S 993119th CongressIn Committee

School Lunch Debt Cancellation Act of 2025

Introduced: Mar 12, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The School Lunch Debt Cancellation Act of 2025 would require the Secretary of Agriculture to cancel all outstanding school meal debts owed by households as of the date of enactment, for both the national school lunch program (including community eligibility provisions) and the school breakfast program, within 180 days. The canceled debt would be paid using funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to the local educational authorities that hold the debts, and households would receive confirmation of the cancellation. The bill also adds explicit statutory authority to cancel such debts and directs CCC funds to be used to support additional nutrition programs, notably expanding the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) through 2030 and allowing CCC funds to be used to carry out the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP). In short, it forgives existing school-meal debt and broadens CCC-supported nutrition programs.

Key Points

1Cancel all household debts for school meals under the National School Lunch Act (including community eligibility) and the School Breakfast Program within 180 days of enactment; debts are forgiven for those eligible as of the enactment date.
2CCC funds will be used to pay the amount of canceled debt to the local educational authorities owed by the households; households receive formal confirmation of the cancellation.
3Adds new debt-cancellation authority to the Russell National School Lunch Act, allowing the Secretary to cancel debts and to use CCC funds for payments and notifications to households.
4Expands use of CCC funds for nutrition programs: extends the CSFP funding period to 2030 and permits CCC funds to be used alongside Treasury funds; explicitly authorizes CCC funds to carry out EFAP.
5For EFAP and CSFP, CCC funds may be used "as necessary" to administer and support these programs, broadening the funding toolkit beyond traditional Treasury allocations.

Impact Areas

Primary: Households with existing school meal debt (benefiting from immediate debt forgiveness); local educational authorities (LEAs) that collect and would have received debt payments; school nutrition programs (NSLP and SBP) administering debt relief and related communications.Secondary: Low-income and hungry or food-insecure families who rely on school meals and emergency nutrition programs; state and local governments coordinating LEA payments; emergency food networks and providers (through EFAP expansion); CCC as a funding vehicle for nutrition programs (potential reallocation of CCC resources).Additional impacts: Administrative processes (notification to households, debt reconciliation), potential budgetary implications for CCC and related nutrition programs, and possible implications for district-level accounting and debt records.Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC): A government corporation that provides funds and credit to support USDA nutrition programs and related activities.Local Educational Authority (LEA): Typically, a school district or other entity that operates public schools and administers school meal programs.National School Lunch Act and Child Nutrition Act: Federal laws governing school meals and breakfasts, including provisions like Community Eligibility in certain schools.CSFP and EFAP: Nutrition programs aimed at providing supplemental foods to eligible populations and emergency food assistance, respectively.

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