School Meals for Healthy Kids Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Senator Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM]
Introduced
Summary
This bill would codify current practices that use Medicaid data to directly certify students for free or reduced-price school meals and would fix the Community Eligibility Provision multiplier at 1.6.
Show full summary
- Families and students: More children would stay automatically certified for free or reduced-price lunches and breakfasts because states that already use Medicaid data could continue that practice starting with the 2024-25 school year.
- Community Eligibility Provision schools and districts: CEP calculations would use a fixed multiplier of 1.6 each school year, aligning the formula with the methodology in effect on enactment.
- State agencies: State agencies that use Medicaid program data would be able to carry forward existing direct-certification and demonstration project practices under the same conditions that applied at the start of the 2024-25 school year.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Continue Medicaid-based school meal certification
If enacted, States that used Medicaid data for direct certification in the school year starting July 1, 2024 could keep using that data in later school years. This would allow children enrolled in Medicaid to be directly certified for free or reduced-price school lunches and breakfasts without separate meal applications. The continuation must follow the same conditions that applied at the start of the 2024–25 school year and only helps States that used Medicaid for the demonstration projects.
Higher federal payments for free-meal schools
If enacted, the bill would set the Community Eligibility Provision multiplier at 1.6 for each school year. That multiplier would be used to calculate federal meal reimbursements for schools that use the CEP free-meal option. Schools participating in CEP would likely get higher federal payments, which would support free school meals for low-income students. The change would take effect upon enactment and also locks CEP references to the rules in effect on that date.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM]
NM • D
Cosponsors
Roger Marshall
KS • R
Sponsored 11/7/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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