Expanding Access to School Meals Act of 2025
House Bill Would Expand Free School Meals to Families Earning Up to 224% of Poverty Level
Stalled
No legislative action in over 90 days.
Legislative Progress
Key Points
- Ends the “reduced-price” school breakfast and lunch option. Kids would either qualify for free meals or pay the full price.
- Raises the income cutoff for free school lunches from 130% to 224% of the poverty level, so more families could qualify.
- Lets schools use Medicaid information (with state agreements) to automatically qualify some kids for free meals, cutting down on paperwork for parents.
- Requires schools to update earlier meal claims so a child approved for free meals can be counted as free starting from the first day of that school year.
- Makes it easier for more schools to offer free meals to all students by increasing the community eligibility multiplier to 2.5 starting with school years after July 1, 2025.
Impact Analysis
Personal Impact
How this policy affects specific groups of people
Milestones
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Introduced in House
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Votes
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
Related News
2 articlesGottheimer slams Trump administration's cuts to school meals program for children
Rep. Josh Gottheimer announced the 'Expanding Access to School Meals Act,' which eliminates the reduced-price meal category and raises the free meal income threshold from 130% to 224% of the federal poverty level, mirroring a New Jersey state policy he aims to implement nationally.
Federal bill would prevent students who are in the country without legal status from receiving free or reduced-price school meals
While focusing on restrictive legislation, the report highlights the active 2025 legislative session for school nutrition, including efforts to eliminate the reduced-price meal category and expand eligibility thresholds across various federal and state-level proposals.
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Expanding Access to School Meals Act of 2025
Data Sources
Sponsor
Cosponsors
(45)Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.