Families with unpaid K-12 school meal balances — covering both the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program — would have that debt fully cancelled within 180 days of enactment. The USDA Secretary is required to use Commodity Credit Corporation funds to pay off those balances directly to the school districts owed, and each affected household receives written confirmation that their debt is gone. The bill also grants the Secretary permanent authority to cancel school meal debt in the future using the same CCC funding mechanism. Beyond debt cancellation, it extends Commodity Credit Corporation funding eligibility to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program through 2030 and to the Emergency Food Assistance Program, broadening the pool of federal dollars available for nutrition assistance nationwide.
Average Household Impact
- Outstanding K-12 school meal debt — cancelled at no cost to households
Transparency & Accountability
- Household notification — written debt-cancellation confirmation required
Congressional Summary
School Lunch Debt Cancellation Act of 2025This bill (1) requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to cancel school meal debts, and (2) expands USDA's authority to use Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) and the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).Specifically, USDA must cancel and eliminate all household school meal debts (as of the date of the bill's enactment) under the school breakfast and lunch programs. USDA must also pay the amount of the cancelled debt to each local educational authority using CCC funds.The bill also reauthorizes the CSFP through FY2030 and allows USDA to use CCC funds for the program. As background, CSFP works to improve the health of low-income persons at least 60 years of age by supplementing their diets with nutritious USDA foods.In addition, the bill specifies that USDA may use CCC funds for all aspects of TEFAP. In recent years, USDA has used CCC funds for specific TEFAP activities. As background, through TEFAP, USDA purchases a variety of food commodities. TEFAP provides those food commodities (and cash support for storage and distribution costs) to state agencies that distribute the food to local emergency feeding organizations (e.g., food banks).
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-03-12
- Date Added
- 2026-05-29
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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