Summer Meals REACH Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9587 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9587

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to eliminate
    certain requirements under the summer food service program for
                   children, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 2, 2026

Mrs. McIver (for herself and Mrs. Hayes) 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 eliminate
    certain requirements under the summer food service program for
                   children, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Summer Meals Reaching Every Area's
Child Hunger Act of 2026'' or the ``Summer Meals REACH Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. SUMMER FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN AMENDMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 13 of the Richard B. Russell National
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(D), by inserting ``, except
                that meals may be noncongregate'' before the period at
                the end;
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the
                following:
                    ``(C) Eligibility.--All children shall be eligible
                to participate in the program under this section.'';
                    (C) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking
                        ``and'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking the
                        period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) conduct food service monitoring onsite or
                offsite.'';
                    (D) in paragraph (5), by striking ``only for'' and
                all that follows through the period at the end and
                inserting ``for meals served to all children.''; and
                    (E) in paragraph (13)--
                            (i) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as
                        follows:
                    ``(A) In general.--Beginning not later than the
                first summer that begins after the date of the
                enactment of the Summer Meals REACH Act of 2026,
                program meals under this section may be made available
                for noncongregate consumption.'';
                            (ii) by striking subparagraphs (B), (C),
                        (D), and (F);
                            (iii) by inserting after subparagraph (A)
                        the following:
                    ``(B) Priority.--States shall--
                            ``(i) identify areas with no congregate
                        meal service that could benefit the most from
                        the provision of noncongregate meals; and
                            ``(ii) encourage participating service
                        institutions in those areas to provide
                        noncongregate meals as appropriate.'';
                            (iv) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as
                        subparagraph (C); and
                            (v) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the
                date of the enactment of the Summer Meals REACH Act of
                2026, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations (which
                shall include interim final regulations) to carry out
                the amendments made by such Act to this section,
                including provisions to--
                            ``(i) ensure the integrity of noncongregate
                        meals; and
                            ``(ii) to incorporate best practices and
                        lessons learned from--
                                    ``(I) noncongregate demonstration
                                projects under section 749(g) of the
                                Agriculture, Rural Development, Food
                                and Drug Administration, and Related
                                Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010
                                (Public Law 111-80; 123 Stat. 2132);
                                and
                                    ``(II) the noncongregate meals
                                provided pursuant to this paragraph
                                prior to the date of the enactment of
                                the Summer Meals REACH Act of 2026.'';
                                and
            (2) in subsection (f)(3), by striking ``, except that'' and
        all that follows through ``section''.
    (b) Regulations.--The Secretary shall issue or revise regulations
in accordance with the amendments made by this section, including
paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 225.15(d) of title 7, Code of Federal
Regulations.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 13(c) of the Richard B. Russell
National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (2); and
            (2) by striking ``(c)(1) Payments'' and inserting the
        following:
    ``(c) Payments.--Payments''.
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