I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2680 
To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the Richard B. Russell 
National School Lunch Act to eliminate reduced price breakfasts and 
lunches and to require that the income guidelines for determining eligi-
bility for free breakfasts and free lunches be 224 percent of the poverty 
level, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 7, 2025 
Mr. GOTTHEIMER (for himself, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. DESAULNIER, 
Mr. CARSON, Ms. CHU, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 
SHERRILL, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. 
STEVENS, Mr. THANEDAR, and Mr. EVANS of Pennsylvania) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the Richard 
B. Russell National School Lunch Act to eliminate re-
duced price breakfasts and lunches and to require that 
the income guidelines for determining eligibility for free 
breakfasts and free lunches be 224 percent of the poverty 
level, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ex-
panding Access to School Meals Act of 2025’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act are as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—REPEAL OF REDUCED PRICE BREAKFASTS AND 
LUNCHES 
Sec. 101. Repeal of reduced price breakfasts. 
Sec. 102. Repeal of reduced price lunches. 
TITLE II—EXPANSION OF FREE LUNCH ELIGIBILITY 
Sec. 201. Poverty level for free lunch. 
Sec. 202. Direct certification for children receiving Medicaid benefits. 
Sec. 203. Retroactive reimbursement. 
Sec. 204. Increase of community eligibility program multiplier. 
TITLE I—REPEAL OF REDUCED 
PRICE 
BREAKFASTS 
AND 
LUNCHES 
SEC. 101. REPEAL OF REDUCED PRICE BREAKFASTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Child Nutrition 
Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1758) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘(f) REPEAL OF REDUCED PRICE BREAKFASTS.— 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the reduced 
price breakfast program is repealed and the Secretary may 
not provide reimbursements for reduced price breakfasts 
under this section.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Child Nutri-
tion Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) is amended— 
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(1) by striking ‘‘or reduced price’’ each place it 
appears; 
(2) by striking ‘‘for a reduced price’’ each place 
it appears; 
(3) by striking ‘‘or at a reduced price’’ each 
place it appears; 
(4) by striking ‘‘for reduced price breakfasts’’ 
each place it appears; and 
(5) by striking ‘‘and reduced price’’ each place 
it appears. 
(c) FURTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 
4(b) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 
1758(b)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 
second sentence; and 
(B) by striking subparagraph (C); and 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking subparagraph 
(C). 
SEC. 102. REPEAL OF REDUCED PRICE LUNCHES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 30. REPEAL OF REDUCED PRICE LUNCHES. 
‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the re-
duced price lunch program is repealed and the Secretary 
may not provide reimbursements for reduced price lunches 
under this Act.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Richard B. 
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et 
seq.) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘or reduced price’’ each place it 
appears; 
(2) by striking ‘‘or a reduced price’’ each place 
it appears; 
(3) by striking ‘‘or reduced-price’’ each place it 
appears; 
(4) by striking ‘‘and reduced price’’ each place 
it appears; and 
(5) by striking ‘‘a reduced price’’ each place it 
appears. 
TITLE II—EXPANSION OF FREE 
LUNCH ELIGIBILITY 
SEC. 201. POVERTY LEVEL FOR FREE LUNCH. 
Section 9(b)(1)(A) of the Richard B. Russell Na-
tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(1)(A)) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking the third sentence; and 
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(2) by striking ‘‘130 percent’’ and inserting 
‘‘224 percent’’. 
SEC. 202. DIRECT CERTIFICATION FOR CHILDREN RECEIV-
ING MEDICAID BENEFITS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(b) of the Richard B. 
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)) 
is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (5) by amending to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(5) DISCRETIONARY CERTIFICATION.— 
‘‘(A) FREE LUNCHES OR BREAKFASTS.— 
Subject to paragraph (6), any local educational 
agency may certify any child as eligible for free 
lunches or breakfasts, without further applica-
tion, by directly communicating with the appro-
priate State or local agency to obtain docu-
mentation of the status of the child as— 
‘‘(i) a member of a family that is re-
ceiving assistance under the temporary as-
sistance for needy families program funded 
under part A of title IV of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 
‘‘(ii) a homeless child or youth (de-
fined as 1 of the individuals described in 
section 725(2) of the McKinney-Vento 
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Homeless 
Assistance 
Act 
(42 
U.S.C. 
11434a(2))); 
‘‘(iii) served by the runaway and 
homeless youth grant program established 
under the Runaway and Homeless Youth 
Act (42 U.S.C. 5701 et seq.); 
‘‘(iv) a migratory child (as defined in 
section 1309 of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
6399)); 
‘‘(v) an eligible child (as defined in 
paragraph (15)(A)); or 
‘‘(vi)(I) a foster child whose care and 
placement is the responsibility of an agen-
cy that administers a State plan under 
part B or E of title IV of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq.); or 
‘‘(II) a foster child who a court has 
placed with a caretaker household. 
‘‘(B) AGREEMENTS TO CARRY OUT CER-
TIFICATION.—To certify a child under subpara-
graph (A)(v), a State agency shall enter into an 
agreement with 1 or more State agencies con-
ducting eligibility determinations for the Med-
icaid program. 
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‘‘(C) PROCEDURES.—Subject to paragraph 
(6), an agreement under subparagraph (B) 
shall establish procedures under which an eligi-
ble child may be certified for free lunches under 
this Act and free breakfasts under section 4 of 
the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 
1773), without further application (as defined 
in paragraph (4)(G)).’’; 
(2) in paragraph (6)(A), by striking ‘‘or (5)’’ 
both places it appears and inserting ‘‘(5), or (15)’’; 
and 
(3) by amending paragraph (15)(A)(i) to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE CHILD.—The term ‘eli-
gible child’ means a child— 
‘‘(I)(aa) who is eligible for and 
receiving medical assistance under the 
Medicaid program; and 
‘‘(bb) who is a member of a fam-
ily with an income as measured by the 
Medicaid program that does not ex-
ceed 224 percent of the poverty line 
(as determined under the poverty 
guidelines updated periodically in the 
Federal Register by the Department 
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of Health and Human Services under 
the authority of section 673(2) of the 
Community Services Block Grant Act 
(42 U.S.C. 9902(2), including any re-
vision required by such section)) ap-
plicable to a family of the size used 
for purposes of determining eligibility 
for the Medicaid program; 
‘‘(II) who is eligible for the Med-
icaid program because such child re-
ceives supplemental security income 
benefits under title XVI of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1381–1385) 
or State supplementary benefits of the 
type referred to in section 1616(a) of 
such Act (or payments of the type de-
scribed in section 212(a) of Public 
Law 93–66); 
‘‘(III) who is eligible for the 
Medicaid program because such child 
receives an adoption assistance pay-
ment made under section 473(a) of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
673(a)) or under a similar State-fund-
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ed or State-operated program, as de-
termined by the Secretary; 
‘‘(IV) who is eligible for the Med-
icaid program because such child re-
ceives a kinship guardianship assist-
ance payment made under section 
473(d) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 673(d)) or under a similar 
State-funded or State-operated pro-
gram, as determined by the Secretary, 
without regard to whether such child 
was previously in foster care; or 
‘‘(V) who is a member of a 
household (as that term is defined in 
section 245.2 of title 7, Code of Fed-
eral Regulations (or successor regula-
tions)) with a child described in sub-
clause (I), (II), (III), or (IV).’’. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 
section shall apply with respect to school years beginning 
on or after July 1, 2025. 
SEC. 203. RETROACTIVE REIMBURSEMENT. 
Section 9(b)(9)(C) of the Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(9)(C)) is amend-
ed— 
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(1) by striking ‘‘Except’’ and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except’’; 
(2) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as sub-
clauses (I) and (II); and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(ii) RETROACTIVITY.—A local edu-
cational agency shall revise a previously 
submitted meal claim to reflect the eligi-
bility approval of a child for free meals for 
the period that begins on the first day of 
the current school year. 
‘‘(iii) MEAL CLAIM DEFINED.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘meal claim’ means 
any documentation provided by a school 
food authority to a State agency in order 
to receive reimbursement for the cost of a 
meal served to a child by such school food 
authority.’’. 
SEC. 204. INCREASE OF COMMUNITY ELIGIBILITY PRO-
GRAM MULTIPLIER. 
Section 11(a)(1)(F) of the Richard B. Russell Na-
tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(a)(1)(F)) is 
amended by striking clause (vii) and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(vii) MULTIPLIER.—For each school 
year beginning on or after July 1, 2025, 
the multiplier shall be 2.5.’’. 
Æ 
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