Ms. Gillen Proposes Lowering Poverty Threshold to Expand Free School Meals to More Students
Stalled
No legislative action in over 90 days.
Expanding universal school meal eligibility would increase demand for food purchased through USDA commodity programs, which source products from American farmers. More schools serving more free meals means greater volume of food orders flowing through USDA supply chains, modestly benefiting agricultural producers.
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.
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
The Feed Hungry Kids Act, introduced by Reps. Laura Gillen and David Valadao, would codify the current 25% Identified Student Percentage (ISP) threshold into law. This move seeks to make permanent the USDA's 2023 expansion, which lowered the requirement from 40% to allow more schools to offer free meals.
Rep. Laura Gillen is leading a bipartisan effort to expand access to free school meals. The 'Feed Hungry Kids Act' would ensure that schools in high-poverty areas remain eligible for universal meal service by keeping the participation threshold at 25%, protecting it from future legislative cuts.
In this op-ed, Rep. Laura Gillen discusses the introduction of the Feed Hungry Kids Act. She explains that by codifying the 25% threshold, an additional 17,000 schools nationwide would remain eligible for the Community Eligibility Provision, reducing paperwork and eliminating student lunch debt.
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Feed Hungry Kids Act
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