United States HR 8728: Feed Our Kids Act of 2026

Bill Text

I 
119THCONGRESS 
2
DSESSION 
H. R. 8728 
To  amend  the  Child  Nutrition  Act  of  1966  and  the  Richard  B.  Russell  
National  School  Lunch  Act  to  make  breakfasts  and  lunches  free  for  
all children, and for other purposes. 
IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  
MAY11, 2026 
Mr.  G
OTTHEIMER(for  himself,  Mr.  SOTO,  and  Ms.  PETTERSEN)  introduced  
the  following  bill;  which  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Education  and  
Workforce 
A  BILL  
To  amend  the  Child  Nutrition  Act  of  1966  and  the  Richard  
B.  Russell  National  School  Lunch  Act  to  make  break-
fasts  and  lunches  free  for  all  children,  and  for  other  
purposes. 
Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
(a)  S
HORTTITLE.—This  Act  may  be  cited  as  the  4
‘‘Feed Our Kids Act of 2026’’. 5
(b) T
ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6
this Act is as follows: 7
Sec.  1.  Short title; table of contents. 
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Sec.  2.  Effective date. 
TITLE  I—SCHOOL  BREAKFAST  PROGRAM  
Sec.  101.  Free school breakfast program. 
TITLE  II—SCHOOL  LUNCH  PROGRAM  
Sec.  201.  Apportionment to States. 
Sec.  202.  Nutritional and other program requirements. 
Sec.  203.  Special assistance program. 
Sec.  204.  Price for a paid lunch. 
Sec.  205.  Summer food service program for children. 
Sec.  206.  Child and adult care food program. 
Sec.  207.  Meals and supplements for children in afterschool care. 
Sec.  208.  Pilot projects. 
Sec.  209.  Fresh fruit and vegetable program. 
Sec.  210.  Training,  technical  assistance,  and  Food  Service  Management  Insti-
tute. 
Sec.  211.  Reimbursement of school meal delinquent debt program. 
Sec.  212.  Conforming amendments. 
TITLE  III—REPORT  
Sec.  301.  Report on free school meal programs. 
SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
1
Unless  otherwise  provided,  this  Act,  and  the  amend-2
ments  made  by  this  Act,  shall  take  effect  1  year  after  the  3
date of enactment of this Act. 4
TITLE I—SCHOOL BREAKFAST 5
PROGRAM 6
SEC. 101. FREE SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM. 7
(a)  I
NGENERAL.—Section  4(a)  of  the  Child  Nutri-8
tion  Act  of  1966  (42  U.S.C.  1773(a))  is  amended,  in  the  9
first sentence— 10
(1)  by  striking  ‘‘is  hereby’’  and  inserting  ‘‘are’’;  11
and 12
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(2)  by  inserting  ‘‘to  provide  free  breakfast  to  all  1
children  enrolled  at  those  schools’’  before  ‘‘in  accord-2
ance’’. 3
(b)  A
PPORTIONMENT   TOSTATES.—Section  4(b)  of  4
the  Child  Nutrition  Act  of  1966  (42  U.S.C.  1773(b))  is  5
amended— 6
(1) in paragraph (1)— 7
(A)   in   subparagraph   (A)(i),   by   striking   8
subclause (II) and inserting the following: 9
‘‘(II)  the  national  average  pay-10
ment  for  free  breakfasts,  as  specified  11
in subparagraph (B).’’; 12
(B)  by  striking  subparagraph  (B)  and  in-13
serting the following: 14
‘‘(B) P
AYMENT  AMOUNTS.— 15
‘‘(i)  I
N  GENERAL.—The  national  aver-16
age  payment  for  each  free  breakfast  shall  17
be  $2.80,  adjusted  annually  for  inflation  in  18
accordance  with  clause  (ii)  and  rounded  in  19
accordance with clause (iii). 20
‘‘(ii) I
NFLATION  ADJUSTMENT.— 21
‘‘(I)  I
N   GENERAL.—The  annual  22
inflation  adjustment  under  clause  (i)  23
shall  reflect  changes  in  the  cost  of  op-24
erating   the   free   breakfast   program   25
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under  this  section,  as  indicated  by  the  1
change  in  the  Consumer  Price  Index  2
for  food  away  from  home  for  all  urban  3
consumers. 4
‘‘(II)  B
ASIS.—Each  inflation  an-5
nual  adjustment  under  clause  (i)  shall  6
reflect  the  changes  in  the  Consumer  7
Price  Index  for  food  away  from  home  8
for  the  most  recent  12-month  period  9
for which that data is available. 10
‘‘(iii)  R
OUNDING.—On  July  1,  2026,  11
and  annually  thereafter,  the  national  aver-12
age  payment  rate  for  free  breakfast  shall  13
be— 14
‘‘(I)    adjusted    to    the    nearest    15
lower-cent increment; and 16
‘‘(II)   based   on   the   unrounded   17
amounts  for  the  preceding  12-month  18
period.’’; 19
(C)   by   striking   subparagraphs   (C)   and   20
(E); and 21
(D)  by  redesignating  subparagraph  (D)  as  22
subparagraph (C); 23
(2) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3); 24
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