The House Ways and Means Committee is suggesting cutting $12 billion in school meal programs over 10 years by adjusting school qualification for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) and requiring income verification for national K-12 breakfast and lunch programs, according to a document on the committee’s budget reconciliation options.

Specifically, the committee proposed raising the minimum threshold for low-income schools and districts to qualify for CEP, which allows low-income schools to serve free meals to all students. To participate in the program, 25% of students enrolled in a school have to be certified as eligible for free school meals. The House proposal calls for a 60% threshold. 

The proposal would strip away 24,000 schools’ ability to participate in CEP, impacting over 12 million children, according to the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), a nonprofit anti-hunger advocacy group. In fact, according to a report by FRAC, participation in the CEP increased by almost 19% during the 2023-24 school year as half of all National School Lunch Program (NSLP) schools now use the provision that lets low-income schools serve free meals to all students.

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