Expanding Access to School Meals Act of 2025
Expanding Access to School Meals Act of 2025
Plain Language Summary
# Summary of the Expanding Access to School Meals Act of 2025 **What the Bill Would Do** This bill would expand free school meal programs to reach more students by nearly doubling the income threshold for eligibility. Currently, students qualify for free lunches and breakfasts if their families earn up to 130% of the federal poverty level; this bill would raise that to 224%. Additionally, the bill would eliminate the "reduced price" meal option (where families pay a small amount) and instead provide free meals to all students up to the new income threshold.
The bill also streamlines enrollment by allowing states to use existing Medicaid data to automatically qualify eligible students without requiring separate applications. **Who It Affects** This primarily affects students in lower-income households and their families, as well as schools, school districts, and state education agencies responsible for implementing the programs. Families earning between the current 130% threshold and the new 224% threshold would newly qualify for free meals. The bill would also impact the USDA, which oversees these federal nutrition programs. **Current Status** The bill was introduced by Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and is currently in committee, meaning it has not yet been voted on by the full House of Representatives.
CRS Official Summary
Expanding Access to School Meals Act of 2025This bill increases student access to free school lunches and breakfasts under the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program of the Department of Agriculture (USDA).Specifically, the bill expands program eligibility to include students in households with income at or below 224% of the federal poverty level. (Currently, students in households with income at or below 130% are eligible.) The bill also eliminates the reduced price school lunch and breakfast programs and prohibits USDA from providing reimbursements for reduced price programs.States may use Medicaid participation data to directly certify students for free school meals. (Direct certification allows schools to approve meals without the need for a separate application for children who receive assistance under other programs.) Under current law, states may apply to participate in a USDA demonstration project to directly certify children for free and reduced price meals based on household income data acquired through Medicaid.Further, the bill increases the number of free meals a school in a high-poverty area may be reimbursed for at the free-meal rate under the Community Eligibility Provision. (This provision allows eligible schools, groups of schools, and school districts to offer free meals at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting separate applications.) Specifically, the bill increases from 1.6% to 2.5% the reimbursement multiplier, which is used to calculate how many meals USDA will reimburse the school for at the free meal rate.
Latest Action
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.