HouseH.R. 9587119th Congress

Summer Meals REACH Act of 2026

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[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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