S. 1431 — School Meal Modernization and Hunger Elimination Act

This section revises direct certification requirements under the National School Lunch Program by (1) limiting certain performance improvement measures for states to not more than 3 school years and (2) renaming the "Discretionary certification" provision as "Direct certification of additional low-income children," changing it from discretionary to mandatory (including for schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Education), and expanding the list of eligible children to include (iii) children placed with caregivers through involvement of a state or Tribal child welfare agency under parts B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act; (iv) children receiving adoption assistance payments under section 473(a) of the Social Security Act or similar state programs; (v) children receiving kinship guardianship assistance payments under section 473(d) of the Social Security Act or similar state programs, without regard to prior foster care status; (vi) children in families living in low-income dedicated housing with a full-time grandparent or other older caregiver, or receiving housing assistance under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996; and (F) children receiving Supplemental Security Income under title XVI of the Social Security Act. (Direct certification automatically qualifies identified low-income children for free school meals without household applications.)

This section revises eligibility determination rules under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP)—which provides free or reduced-price lunches to low-income students—by (1) requiring a new local educational agency (LEA) to honor a free or reduced-price meal eligibility determination made by the original LEA for a transferring child ("covered child"), including the original period plus a one-year extension if the child began living during the prior 12 months with a grandparent or other relative caregiver who has legal authority (e.g., via consent affidavit or power of attorney), legal custody, or has commenced custody proceedings; (2) requiring school food authorities to extend such eligibility determinations by one year for children meeting the same relative caregiver criteria; and (3) establishing retroactive reimbursement, back to the first day of the school year, for LEA meal claims reflecting mid-year changes from reduced-price to free eligibility (via revised previously submitted claims) or from ineligible to free or reduced-price eligibility (via new claims), with the Secretary reimbursing LEAs and LEAs refunding affected households for fees paid prior to the eligibility change.

This section expands the categories of children automatically eligible (i.e., directly certified without an application) for free lunches under the National School Lunch Program by adding to the list in section 9(b)(12)(A)(vii) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act: (1) children placed with a caregiver through involvement of a state child welfare agency under part B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or a Tribal child welfare agency; (2) children receiving adoption assistance payments under section 473(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)) or similar state programs; (3) children receiving kinship guardianship assistance payments under section 473(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(d)) or similar state programs, regardless of prior foster care status; and (4) children in families living in low-income dedicated housing with a full-time grandparent or other older caregiver, or receiving housing or assistance under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.). The section also makes conforming amendments to section 9(d)(2) to update verification requirements and cross-references.

This section requires each state, for school years beginning July 1, 2025, and thereafter, to enter into agreements with its Medicaid agency (or agencies) to enable local educational agencies to directly certify eligible children for free or reduced-price lunches under the National School Lunch Act and free or reduced-price breakfasts under the Child Nutrition Act without further application. It revises the definition of eligible child to include (1) a child receiving Medicaid benefits from a family with income not exceeding 133% of the poverty line (for free meals) or the reduced-price meals income level, or a member of such child's household; and (2) a child receiving Medicaid based on foster care assistance under part E of title IV of the Social Security Act, adoption assistance under section 473(b) of such Act, or certain other mandatory coverage categories. (As background, direct certification matches data from means-tested programs such as Medicaid to automatically enroll low-income children in federally subsidized school meals, reducing paperwork and stigma while increasing participation.)

This section requires the Commissioner of Social Security to provide local educational agencies with data necessary to directly certify children receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits under existing authorities in paragraphs (5) and (12)(A) of section 9(b), pursuant to data-sharing agreements between the Commissioner and states. (Direct certification under the National School Lunch Program automatically qualifies low-income children—including SSI recipients—for free school meals without a separate household application.)

This section establishes a grant program, technical assistance, and mandatory funding of $28 million (available until expended) to improve direct certification rates—i.e., the percentage of children eligible for free school meals via SNAP or other specified programs who are automatically certified without applications—for the National School Lunch Program. (1) The Secretary of Agriculture must award competitive grants to State agencies and Tribal organizations (as defined in 25 U.S.C. 5304), prioritizing those with the lowest rates, for costs including technology improvements, technical assistance to local educational agencies, system implementation or revisions (including equipment), and coordination with public benefits programs (e.g., feasibility studies under section 18(c) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act). (2) Separate grants are required for States and Tribal organizations administering the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR, 7 U.S.C. 2013(b)) to establish or improve direct certification rates for children in participating households, with uses mirroring the general grants; of the $28 million transfer from the Treasury on October 1, 2025, at least $2 million is for these FDPIR grants and no more than $3 million for technical assistance to grant recipients and other eligible entities.

This section enhances the community eligibility provision (CEP) of the National School Lunch Program—which allows high-poverty schools or school districts to serve free lunches (and breakfasts, if offered) to all students and receive reimbursements based on a multiplier applied to the percentage of directly certified students—by (1) expanding the counting period for directly certified students from a snapshot as of April 1 to the period beginning April 1 and ending on the last day of the prior or covered school year (i.e., the school year before electing CEP); (2) increasing the reimbursement multiplier to 2.5 (from 1.6) for each school year beginning on or after July 1, 2025; (3) simplifying continuation requirements by eliminating the June 30 notice deadline and specifying that counts of identified students for grace-year eligibility begin on or after April 1; and (4) making a conforming amendment.

This section establishes statewide free universal school meals demonstration projects in up to 5 selected states, under which the Secretary provides school meals at no charge to every student at eligible schools (i.e., schools participating in both the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, excluding residential child care institutions), beginning no later than July 1, 2026. (Thus, eligible schools do not collect free and reduced-price lunch applications and serve all meals free.) State selection prioritizes states based on (1) childhood poverty levels, (2) implementation of community eligibility under subparagraph (F), (3) direct certification rates, (4) commitment to local technical assistance, and (5) non-Federal funding commitments. For special assistance payments (in lieu of other payments under this paragraph), selected states receive the free meal rate for a percentage of all reimbursable meals served in eligible schools equal to 1.9 multiplied by the percentage of identified students (i.e., directly certified students under subparagraph (F)) from the prior school year (first project year) or the higher of the prior or pre-project year (subsequent years), up to 100%; remaining meals are reimbursed at the section 4 paid rate. Selected states must provide non-Federal funding to ensure local educational agencies receive the free rate for at least 90% of meals served.

This section amends state performance reporting requirements under the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 1758a(b))—which measures states' success in directly certifying children receiving SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, or foster care benefits for free school meals—by requiring states identified under 42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(4)(F)(ii)(I) (i.e., those needing improvement in direct certification rates) to describe in their report (1) technical assistance provided to the state and (2) progress made in implementing measures and meeting goals specified in 42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(4)(F)(iii)(II)(aa)-(cc).