Loading…
H.R. 8798119th CongressIn committeeLatest action May 13, 2026Decoded by AI · checked against the record
Official title: Universal School Meals Program Act of 2026
Introduced:
Read the official bill on Congress.govThe plain-language version leads. The official text is always the reference.
HR 8798 would make school breakfast and lunch free for all students, with federal reimbursement starting at $3.28 per breakfast and $5.42 per lunch.
70-second read · 5 questions answered below
HR 8798 eliminates the current tiered system of free, reduced-price, and full-price school meals and makes breakfast and lunch free for every child at participating schools. The federal government would reimburse schools starting at $3.28 per breakfast and $5.42 per lunch, with amounts adjusted annually for food cost inflation. Schools using at least 25 percent locally grown food would receive a small additional payment per meal.
The bill affects all school-age children and their families, school cafeteria programs, and the many federal programs that currently use free and reduced-price lunch eligibility to measure child poverty. Summer programs, afterschool care programs, child care centers, and juvenile detention facilities would also be included.
Because free and reduced-price lunch status is currently used to determine eligibility for programs including workforce training, college preparation grants, child care block grants, and science education funding, the bill creates a new survey-based system to identify low-income students for those purposes. Outstanding unpaid meal debt owed by families would be canceled, with schools reimbursed by the federal government for those balances.
AI-drafted summary. Verify it against the official text before you act on it. Read the official bill on Congress.gov
Right now: a House committee is reviewing it. If the Senate changes it, it goes back to the House before reaching the President.
Latest action: — Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.