Federal lawmakers make another attempt at universal free school meals

A federal bill has been introduced that would provide universal free school meals to students, increase school meal reimbursement rates and more.

Introduced by U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), The Universal School Meals Program Act would provide all students free breakfast, lunch and dinner daily at school regardless of their family’s income level.

The bill would also reimburse schools for any outstanding meal debt, which occurs when students don’t have enough money in the school meal accounts to pay for school meals. In addition, schools would be banned from denying students a hot meal.

“In the richest country on earth, it is unacceptable that millions of kids go hungry each day. The Universal School Meals Program Act would provide funding for free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack for all students and slash burdensome red tape for school administrators,” said Senator Gillibrand in a statement. “This bill would make our families and communities healthier and stronger, keep kids in school, and work to fight the stigma too often associated with meal programs. I look forward to passing this critical legislation so every child in the United States has the food they need to succeed.”

Along with providing free meals to students at school, the bill would also increase the meal reimbursement rate to $2.80 for breakfast and $4.63 for lunch and dinner. School nutrition programs that source at least 25% of their food locally (defined as food produced within state lines or within 250 miles of the purchasing School Food Authority) would also receive an additional meal reimbursement of up to $0.30 per meal.

Rising costs are a big concern for school nutrition operators. In a survey of school nutrition professionals released by the School Nutrition Association earlier this year, almost all (99.3%) respondents said that increasing costs are a challenge and just 17% of respondents reported that the current reimbursement rate is sufficient to cover the cost of preparing a lunch. 

In addition, the bill would eliminate the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requirement that summer meal sites though the Summer Food Service Program must be located in areas where at least 50% of students in the community be from low-income families. Instead, all communities would be able to operate a meal site during the summer months, including those in higher income areas. Families would also receive $60 per month per child during the summer months through the Summer EBT program to help them purchase food when school is out of session.

This is the latest bill introduced at the federal level that aims to offer universal free meals at school and provide increased meal reimbursement for school nutrition programs. Last year, Gillibrand along with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and a handful of other lawmakers introduced the The Universal Free Meals Program Act of 2023 which would have also provided universal free school meals to students and raised the school meal reimbursement rate. The bill never made it out of the U.S. House.

At the state level, a handful of states have passed their own laws to provide free meals at school to all students, including California, Maine and Minnesota. School nutrition operators in those states have seen increased participation and a more positive school culture since they began offering free meals to all.

See which states currently offer universal free meals via the map below: