119th Congress · introduced in the House · Apr 7, 2025
Expanding Access to School Meals Act of 2025
Official title from Congress.gov
Latest action (Apr 7, 2025): Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
View on Congress.govPolicy area: Agriculture and Food
Congressional Research Service summary, version: Introduced in House (Apr 7, 2025)
Expanding Access to School Meals Act of 2025
This bill increases student access to free school lunches and breakfasts under the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program of the Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Specifically, the bill expands program eligibility to include students in households with income at or below 224% of the federal poverty level. (Currently, students in households with income at or below 130% are eligible.) The bill also eliminates the reduced price school lunch and breakfast programs and prohibits USDA from providing reimbursements for reduced price programs.
States may use Medicaid participation data to directly certify students for free school meals. (Direct certification allows schools to approve meals without the need for a separate application for children who receive assistance under other programs.) Under current law, states may apply to participate in a USDA demonstration project to directly certify children for free and reduced price meals based on household income data acquired through Medicaid.
Further, the bill increases the number of free meals a school in a high-poverty area may be reimbursed for at the free-meal rate under the Community Eligibility Provision. (This provision allows eligible schools, groups of schools, and school districts to offer free meals at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting separate applications.) Specifically, the bill increases from 1.6% to 2.5% the reimbursement multiplier, which is used to calculate how many meals USDA will reimburse the school for at the free meal rate.
Includes amendment, cloture, and procedural votes. Each is labeled with its exact question; only a passage question is a vote to pass the bill.
No recorded roll calls on this bill in coverage.
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Actions from Congress.gov, newest first.
LD-2 reports whose issue descriptions explicitly cite this bill (bill type and number validated against Congress.gov records). A citation does not establish the client's position or any contact with a member.
Loading lobbying reportsCoverage: reports for 2025 onward, posted Jan 1, 2025 through Oct 24, 2026.
9 citations.
FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER · lobbying firm or registrant: FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER
2026 Q3 report (Jul 1, 2026 – Sep 30, 2026) · posted Oct 21, 2026 · issue area: Agriculture
$21,320
Spent on own lobbying
…aregivers, Acess and Responsible Expansion (CARE) for Kids Act of 2025 HR 5753 - Healthy Meals Help Kids Learn Act HR 6065/S. 3127 - Farm to School Act of 2025 HR 2680 - The Expanding Access to School Meals Act HR 2402 - No Hunger Kids in School Act S. 1431 - School Meal Modernization and Hunger Elimination Act HR 5731 - Scho…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER · lobbying firm or registrant: FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER
2026 Q3 report (Jul 1, 2026 – Sep 30, 2026) · posted Oct 21, 2026 · issue area: Education
$21,320
Spent on own lobbying
…regivers, Access and Responsible Expansion (CARE) for Kids Act of 2025 HR 5753 - Healthy Meals Help Kids Learn Act HR 6065/S. 3127 - Farm to School Act of 2025 HR 2680 - The Expanding Access to School Meals Act HR 2402 - No Hunger Kids in School Act S. 1431 - School Meal Modernization and Hunger Elimination Act HR 5731 - Scho…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER · lobbying firm or registrant: FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER
2026 Q2 report (Apr 1, 2026 – Jun 30, 2026) · posted Aug 7, 2026 · issue area: Education
$41,382
Spent on own lobbying
…regivers, Access and Responsible Expansion (CARE) for Kids Act of 2025 HR 5753 - Healthy Meals Help Kids Learn Act HR 6065/S. 3127 - Farm to School Act of 2025 HR 2680 - The Expanding Access to School Meals Act HR 2402 - No Hunger Kids in School Act S. 1431 - School Meal Modernization and Hunger Elimination Act HR 5731 - Scho…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER · lobbying firm or registrant: FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER
2026 Q2 report (Apr 1, 2026 – Jun 30, 2026) · posted Aug 7, 2026 · issue area: Agriculture
$41,382
Spent on own lobbying
…aregivers, Acess and Responsible Expansion (CARE) for Kids Act of 2025 HR 5753 - Healthy Meals Help Kids Learn Act HR 6065/S. 3127 - Farm to School Act of 2025 HR 2680 - The Expanding Access to School Meals Act HR 2402 - No Hunger Kids in School Act S. 1431 - School Meal Modernization and Hunger Elimination Act HR 5731 - Scho…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
HOUSTON FOOD BANK · lobbying firm or registrant: HOUSTON FOOD BANK
2026 Q1 report (Jan 1, 2026 – Mar 31, 2026) · posted May 18, 2026 · issue area: Agriculture
Amount not reported
…m Pilot Act) which would create a 6 year Medicare pilot for individuals at high risk of hospital readmission if they don't have access to the proper nutrition; HR 2680 (Expanding Access to School Meals) which would eliminate the reduced price lunch category and codify Medicaid eligibility as a certification for free lunch; HR…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number matches Congress.gov records and the bill predates the report; no title was cited with it. View filing
FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER · lobbying firm or registrant: FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER
2026 Q1 report (Jan 1, 2026 – Mar 31, 2026) · posted Apr 20, 2026 · issue area: Agriculture
$28,721
Spent on own lobbying
…aregivers, Acess and Responsible Expansion (CARE) for Kids Act of 2025 HR 5753 - Healthy Meals Help Kids Learn Act HR 6065/S. 3127 - Farm to School Act of 2025 HR 2680 - The Expanding Access to School Meals Act HR 2402 - No Hunger Kids in School Act S. 1431 - School Meal Modernization and Hunger Elimination Act HR 5731 - Scho…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER · lobbying firm or registrant: FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER
2026 Q1 report (Jan 1, 2026 – Mar 31, 2026) · posted Apr 20, 2026 · issue area: Education
$28,721
Spent on own lobbying
…regivers, Access and Responsible Expansion (CARE) for Kids Act of 2025 HR 5753 - Healthy Meals Help Kids Learn Act HR 6065/S. 3127 - Farm to School Act of 2025 HR 2680 - The Expanding Access to School Meals Act HR 2402 - No Hunger Kids in School Act S. 1431 - School Meal Modernization and Hunger Elimination Act HR 5731 - Scho…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER · lobbying firm or registrant: FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER
2025 Q4 report (Oct 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025) · posted Jan 21, 2026 · issue area: Agriculture
$33,828
Spent on own lobbying
…aregivers, Acess and Responsible Expansion (CARE) for Kids Act of 2025 HR 5753 - Healthy Meals Help Kids Learn Act HR 6065/S. 3127 - Farm to School Act of 2025 HR 2680 - The Expanding Access to School Meals Act HR 2402 - No Hunger Kids in School Act S. 1431 - School Meal Modernization and Hunger Elimination Act HR 5731 - Scho…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER · lobbying firm or registrant: FOOD RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER
2025 Q4 report (Oct 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025) · posted Jan 21, 2026 · issue area: Education
$33,828
Spent on own lobbying
…regivers, Access and Responsible Expansion (CARE) for Kids Act of 2025 HR 5753 - Healthy Meals Help Kids Learn Act HR 6065/S. 3127 - Farm to School Act of 2025 HR 2680 - The Expanding Access to School Meals Act HR 2402 - No Hunger Kids in School Act S. 1431 - School Meal Modernization and Hunger Elimination Act HR 5731 - Scho…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing