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119-s-4518119th CongressWALLET
Universal School Meals Program Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Senator Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Introduced
Summary
This bill would create universal free school meals for all children in participating schools and replace means-tested free or reduced-price meal rules with a single entitlement. It would also set up a new ESEA-based poverty measure and a Summer EBT cash benefit to extend nutrition support into the summer months.
Show full summary
- Families and students: Would guarantee free breakfast and lunch at participating schools and add a Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer of $60 per eligible child per month in 2026, with future amounts indexed to diet costs.
- Child care and afterschool providers: Would expand the Child and Adult Care Food Program to more private nonresidential care and require all CACFP meals be free. Reimbursements would follow free-meal rates, with supplements starting at $1.28 and afterschool meals at $5.42, both adjusted for inflation.
- Schools and program administrators: Would replace free-or-reduced-price lunch counts with an ESEA-based economically disadvantaged student measure for eligibility and funding. The bill would prohibit debt collection and shaming for meal charges and create a Delinquent Debt Reimbursement Program to clear prior meal debt within 180 days of the program's start, with a Comptroller General report due within two years.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 5 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
New school poverty measure and targeting
If enacted, the bill would create a new ESEA-based "economically disadvantaged student" measure and let schools use a short template survey, maintained records, and direct certification to identify those students. The Education Secretary would use that measure to set a new State allocation factor each year, and pilots and targeted programs would use the new metric instead of old free-or-reduced-price meal counts. The bill would also refocus the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program toward high-need and Tribal schools and make related SNAP and program technical changes, including repealing a special assistance section. The survey must be ready within 180 days and most changes take effect one year after enactment.
Free school breakfasts and lunches
If enacted, every child in a participating school would get free breakfast and free lunch. The bill would remove the statutory "reduced-price" meal category so schools would not charge reduced-price fees in participating schools. These changes would begin one year after the law is enacted.
Monthly summer cash for eligible kids
If enacted, the bill would create a Summer EBT cash benefit for eligible children. For calendar year 2026 the benefit would be $60 per eligible child per month. Starting in 2027 the monthly amount would be adjusted each year by the change in the Food and Nutrition Act cost-of-diet measure and rounded down to the nearest dollar. Eligibility would be limited to children who live in a participating State or on participating Tribal land and who are identified as economically disadvantaged under the Education Act rules.
More free child care and summer meals
If enacted, the Child and Adult Care Food Program would cover more private, nonresidential child care and out-of-school day care and require all CACFP meals and supplements to be free to participants. CACFP supplements would start at $1.28 and be indexed for inflation, and providers could claim no more than 3 meals and 1 supplement per child per day. If enacted, the Summer Food Service Program would let sites be paid for meals during May through September, school breaks, teacher in-service days, and certain closure days, with the same 3 meals plus 1 supplement per-child cap. These changes would begin one year after enactment.
No meal debt collection; debt relief
If enacted, schools that participate in the breakfast or lunch programs could not collect unpaid meal charges or single out students to shame them. The bill would require the Agriculture Secretary to set up a program to reimburse schools for delinquent meal debt that existed as of the Act's effective date. The Secretary must set up the reimbursement program soon after the Act's effective date and provide reimbursements within about 180 days after that effective date.
School meal payment and local pay
If enacted, the bill would set the national federal payment at $3.28 per free breakfast and $5.42 per free lunch. Those baseline amounts and extra local-food payments ($0.30 lunch/supper, $0.21 breakfast, $0.08 supplement) would be adjusted each year by the food-away-from-home CPI and rounded down on July 1, 2026 and each July 1 after. The bill would also require states to send school breakfast funds to schools chosen by the state education agency to help run breakfast programs. These payment and disbursement rules begin one year after enactment, with the CPI rounding schedule as described.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
VT • I
Cosponsors
Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]
NY • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI]
HI • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
CT • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
OR • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Fetterman, John [D-PA]
PA • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA]
CA • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT]
VT • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA]
MA • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Kim, Andy [D-NJ]
NJ • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA]
CA • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM]
NM • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ]
NJ • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN]
MN • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD]
MD • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA]
MA • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
OR • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI]
WI • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ]
AZ • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Sen. Hickenlooper, John W. [D-CO]
CO • D
Sponsored 5/13/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov