Virginia House Bill 686 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: Introduced on January 9 2024 - 25% progression
Action: 2024-02-13 - Left in Appropriations
Pending: House Appropriations Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Prefiled) [HTML]

School meals; availability at no cost to students. Provides that each school board shall require each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division to participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) as provided in relevant law, if applicable, and to make lunch and breakfast available to any student who requests such a meal at no cost to the student, unless the student's parent has provided written permission to the school board to withhold such a meal from the student. The bill also requires the Department of Education to reimburse each public elementary and secondary school for each school breakfast and lunch served to a student, with a maximum of one breakfast and one lunch per student per school day, and provides the formula for determining the state reimbursement rate for such meals. The bill contains provisions directing each school board to adopt policies and procedures aimed at maximizing access to federal funds available for the cost of participating in school breakfast and lunch programs and maximizing determinations of student eligibility for federal free or reduced cost meal reimbursements rates and participation in CEP. The bill also lowers the minimum identified student percentage for a school to be eligible to participate in CEP from 40 to 25 percent in accordance with the updated federal CEP regulations (7 C.F.R. § 245.9(f)(3)(i)). The bill also requires the Secretary of Education, in coordination with the Secretary of Finance, to convene a stakeholder work group to study and make recommendations on ways to avoid or mitigate the impact of offering statewide free school breakfast and lunches on other state-funded programs and to submit a report on such findings and recommendations by January 15, 2025, to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education. The bill also repeals provisions of law relating to the federal School Breakfast Program and to school meal debt that are rendered obsolete by the provisions of the bill. School meals; availability at no cost to students. Provides that each school board shall require each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division to participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) as provided in relevant law, if applicable, and to make lunch and breakfast available to any student who requests such a meal at no cost to the student, unless the student's parent has provided written permission to the school board to withhold such a meal from the student. The bill also requires the Department of Education to reimburse each public elementary and secondary school for each school breakfast and lunch served to a student, with a maximum of one breakfast and one lunch per student per school day, and provides the formula for determining the state reimbursement rate for such meals. The bill contains provisions directing each school board to adopt policies and procedures aimed at maximizing access to federal funds available for the cost of participating in school breakfast and lunch programs and maximizing determinations of student eligibility for federal free or reduced cost meal reimbursements rates and participation in CEP. The bill also lowers the minimum identified student percentage for a school to be eligible to participate in CEP from 40 to 25 percent in accordance with the updated federal CEP regulations (7 C.F.R. § 245.9(f)(3)(i)). The bill also requires the Secretary of Education, in coordination with the Secretary of Finance, to convene a stakeholder work group to study and make recommendations on ways to avoid or mitigate the impact of offering statewide free school breakfast and lunches on other state-funded programs and to submit a report on such findings and recommendations by January 15, 2025, to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education. The bill also repeals provisions of law relating to the federal School Breakfast Program and to school meal debt that are rendered obsolete by the provisions of the bill.

School meals; availability at no cost to students.

Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker [D]	Del. Candi Mundon King [D]	Del. Shelly Simonds [D]	Del. Atoosa Reaser [D]
Del. Irene Shin [D]	Del. Kannan Srinivasan [D]	Del. Joshua Thomas [D]	Del. Jeion Ward [D]

2024-01-29 - House - House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (7-Y 0-N) (Y: 7 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 2) [PASS]
2024-01-24 - House - House: Reported from Education (18-Y 3-N) (Y: 18 N: 3 NV: 0 Abs: 1) [PASS]
2024-01-23 - House - House: Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) (Y: 8 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 1) [PASS]

Date	Chamber	Action
2024-02-13	House	Left in Appropriations
2024-01-29	House	Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (7-Y 0-N)
2024-01-25	House	Assigned App. sub: Elementary & Secondary Education
2024-01-24	House	Referred to Committee on Appropriations
2024-01-24	House	Reported from Education (18-Y 3-N)
2024-01-23	House	Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Appropriations
2024-01-23	House	Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
2024-01-19	House	Assigned Education sub: K-12 Subcommittee
2024-01-09	House	Referred to Committee on Education
2024-01-09	House	Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24101304D

SB283 (Similar To) 2024-04-05 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0586)

Chapter	Article	Section	Citation Type	Statute Text
22	1	207.3	(n/a)	See Bill Text
22	1	207.4:1	(n/a)	See Bill Text
22	1	79.7	(n/a)	See Bill Text
22	1	79.7:1	(n/a)	See Bill Text

Type	Source
Summary	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB686
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB686+hil
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+vot+H0901V0013+HB0686
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+vot+H09V0032+HB0686
Roll Call	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+vot+H0203V0004+HB0686