Congress·In Committee·H.R. 2680

Expanding Access to School Meals Act of 2025

House Bill Would Expand Free School Meals to Families Earning Up to 224% of Poverty Level

Apr 7, 2025·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

This bill is one vehicle in a longer effort. See the full story across every version.View effort →

StalledNext up: A house committeeNo action in 15 months

This bill is currently sitting in the House Committee on Education and Workforce. It has not moved since April 2025, and no action has been taken on it for 15 months. The bill is considered stalled because the committee has not scheduled a vote or any further steps.

Legislative Progress

House

No action since April 2025

Senate

President

Law

How we got here

This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.

Reintroduced
Reintroduced from H.R. 3113 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
H.R. 3113 (118th) →

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.

EducationHealthcareConsumer Protection

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

How this policy affects specific groups of people

Positive Impacts(4)

Child Tax Credit

Helps

Student

Helps

Medicaid

Helps

Housing Assistance

Helps

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Apr 7, 2025House

Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

Apr 7, 2025

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Related News

2 articles

TAPinto·Mar 18, 2025

Gottheimer 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.

Center

FoodService Director·Feb 11, 2025

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.

No votes or related bills recorded for this bill yet.