To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to enhance direct certification under the school lunch program.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill expands direct certification for school meals - expands categories of children eligible for automatic free meal certification, expands extended eligibility for transferred children - ensures meal eligibility transfers between school districts and extends for children with new caregivers, and expands automatic eligibility expansion - adds new categories to automatic eligibility for free school meals. It relies on benefit entitlement, eligibility expansion, eligibility portability, and eligibility extension. The main policy areas are Social Welfare, Education, Finance, and Agriculture.
Who Benefits and How
Children receiving kinship guardianship assistance payments would be affected, Children receiving adoption assistance payments would be affected, and School food service providers could gain revenue opportunities.
Who Bears the Burden and How
USDA (Federal Government) could face higher costs, State education agencies would take on compliance duties, and Local educational agencies (receiving districts) would take on compliance duties.
Key Provisions
- Expands direct certification for school meals - expands categories of children eligible for automatic free meal certification.
- Expands extended eligibility for transferred children - ensures meal eligibility transfers between school districts and extends for children with new caregivers.
- Expands automatic eligibility expansion - adds new categories to automatic eligibility for free school meals.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
The bill expands direct certification for school meals - expands categories of children eligible for automatic free meal certification, expands extended eligibility for transferred children - ensures meal eligibility transfers between school districts and extends for children with new caregivers, and expands automatic eligibility expansion - adds new categories to automatic eligibility for free school meals.
Key Policy Areas
Social Welfare, Education, Finance, Agriculture
Primary Purpose
The bill expands direct certification for school meals - expands categories of children eligible for automatic free meal certification, expands extended eligibility for transferred children - ensures meal eligibility transfers between school districts and extends for children with new caregivers, and expands automatic eligibility expansion - adds new categories to automatic eligibility for free school meals.
Policy Domains
Whole bill
Identified Gains
- Children receiving kinship guardianship assistance payments
- Children receiving adoption assistance payments
- School food service providers
- Native American children in tribal housing programs
- Native American children in tribal housing
Identified Costs
- USDA (Federal Government)
- State education agencies
- Local educational agencies (receiving districts)
- School food authorities
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMrs. Hayes (for herself, Mr. Bacon, and Ms. Ross) introduced …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Children in grandparent-headed households in low-income housing, Children in low-income housing with grandparent caregivers, Native American children in tribal housing
Children who transfer between school districts, Local educational agencies (receiving districts), Schools operated by Bureau of Indian Education
Positive-direction: Children who transfer between school districts, Schools operated by Bureau of Indian Education
Negative-direction: Local educational agencies (receiving districts), State education agencies
Children placed with grandparent or relative caregivers, Children receiving kinship guardianship assistance payments
School food authorities, School food service providers
Positive-direction: School food service providers
Negative-direction: School food authorities
Children receiving adoption assistance payments
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology