Official Summaries

School Lunch Debt Cancellation Act of 2025

This bill (1) requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to cancel school meal debts, and (2) expands USDA's authority to use Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) and the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

Specifically, USDA must cancel and eliminate all household school meal debts (as of the date of the bill's enactment) under the school breakfast and lunch programs. USDA must also pay the amount of the cancelled debt to each local educational authority using CCC funds.

The bill also reauthorizes the CSFP through FY2030 and allows USDA to use CCC funds for the program. As background, CSFP works to improve the health of low-income persons at least 60 years of age by supplementing their diets with nutritious USDA foods.

In addition, the bill specifies that USDA may use CCC funds for all aspects of TEFAP. In recent years, USDA has used CCC funds for specific TEFAP activities. As background, through TEFAP, USDA purchases a variety of food commodities. TEFAP provides those food commodities (and cash support for storage and distribution costs) to state agencies that distribute the food to local emergency feeding organizations (e.g., food banks).

Current Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 993 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 993

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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
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,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    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
            ``(2) shall--
                    ``(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.''.
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