School Meals Expansion Act
Latest action · Apr 10, 2023 Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedApr 10, 2023
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
School Meals Expansion Act
This bill expands eligibility for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the school lunch program. It also increases the reimbursement rate for schools under the CEP. (The CEP allows eligible schools, groups of schools, and school districts the option to offer breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications.)
This bill lowers the threshold for a school to participate in the CEP to an identified student percentage (ISP) of at least 25%, from 40%. The ISP is the percentage of students who are eligible for free school meals without a household application, primarily those who are directly certified through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The bill also increases the reimbursement multiplier for school meals to 2.5 from the current 1.6, effectively increasing the reimbursement rate for the CEP participating schools. The reimbursement multiplier is used to calculate how many meals will be reimbursed at the free meal rate. A higher multiplier means more meals will be reimbursed at this higher rate.
Cosponsors 57
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Apr 10, 2023 to Jul 10, 2024; 14 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-NY | Adriano Espaillat | Original | Apr 10, 2023 |
| D-NJ | Bonnie Watson Coleman | Original | Apr 10, 2023 |
| D-CO | Brittany Pettersen | Original | Apr 10, 2023 |
| D-WA | Derek Kilmer | Original | Apr 10, 2023 |
| D-NJ | Donald M. Payne, Jr. | Original | Apr 10, 2023 |
| D-PA | Dwight Evans | Original | Apr 10, 2023 |
| D-CA | Eric Swalwell | Original | Apr 10, 2023 |
| D-MI | Haley M. Stevens | Original | Apr 10, 2023 |
| D-CA | Jared Huffman | Original | Apr 10, 2023 |
| D-GA | Lucy McBath | Original | Apr 10, 2023 |
| D-CA | Nanette Diaz Barragán | Original | Apr 10, 2023 |
| D-NY | Nydia M. Velázquez | Original | Apr 10, 2023 |
| D-NY | Paul Tonko | Original | Apr 10, 2023 |
| D-MA | Seth Moulton | Original | Apr 10, 2023 |
| D-VT | Becca Balint | Apr 13, 2023 | |
| D-CO | Diana DeGette | Apr 13, 2023 | |
| D-FL | Kathy Castor | Apr 13, 2023 | |
| D-WA | Adam Smith | Apr 17, 2023 | |
| D-ME | Chellie Pingree | Apr 18, 2023 | |
| D-CA | Mark DeSaulnier | Apr 20, 2023 | |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Apr 25, 2023 | |
| D-NY | Grace Meng | Apr 25, 2023 | |
| D-HI | Jill N. Tokuda | Apr 25, 2023 | |
| D-NJ | Josh Gottheimer | Apr 25, 2023 | |
| D-OH | Greg Landsman | Apr 27, 2023 | |
| D-NV | Dina Titus | May 9, 2023 | |
| D-IL | Sean Casten | May 9, 2023 | |
| D-NH | Ann M. Kuster | May 11, 2023 | |
| D-IN | Frank J. Mrvan | May 17, 2023 | |
| D-WA | Pramila Jayapal | Jun 12, 2023 | |
| D-IN | André Carson | Jun 20, 2023 | |
| D-TX | Sheila Jackson Lee | Jun 20, 2023 | |
| D-MO | Emanuel Cleaver | Jun 21, 2023 | |
| D-IL | Janice D. Schakowsky | Jun 21, 2023 | |
| D-AL | Terri A. Sewell | Jun 21, 2023 | |
| D-CA | Katie Porter | Jun 30, 2023 | |
| D-PA | Mary Gay Scanlon | Jul 11, 2023 | |
| D-IL | Raja Krishnamoorthi | Jul 11, 2023 | |
| D-NC | Deborah K. Ross | Jul 17, 2023 | |
| D-PA | Madeleine Dean | Jul 18, 2023 | |
| D-IL | Jonathan L. Jackson | Jul 24, 2023 | |
| D-CA | Judy Chu | Jul 24, 2023 | |
| D-AZ | Ruben Gallego | Jul 24, 2023 | |
| D-CA | Jimmy Panetta | Aug 22, 2023 | |
| D-NC | Alma S. Adams | Sep 5, 2023 | |
| D-MD | David J. Trone | Sep 5, 2023 | |
| D-NM | Gabe Vasquez | Sep 5, 2023 | |
| D-TX | Greg Casar | Sep 21, 2023 | |
| D-NJ | Andy Kim | Oct 13, 2023 | |
| D-CO | Joe Neguse | Dec 1, 2023 | |
| D-CA | Robert Garcia | Dec 1, 2023 | |
| D-IL | Delia C. Ramirez | Dec 12, 2023 | |
| D-CO | Yadira Caraveo | Apr 5, 2024 | |
| R-PA | Brian K. Fitzpatrick | May 31, 2024 | |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Jun 26, 2024 | |
| D-CA | Kevin Mullin | Jul 10, 2024 | |
| D-CA | Zoe Lofgren | Jul 10, 2024 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Apr 10, 2023 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 10, 2023Introduced in House
- Apr 10, 2023Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 169, no. 61, April 10, 2023, page H1719.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 4523 | Nutrition Red Tape Reduction Act | Related bill | Jun 12, 2024 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act with respect to expanding community eligibility, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- School Meals Expansion Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Agriculture and Food.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Apr 10, 2023Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
