119th CONGRESS 1st Session |
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to cancel existing school meal debt, to expand the authority of the Commodity Credit Corporation for use in nutrition assistance programming, and for other purposes.
March 12, 2025
Mr. Fetterman (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, and Mr. Welch) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to cancel existing school meal debt, to expand the authority of the Commodity Credit Corporation for use in nutrition assistance programming, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “School Lunch Debt Cancellation Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. Cancellation of school meal debt.
(a) In general.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall cancel and eliminate all debts owed by households as of the date of enactment of this Act for school meals under—
(1) the school lunch program established under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.), including through community eligibility under section 11(a)(1)(F) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(a)(1)(F)); and
(2) the school breakfast program under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).
(b) Payment of cancelled debt.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall—
(1) use the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to pay the amount of debt cancelled under subsection (a) to each local educational authority to which the debt is owed by the applicable households; and
(2) provide confirmation of the cancelled debt to each applicable household.
(c) Cancellation authority.—Section 7 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1756) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(e) School meal debt cancellation authority.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary—
“(1) may cancel and eliminate all debts owed by households for school meals under the school lunch program under this Act and the school breakfast program under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773); and
“(A) use the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to pay the amount of debt cancelled under paragraph (1) to each local educational authority to which the debt is owed by the applicable households; and
“(B) provide confirmation of the cancelled debt to each applicable household.”.
SEC. 3. Use of Commodity Credit Corporation funds for other nutrition programs.
(a) Commodity supplemental food program.—Section 4(a) of the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 (7 U.S.C. 612c note; Public Law 93–86) is amended, in the first sentence—
(1) by striking “2023” and inserting “2030”; and
(2) by inserting “and funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation” after “Treasury”.
(b) Emergency food assistance program.—Section 204 of the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7508) is amended—
(1) in subsection (b), by striking “the funds” and all that follows through “the States” and inserting “any funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation used to carry out this Act”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(c) Commodity Credit Corporation funds.—In addition to any other funds made available, of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary may use such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act.”.