# 119-hr-2818: Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement Act 119-hr-2818, Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1] (D-OR); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-21). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2818 - As of: 2026-09-21 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-hr-2818 - Congress: 119 - Title: Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement Act - Status: introduced - Introduced: 2025-04-10 - Sponsor: Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1] (D-OR) - Cosponsors: 20 - Policy area: Agriculture and Food - Touches household money: yes - Last recorded action: 2026-09-21 ## Summary **This bill would modernize and streamline the Child and Adult Care Food Program**, tightening oversight for certain providers and expanding meal reimbursements to help working families access more meals for children. - Families and working parents would see limited expansion of reimbursable meals or snacks, with per-child caps such as up to 2 meals plus 1 supplement in some cases. The bill also requires a 2-year study and a report to relevant congressional committees on the prevalence, economic impact, and implementation of a third meal. - Child care providers, especially proprietary centers, would face annual eligibility determinations and a clarified, time-bound review of the program's "serious deficiency" process. New guidance or regulations due within 1 year would define reasonable margins of error, fair appeals and mediation, and limit consideration of state-only requirements. - Administrators and states would get a new Advisory Committee on Paperwork Reduction established within 180 days and required guidance within 2 years to cut duplicative forms, allow digital records and signatures, enable direct certification in all States, and modernize monitoring and audits. ## Cosponsors (20) - Rep. Mackenzie, Ryan [R-PA-7] (R-PA), 2025-04-10T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Landsman, Greg [D-OH-1] (D-OH), 2025-04-10T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA), 2025-04-10T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Sánchez, Linda T. [D-CA-38] (D-CA), 2025-04-10T00:00:00.000Z - Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2025-04-10T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Castro, Joaquin [D-TX-20] (D-TX), 2025-04-10T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12] (D-NJ), 2025-04-10T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Salinas, Andrea [D-OR-6] (D-OR), 2025-04-10T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Mannion, John W. [D-NY-22] (D-NY), 2025-04-10T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Titus, Dina [D-NV-1] (D-NV), 2025-04-10T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-2] (D-MA), 2025-04-10T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Riley, Josh [D-NY-19] (D-NY), 2025-06-24T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Escobar, Veronica [D-TX-16] (D-TX), 2025-09-03T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12] (D-MI), 2025-09-15T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Nunn, Zachary [R-IA-3] (R-IA), 2025-10-21T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Bresnahan, Robert P. [R-PA-8] (R-PA), 2025-12-19T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Hayes, Jahana [D-CT-5] (D-CT), 2026-01-08T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Whitesides, George [D-CA-27] (D-CA), 2026-05-11T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28] (D-CA), 2026-05-14T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Grijalva, Adelita S. [D-AZ-7] (D-AZ), 2026-08-20T00:00:00.000Z ## Provisions PRIA read - More paid meals on long care days: benefit, medium. Child care and afterschool programs could be paid for more meals per child. On a normal day, they could claim up to 2 meals and 1 supplement, or 1 meal and 2 supplements. If there are 8 or more hours between the first and fourth meal times, they could claim up to 3 meals and 1 supplement, or 2 meal… - Committee to cut meal program paperwork: benefit, low. The Secretary must set up a paperwork advisory committee within 180 days. It would look for ways to remove duplicate or unnecessary forms, including extra State rules. Not later than 2 years after enactment, USDA would issue guidance or rules based on its advice. Within 180 days after that, USDA wo… - New inflation index for meal payments: mixed, low. Meal reimbursement updates would use the Consumer Price Index for food away from home instead of food at home. This could make payments higher in some years and lower in others, depending on prices. The change would start upon enactment. - Fairer, clearer rules for meal violations: mixed, low. Within 1 year, the Secretary would update how serious violations are found and handled. The rules must allow a reasonable margin for human error. Providers would get independent appeals and mediation with fair timelines. Homes would get fix-it timeframes that match centers. A finding could be dismi… - Yearly eligibility checks for for-profit centers: mixed, low. For-profit child care centers in the meal program would have eligibility checked every year. This could add paperwork but give a clear, regular status for participation. The rule would start upon enactment. ## Related bills - 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026 - 119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act - 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025 - 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act - 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act - 119-hr-3514: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025 ## Sources - [119-hr-2818 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2818) ## Related - [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877) - [119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2102) - [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206) - [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262) - [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842) - [119-hr-3514: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3514) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2818 (as of 2026-09-21).