# No Hungry Kids in Schools Act

This bill creates a new option for states to provide free school meals to all students at certain schools without requiring families to fill out eligibility forms. Currently, schools can offer free meals to all students if enough families in that school qualify based on income, but this process requires individual applications and paperwork. The new "statewide community eligibility" program lets states bypass this by having the state government itself pay the difference in federal reimbursement rates, allowing schools to serve free meals to everyone regardless of family income.

Here's how it works in practice: If a state chooses to participate, it can essentially say "we'll cover the cost difference" so that schools get paid the full federal reimbursement rate for every meal served, as if all students qualified for free meals. This means a student whose family makes too much money to qualify for free meals under normal rules could still eat for free at school. The state would use its own money to make up the difference between what the federal government reimburses and what the meals actually cost.

The main benefit is eliminating the stigma and paperwork barrier that keeps some kids from getting free meals. Families wouldn't need to prove their income or fill out applications—every child at participating schools would simply get a free lunch. This could help catch students who qualify but whose families don't apply, or who feel embarrassed about using the program. The bill takes effect starting in the 2023-2024 school year, but only for states that decide to participate and are willing to fund the program with their own money.

No Hungry Kids in Schools Act

Porter, Katie

No Hungry Kids in Schools ActThis bill directs the Department of Agriculture&nbsp;(USDA) to establish an option for states to utilize a statewide Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) for USDA school meal programs. (The CEP allows eligible schools, groups of schools, and school districts the option to offer free breakfast and lunch to all enrolled students without collecting household applications.)Specifically, USDA must establish a statewide CEP option that may be used by a state agency. The state agency must provide state (nonfederal) funding to local educational agencies to reimburse applicable schools at the free reimbursement rate for 100% of the meals served.Eligibility for the statewide CEP must be based on a statewide calculation of the percentage of identified enrolled students, regardless of a school's local educational agency. Further, the bill lowers the CEP participation threshold for a statewide CEP to an identified student percentage (ISP) of zero, from 40%. The ISP is the percentage of students who are eligible for free school meals without a household application, primarily those who are directly certified through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).In&nbsp;addition, the bill specifies that the reimbursement multiplier for school meals remains at the current level of 1.6. The reimbursement multiplier is used to calculate how many meals will be reimbursed at the free meal rate.