Sponsors (2)
The bill would expand automatic enrollment and support for school meal programs—improving access, nutrition, and administrative efficiency for many low‑income students—while creating privacy risks, added costs, and implementation/continuity challenges that require careful safeguards and follow‑on funding.
Low-income students and children: more will be automatically certified and enrolled in free school meals because the bill expands direct certification and funds outreach, increasing meal access for eligible households.
Schools and districts: reduced paperwork and smoother operations as more students are directly certified and grants/technical assistance help modernize systems and processes.
Students (especially low-income): higher participation in school meal programs is likely to improve child nutrition and school attendance when more eligible children are enrolled automatically.
Parents and families: increased reliance on data matches for direct certification raises privacy and data‑sharing concerns if strong safeguards and transparency are not put in place.
Schools, LEAs, and state agencies: ambiguous or unspecified implementation language and new reporting requirements could create short‑term administrative workload, transition costs, and uncertainty.
Taxpayers and federal budget: expanding direct certification and higher school reimbursements will raise federal costs and put additional budgetary pressure on program funding.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Creates a competitive grant and technical assistance program to boost direct certification rates so more children automatically qualify for free school meals, provides a one-time $28 million funding transfer (with set minimums and caps for certain uses), and directs USDA to offer technical assistance. It also changes how prior-year data and timing rules apply to the Community Eligibility Option and requires states to add descriptions of technical assistance and progress in their performance reports. The bill targets State agencies and Tribal organizations that run school meal programs and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, prioritizing areas with the lowest direct-certification rates and dedicating funds to tribal-serving programs and technical assistance efforts.
Introduced December 17, 2025 by Jahana Hayes · Last progress December 17, 2025