Home > 116th Congress Bills: Child Nutrition Programs

Out-of-School Time Programs

  • The Summer Meals Act of 2019 (S. 1908/H.R. 2818)
    S 1908 – Introduced June 19, 2019 by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
    H.R. 2818 – Introduced May 16, 2019 by Reps. Don Young (R-AK) and Rick Larsen (D-WA)
    What it does: Improves the area eligibility test by lowering it from 50 percent to 40 percent to allow more low-income communities to provide summer meals; allows nonprofit and local government agencies to provide meals year-round through the Summer Food Service Program; allows all sites to serve three meals; and provides grant funding to support efforts to reach underserved areas. S. 1908 includes an additional provision to support meal service in disaster situations.
    Advocacy Resources: FRAC’s fact sheet and statement.
  • The Stop Child Summer Hunger Act (S. 1941/H.R. 3378)
    S. 1941 – Introduced June 20, 2019 by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
    H.R. 3378 – Introduced June 20, 2019 by Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA)
    What it does: Provides families who have children eligible for free and reduced-price school meals with an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card to help them obtain nutrition during the summer.
    Advocacy Resources: FRAC’s fact sheet and statement.

Early Childhood Programs (CACFP and WIC)

  • The Access to Healthy Food for Young Children Act of 2019 (S. 2501)
    S. 2501 – Introduced September 18, 2019 by Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA)
    What it does: Strengthens the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and helps millions of children in child care access healthy, nutritious food.
    Advocacy Resources: FRAC’s fact sheet and statement.
  • Wise Investment in Children Act of 2019 (WIC Act) of 2019 (S. 2358)
    S. 2358 – Introduced July 31, 2019 by Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA)
    What it does: Permits states to extend child eligibility for WIC to age six or the beginning of kindergarten and postpartum women’s eligibility to two years; and Extends infant certification periods to two years.
  • Community Access, Resources, and Education for Families Act (CARE for Families Act) (H.R. 3117)
    H.R. 3117  – Introduced July 5, 2019 by Reps. Alma Adams (D-NC), Lauren Underwood (D-IL), and Bobby Scott (D-VA).
    What it does: Creates a grant program for local WIC agencies and clinics for community partnership work aimed at: increasing the involvement of WIC staff in the community; improving health outcomes by better connecting WIC to other community health providers; facilitating referrals between WIC and health care providers; and improving the coordination, quality, and cost effectiveness of health care services.

School Meals

  • Universal School Meals Program Act (S. 2609 / H.R. 4684)
    S. 2609 – Introduced October 16, 2019 by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
    H.R. 4684 – Introduced October 15, 2019 by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)
    What it does: Major provisions of this act include free school breakfast, school lunch, and afterschool supper for all children, and no more embarrassing practices directed toward students with unpaid school meal fees and funding to schools for all delinquent school meal debt.
    Advocacy Resources: FRAC’s fact sheet.
  • No Shame at School Act (S. 1907/ H.R. 3366)
    S. 1907 – Introduced June 19, 2019 by Senator Tina Smith (D-MN)
    H.R. 3366 – Introduced June 19, 2019 by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
    What it does: Includes provisions for prohibiting schools from taking any action that stigmatizes or shames students who cannot pay their meal fees, and requiring school districts to certify students who are categorically eligible (such as students who are homeless or in foster care) for free school meals.
    Advocacy Resources: FRAC’s statement.
  • Endorse the Anti-Lunch Shaming Act of 2019 (S. 1119/H.R. 2311)
    S. 1119 – Introduced April 10, 2019 by Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM)
    H.R. 2311 – Introduced April 12, 2019 by Rep. Debra Haaland (D-NM)
    What it does: Prohibits schools from taking action that stigmatizes or shames students who cannot pay their school meals fees and requires that all communication related to unpaid school meals fees be directed to the child’s parent or guardian.
  • School Hunger Elimination Act (S. 2752)
    S. 2752 – Introduced on October 30, 2019 by Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA)
    What it does: Helps support School Nutrition Programs, including increasing the number of low-income children who are directly certified to receive free school meals and bolstering the Community Eligibility Provision.
    Advocacy Resources: FRAC’s fact sheet.
  • Caregivers Access and Responsible Expansion (CARE) for Kids Act of 2019 (S. 2760)
    S. 2760 – Introduced October 31, 2019 by Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA)
    What it does: Helps support children who are being raised by grandparents or relatives other than their parents by ensuring automatic access to free school meals.
    Advocacy Resources: FRAC’s fact sheet and statement.
  • Military Dependents School Meal Eligibility Act (H.R. 8534)
    H.R. 8534 – Introduced October 6, 2020 by Representative Susan Davis (D-CA)
    What it does: Ensures access to free and reduced-price school meals for eligible children of active duty service members.
    Advocacy Resources: FRAC’s one-pager.
  • School Modernization and Efficient Access to Lunches for Students (MEALS) Act of 2019 (S. 2692 / H.R. 5283)
    S. 2692 – Introduced October 24, 2019 by Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA)
    H.R. 5283 – Introduced December 3, 2019 by Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
    What it does: Funds direct certification improvements through USDA grants and technical assistance; expedites the process through which states must implement necessary direct certification improvements; and eliminates the deadline for school districts to elect to participate in the Community Eligibility Provision, and provides additional time to gather the data necessary to determine eligibility.
  • Expanding Access to School Meals Act of 2019 (H.R. 5308)
    H.R. 5308 – Introduced by Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) on December 5, 2019.
    What it does: Increases eligibility for free school meals to 200 percent of the poverty line and eliminates reduced-price school meals; iIncreases the community eligibility multiplier from 1.6 to 1.8 which will allow more high poverty schools to offer breakfast and lunch at no charge to all students; allows all states to use Medicaid and CHIP to directly certify children (whose household income is 200 percent of poverty) for free school meals; and provides retroactive free reimbursement for meals served to children who are certified for free school meals later in the school year.
  • Tribal Nutrition Improvement Act of 2019 (S. 1307/H.R. 2494)
    S. 1307 – Introduced by Sens. Tom Udall (D-NM), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Tina Smith (D-MN) on May 2, 2019
    H.R. 2494 – Introduced by Reps. Deb Haaland (D-NM), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) on May 2, 2019
    What it does: Improves access to free meals for Native students who attend school on or near a reservation and allows tribal governments to administer child nutrition programs.
    Advocacy resource: Press release from U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.