Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2680 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 2680
5	5	To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the Richard B. Russell
6	6	National School Lunch Act to eliminate reduced price breakfasts and
7	7	lunches and to require that the income guidelines for determining eligi-
8	8	bility for free breakfasts and free lunches be 224 percent of the poverty
9	9	level, and for other purposes.
10	10	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
11	11	APRIL7, 2025
12	12	Mr. G
13	13	OTTHEIMER(for himself, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. DESAULNIER,
14	14	Mr. C
15	15	ARSON, Ms. CHU, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. NORTON, Ms.
16	16	S
17	17	HERRILL, Mr. SMITHof Washington, Ms. WASSERMANSCHULTZ, Ms.
18	18	S
19	19	TEVENS, Mr. THANEDAR, and Mr. EVANSof Pennsylvania) introduced
20	20	the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
21	21	Workforce
22	22	A BILL
23	23	To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the Richard
24	24	B. Russell National School Lunch Act to eliminate re-
25	25	duced price breakfasts and lunches and to require that
26	26	the income guidelines for determining eligibility for free
27	27	breakfasts and free lunches be 224 percent of the poverty
28	28	level, and for other purposes.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
30	30	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
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33	33	•HR 2680 IH
34	34	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1
35	35	(a) I
36	36	NGENERAL.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ex-2
37	37	panding Access to School Meals Act of 2025’’. 3
38	38	(b) T
39	39	ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 4
40	40	this Act are as follows: 5
41	41	Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
42	42	TITLE I—REPEAL OF REDUCED PRICE BREAKFASTS AND
43	43	LUNCHES
44	44	Sec. 101. Repeal of reduced price breakfasts.
45	45	Sec. 102. Repeal of reduced price lunches.
46	46	TITLE II—EXPANSION OF FREE LUNCH ELIGIBILITY
47	47	Sec. 201. Poverty level for free lunch.
48	48	Sec. 202. Direct certification for children receiving Medicaid benefits.
49	49	Sec. 203. Retroactive reimbursement.
50	50	Sec. 204. Increase of community eligibility program multiplier.
51	51	TITLE I—REPEAL OF REDUCED 6
52	52	PRICE BREAKFASTS AND 7
53	53	LUNCHES 8
54	54	SEC. 101. REPEAL OF REDUCED PRICE BREAKFASTS. 9
55	55	(a) I
56	56	NGENERAL.—Section 4 of the Child Nutrition 10
57	57	Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1758) is amended by adding at 11
58	58	the end the following: 12
59	59	‘‘(f) R
60	60	EPEAL OFREDUCEDPRICEBREAKFASTS.— 13
61	61	Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the reduced 14
62	62	price breakfast program is repealed and the Secretary may 15
63	63	not provide reimbursements for reduced price breakfasts 16
64	64	under this section.’’. 17
65	65	(b) C
66	66	ONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.—The Child Nutri-18
67	67	tion Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) is amended— 19
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70	70	•HR 2680 IH
71	71	(1) by striking ‘‘or reduced price’’ each place it 1
72	72	appears; 2
73	73	(2) by striking ‘‘for a reduced price’’ each place 3
74	74	it appears; 4
75	75	(3) by striking ‘‘or at a reduced price’’ each 5
76	76	place it appears; 6
77	77	(4) by striking ‘‘for reduced price breakfasts’’ 7
78	78	each place it appears; and 8
79	79	(5) by striking ‘‘and reduced price’’ each place 9
80	80	it appears. 10
81	81	(c) F
82	82	URTHERCONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.—Section 11
83	83	4(b) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 12
84	84	1758(b)) is amended— 13
85	85	(1) in paragraph (1)— 14
86	86	(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 15
87	87	second sentence; and 16
88	88	(B) by striking subparagraph (C); and 17
89	89	(2) in paragraph (2), by striking subparagraph 18
90	90	(C). 19
91	91	SEC. 102. REPEAL OF REDUCED PRICE LUNCHES. 20
92	92	(a) I
93	93	NGENERAL.—The Richard B. Russell National 21
94	94	School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) is amended 22
95	95	by adding at the end the following: 23
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98	98	•HR 2680 IH
99	99	‘‘SEC. 30. REPEAL OF REDUCED PRICE LUNCHES. 1
100	100	‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the re-2
101	101	duced price lunch program is repealed and the Secretary 3
102	102	may not provide reimbursements for reduced price lunches 4
103	103	under this Act.’’. 5
104	104	(b) C
105	105	ONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.—The Richard B. 6
106	106	Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et 7
107	107	seq.) is amended— 8
108	108	(1) by striking ‘‘or reduced price’’ each place it 9
109	109	appears; 10
110	110	(2) by striking ‘‘or a reduced price’’ each place 11
111	111	it appears; 12
112	112	(3) by striking ‘‘or reduced-price’’ each place it 13
113	113	appears; 14
114	114	(4) by striking ‘‘and reduced price’’ each place 15
115	115	it appears; and 16
116	116	(5) by striking ‘‘a reduced price’’ each place it 17
117	117	appears. 18
118	118	TITLE II—EXPANSION OF FREE 19
119	119	LUNCH ELIGIBILITY 20
120	120	SEC. 201. POVERTY LEVEL FOR FREE LUNCH. 21
121	121	Section 9(b)(1)(A) of the Richard B. Russell Na-22
122	122	tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(1)(A)) is 23
123	123	amended— 24
124	124	(1) by striking the third sentence; and 25
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127	127	•HR 2680 IH
128	128	(2) by striking ‘‘130 percent’’ and inserting 1
129	129	‘‘224 percent’’. 2
130	130	SEC. 202. DIRECT CERTIFICATION FOR CHILDREN RECEIV-3
131	131	ING MEDICAID BENEFITS. 4
132	132	(a) I
133	133	NGENERAL.—Section 9(b) of the Richard B. 5
134	134	Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)) 6
135	135	is amended— 7
136	136	(1) in paragraph (5) by amending to read as 8
137	137	follows: 9
138	138	‘‘(5) D
139	139	ISCRETIONARY CERTIFICATION .— 10
140	140	‘‘(A) F
141	141	REE LUNCHES OR BREAKFASTS .— 11
142	142	Subject to paragraph (6), any local educational 12
143	143	agency may certify any child as eligible for free 13
144	144	lunches or breakfasts, without further applica-14
145	145	tion, by directly communicating with the appro-15
146	146	priate State or local agency to obtain docu-16
147	147	mentation of the status of the child as— 17
148	148	‘‘(i) a member of a family that is re-18
149	149	ceiving assistance under the temporary as-19
150	150	sistance for needy families program funded 20
151	151	under part A of title IV of the Social Secu-21
152	152	rity Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 22
153	153	‘‘(ii) a homeless child or youth (de-23
154	154	fined as 1 of the individuals described in 24
155	155	section 725(2) of the McKinney-Vento 25
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158	158	•HR 2680 IH
159	159	Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 1
160	160	11434a(2))); 2
161	161	‘‘(iii) served by the runaway and 3
162	162	homeless youth grant program established 4
163	163	under the Runaway and Homeless Youth 5
164	164	Act (42 U.S.C. 5701 et seq.); 6
165	165	‘‘(iv) a migratory child (as defined in 7
166	166	section 1309 of the Elementary and Sec-8
167	167	ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 9
168	168	6399)); 10
169	169	‘‘(v) an eligible child (as defined in 11
170	170	paragraph (15)(A)); or 12
171	171	‘‘(vi)(I) a foster child whose care and 13
172	172	placement is the responsibility of an agen-14
173	173	cy that administers a State plan under 15
174	174	part B or E of title IV of the Social Secu-16
175	175	rity Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq.); or 17
176	176	‘‘(II) a foster child who a court has 18
177	177	placed with a caretaker household. 19
178	178	‘‘(B) A
179	179	GREEMENTS TO CARRY OUT CER -20
180	180	TIFICATION.—To certify a child under subpara-21
181	181	graph (A)(v), a State agency shall enter into an 22
182	182	agreement with 1 or more State agencies con-23
183	183	ducting eligibility determinations for the Med-24
184	184	icaid program. 25
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187	187	•HR 2680 IH
188	188	‘‘(C) PROCEDURES.—Subject to paragraph 1
189	189	(6), an agreement under subparagraph (B) 2
190	190	shall establish procedures under which an eligi-3
191	191	ble child may be certified for free lunches under 4
192	192	this Act and free breakfasts under section 4 of 5
193	193	the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 6
194	194	1773), without further application (as defined 7
195	195	in paragraph (4)(G)).’’; 8
196	196	(2) in paragraph (6)(A), by striking ‘‘or (5)’’ 9
197	197	both places it appears and inserting ‘‘(5), or (15)’’; 10
198	198	and 11
199	199	(3) by amending paragraph (15)(A)(i) to read 12
200	200	as follows: 13
201	201	‘‘(i) E
202	202	LIGIBLE CHILD.—The term ‘eli-14
203	203	gible child’ means a child— 15
204	204	‘‘(I)(aa) who is eligible for and 16
205	205	receiving medical assistance under the 17
206	206	Medicaid program; and 18
207	207	‘‘(bb) who is a member of a fam-19
208	208	ily with an income as measured by the 20
209	209	Medicaid program that does not ex-21
210	210	ceed 224 percent of the poverty line 22
211	211	(as determined under the poverty 23
212	212	guidelines updated periodically in the 24
213	213	Federal Register by the Department 25
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216	216	•HR 2680 IH
217	217	of Health and Human Services under 1
218	218	the authority of section 673(2) of the 2
219	219	Community Services Block Grant Act 3
220	220	(42 U.S.C. 9902(2), including any re-4
221	221	vision required by such section)) ap-5
222	222	plicable to a family of the size used 6
223	223	for purposes of determining eligibility 7
224	224	for the Medicaid program; 8
225	225	‘‘(II) who is eligible for the Med-9
226	226	icaid program because such child re-10
227	227	ceives supplemental security income 11
228	228	benefits under title XVI of the Social 12
229	229	Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1381–1385) 13
230	230	or State supplementary benefits of the 14
231	231	type referred to in section 1616(a) of 15
232	232	such Act (or payments of the type de-16
233	233	scribed in section 212(a) of Public 17
234	234	Law 93–66); 18
235	235	‘‘(III) who is eligible for the 19
236	236	Medicaid program because such child 20
237	237	receives an adoption assistance pay-21
238	238	ment made under section 473(a) of 22
239	239	the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 23
240	240	673(a)) or under a similar State-fund-24
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243	243	•HR 2680 IH
244	244	ed or State-operated program, as de-1
245	245	termined by the Secretary; 2
246	246	‘‘(IV) who is eligible for the Med-3
247	247	icaid program because such child re-4
248	248	ceives a kinship guardianship assist-5
249	249	ance payment made under section 6
250	250	473(d) of the Social Security Act (42 7
251	251	U.S.C. 673(d)) or under a similar 8
252	252	State-funded or State-operated pro-9
253	253	gram, as determined by the Secretary, 10
254	254	without regard to whether such child 11
255	255	was previously in foster care; or 12
256	256	‘‘(V) who is a member of a 13
257	257	household (as that term is defined in 14
258	258	section 245.2 of title 7, Code of Fed-15
259	259	eral Regulations (or successor regula-16
260	260	tions)) with a child described in sub-17
261	261	clause (I), (II), (III), or (IV).’’. 18
262	262	(b) A
263	263	PPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 19
264	264	section shall apply with respect to school years beginning 20
265	265	on or after July 1, 2025. 21
266	266	SEC. 203. RETROACTIVE REIMBURSEMENT. 22
267	267	Section 9(b)(9)(C) of the Richard B. Russell National 23
268	268	School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(9)(C)) is amend-24
269	269	ed— 25
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272	272	•HR 2680 IH
273	273	(1) by striking ‘‘Except’’ and inserting the fol-1
274	274	lowing: 2
275	275	‘‘(i) I
276	276	N GENERAL.—Except’’; 3
277	277	(2) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as sub-4
278	278	clauses (I) and (II); and 5
279	279	(3) by adding at the end the following: 6
280	280	‘‘(ii) R
281	281	ETROACTIVITY.—A local edu-7
282	282	cational agency shall revise a previously 8
283	283	submitted meal claim to reflect the eligi-9
284	284	bility approval of a child for free meals for 10
285	285	the period that begins on the first day of 11
286	286	the current school year. 12
287	287	‘‘(iii) M
288	288	EAL CLAIM DEFINED.—In this 13
289	289	subsection, the term ‘meal claim’ means 14
290	290	any documentation provided by a school 15
291	291	food authority to a State agency in order 16
292	292	to receive reimbursement for the cost of a 17
293	293	meal served to a child by such school food 18
294	294	authority.’’. 19
295	295	SEC. 204. INCREASE OF COMMUNITY ELIGIBILITY PRO-20
296	296	GRAM MULTIPLIER. 21
297	297	Section 11(a)(1)(F) of the Richard B. Russell Na-22
298	298	tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(a)(1)(F)) is 23
299	299	amended by striking clause (vii) and inserting the fol-24
300	300	lowing: 25
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304	304	‘‘(vii) MULTIPLIER.—For each school 1
305	305	year beginning on or after July 1, 2025, 2
306	306	the multiplier shall be 2.5.’’. 3
307	307	Æ
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