House Bill Restricting Free School Meals Option Could Increase Food Insecurity

A child nutrition reauthorization bill (H.R. 5003) introduced on April 20, 2016 by Rep. Todd Rokita, chair of the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, includes a provision that would severely restrict schools’ eligibility for community eligibility (CEP), an option within the national school lunch and breakfast programs allowing high-poverty schools to provide meals at no charge to all students. If this bill becomes law, 7,022 schools now using community eligibility to simplify their meal programs and improve access for nearly 3.4 million low-income students could lose their CEP status.