Sponsors (2)
The bill expands guaranteed meals to low-income children during summers and extended school closures and provides upfront federal support to implement the change, but it increases federal near-term costs and shifts substantial ongoing fiscal and administrative burdens onto states (and may delay full implementation for smaller/tribal jurisdictions).
Low-income children and students will receive free meals (breakfast, lunch, and a snack) for each summer day and qualifying extended school-closure day beginning in 2025, reducing hunger and food insecurity for children and families.
State and Tribal governments, and school operators, receive implementation support — federal grants, a $50 million Treasury transfer, and 100% federal reimbursement in FY2026 — which lowers near-term startup and administrative burdens for rolling out the expanded EBT/meal program.
State governments will face larger ongoing administrative and program costs after federal reimbursement phases down to 50% (post-FY2031), which could force state budget trade-offs or reductions in outreach and service levels that affect program access.
Federal taxpayers will incur new near-term costs from the $50 million transfer and higher initial reimbursements and the program's increased per-day benefits may raise long-term federal (and potentially state) outlays.
Smaller states and Tribal organizations may still face complex, time-consuming administrative and IT upgrades to meet new program rules even with grants, causing implementation delays and uneven rollout across jurisdictions.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands summer EBT to cover school closure periods, requires benefits at free-meal value per eligible day starting 2025, phases admin reimbursement to 50%, and funds $50M for state system upgrades.
Introduced May 6, 2025 by Mike Levin · Last progress May 6, 2025
Expands the summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (summer EBT) program to cover school closure periods in addition to summer months and requires benefit payments at least equal to the free-rate value of breakfast, lunch, and a snack for each eligible day beginning in calendar year 2025. It phases federal administrative reimbursement from 100% in FY2026 down to 50% in FY2031 and thereafter, requires the Secretary to run an implementation grant program, and directs a $50,000,000 transfer from the Treasury on October 1, 2025 (subject to appropriations) to fund state data-system development or upgrades for implementation. The changes increase guaranteed food benefit value for eligible children and expand the days covered, while shifting a growing share of administrative costs to states over time; the bill also provides a one-time appropriation for state system upgrades to facilitate implementation.