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To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require participation in the summer EBT program as a condition of participating in the school lunch program, and for other purposes.
Introduced Jun 11, 2026 · Last action Jun 11, 2026 — Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
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Summary
Families would be required to participate in the summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) program as a condition of receiving school lunch benefits. This means that families would need to use the EBT card to purchase food during the summer months. The goal is to help low-income families access healthy food during the summer when school meals are not available.
Full bill text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9265 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9265
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require
participation in the summer EBT program as a condition of participating
in the school lunch program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 11, 2026
Mr. Carson (for himself, Ms. Norton, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Brown, and Ms.
Titus) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require
participation in the summer EBT program as a condition of participating
in the school lunch program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SUMMER EBT PARTICIPATION.
(a) Program Participation.--Section 13A(a) of the Richard B.
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1762(a)) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking ``electing to participate in such
program'' and inserting ``described in paragraph (2)'';
(B) by striking ``beginning with summer 2024 and
annually'';
(C) by striking ``thereafter''; and
(D) by striking ``The Secretary shall'' and
inserting the following:
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall'';
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as
subparagraphs (A) and (B); and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) States and covered indian tribal organizations.--
``(A) Summers 2024-26.--With respect to summers
2024, 2025, and 2026, States and covered Indian Tribal
organizations described in this paragraph are States
and covered Indian Tribal organizations electing to
participate in the program established under paragraph
(1).
``(B) Summer 2027 and beyond.--With respect to
summer 2027 and each summer thereafter, States and
covered Indian Tribal organizations described in this
paragraph are--
``(i) States participating in the school
lunch program under this Act; and
``(ii) covered Indian Tribal
organizations--
``(I) participating in the school
lunch program under this Act; or
``(II) electing to participate in
the program established under paragraph
(1).''.
(b) Program Requirements.--Section 13A(c)(1) of the Richard B.
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1762(c)(1)) is amended, in
the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking ``elect to''.
(c) Administrative and Management Plan.--
(1) In general.--Section 13A(g) of the Richard B. Russell
National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1762(g)) is amended--
(A) by striking ``Beginning in 2024'' and inserting
the following:
``(1) Summers 2024-26.--With respect to the years 2024,
2025, and 2026''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Summer 2027 and beyond.--Beginning in 2027, each
State required to participate in the program under this section
shall comply with the requirements under section 13(n)(3).''.
(2) Conforming amendments.--Section 13(n) of the Richard B.
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(n)(2)) is
amended--
(A) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in the heading for such paragraph, by
striking ``and beyond'' and inserting ``through
summer 2026''; and
(ii) in the matter preceding subparagraph
(A), by striking ``Beginning in 2024'' and
inserting ``With respect to the years 2024,
2025, and 2026''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Summer 2027 and beyond.--Beginning in 2027, each
State desiring to participate in the program under this section
or required to participate in the summer EBT program under
section 13A shall--
``(A) with respect to the program under this
section, notify the Secretary by January 1 of each year
of its intent to administer such program; and
``(B) with respect to the program under this
section and the summer EBT program under section 13A,
submit for approval by February 15 a management and
administration plan for the applicable program for the
fiscal year, which shall include, as applicable, the
information described in subparagraphs (A) through (F)
of paragraph (2).''.
(d) Participation Requirement.--Section 13A of the Richard B.
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1762(g)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (i); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (g) the following:
``(h) Participation Requirement.--Beginning with summer 2027, a
State that participates in the school lunch program under this Act
shall participate in the program under this section.''.
<all>Official legislative text sourced from the public record (cached on CivicsHQ).
Official source
View the original bill, actions, and full legislative record on Congress.gov.
Status
In Committee
- 1Introduced
- 2Committee
- 3Floor
- 4Passed
- 5Signed
Timeline reflects current normalized status only. Full action history is not yet stored in the API.
Topics
EducationHealthcareSocial Services
Sponsors
- Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7]DHouseIN
Votes
Voting records are not yet available for this bill.