July 2, 2026
Mrs. McIver (for herself and Mrs. Hayes) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
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.
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