) of zero, from a minimum of 25% under current regulations. The ISP is the percentage of students who are eligible for free school meals without a household application, primarily those who are directly certified through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).In addition, the bill specifies that the reimbursement multiplier for school meals remains at the current level of 1.6. The reimbursement multiplier is used to calculate how many meals will be reimbursed at the free meal rate.
Latest Action
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.