# 119-s-5429: Hot Meals for College Students Act of 2026

119-s-5429, Hot Meals for College Students Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] (D-CA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5429
- As of: 2026-10-01
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-5429
- Congress: 119
- Title: Hot Meals for College Students Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-09-17
- Sponsor: Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] (D-CA)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Agriculture and Food
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-01

## Summary

**Allows SNAP benefits to be used to buy on-campus meals for eligible college student households.** The bill would create a new on-campus meal authority with definitions, merchant rules, privacy protections, and a required evaluation to track use and barriers. - Defines who counts as an "eligible student household" and what qualifies as an "on-campus meal," including single-transaction purchases and possible online or mobile options. It explicitly excludes adding value to meal plans, stored-value top-ups, paying outstanding balances, and nonfood charges. - Lets institutions of higher education or contracted third-party operators apply to be authorized merchants that accept benefits only for on-campus meals. Authorized merchants must offer pricing parity, cannot charge fees or surcharges, and the bill adds a point-of-sale equipment cost category for consideration. - Requires the Secretary to issue regulations and guidance within 1 year covering merchant oversight, eligibility checks via the EBT system, protection of personally identifiable information, and technical assistance to states, colleges, and merchants. The Secretary must also publish a public report within 2 years describing authorization breadth, counts of eligible households and redemptions, barriers encountered, food-insecurity metrics, and recommendations. Note: The bill clarifies these changes do not alter existing college-student eligibility rules or residency determinations.

## Provisions PRIA read

- More SNAP help for college students: benefit, medium. If enacted, eligible SNAP student households would be able to use SNAP benefits to buy prepared meals sold on campus from approved on-campus merchants. The Secretary would have to issue final rules and guidance within 1 year, and the change would take effect when those rules are issued. Merchants w…

## Related bills

- 119-s-4949: Water Resources Development Act of 2026
- 119-s-2838: Protecting Our Democracy Act
- 119-s-2819: Head Start for America's Children Act
- 119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-s-5283: Momnibus Act
- 119-s-1507: Agriculture Resilience Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-s-5429 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/5429)

## Related
- [119-s-4949: Water Resources Development Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4949)
- [119-s-2838: Protecting Our Democracy Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2838)
- [119-s-2819: Head Start for America's Children Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2819)
- [119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1541)
- [119-s-5283: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5283)
- [119-s-1507: Agriculture Resilience Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1507)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5429 (as of 2026-10-01).