Action Needed:
No Cuts to School Meals

Action Needed: Tell Congress to Oppose Any Cuts to School Meals

The House Budget Committee Chairman has proposed cutting $12 billion from school breakfast and lunch programs by raising the eligibility threshold for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) from 25% to 60% Identified Student Percentage (ISP). If implemented, 24,000+ schools serving more than 12 million children would lose CEP eligibility; this would impact more than 451,000 children in Virginia.

The proposal requires families qualifying for free and reduced-price meals at non-CEP schools to show proof of household income when applying. This additional step could complicate the process for families and schools, potentially leading to some eligible children missing meals.

Use the information below to contact your Congress members to protect school meals and oppose funding cuts that limit access to these vital programs.

To submit a letter through your legislator’s contact page

Follow the steps below to identify your representative, find their contact page easily, copy and customize our suggested language, and submit.

Step #1        Identify your representative.

If you already know, skip to Step #2.
Find your legislator here: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member/

Step #2        Copy the text below, then edit the letter once you have pasted it into the legislator’s contact form (Step #3) and before submitting it (Step #5). 

[To copy: Select the text below and click CNTL+C or Command + C]. Remember to replace the [bracketed] text with the correct information before clicking the submit button.

Dear [Decision Maker],

Please oppose the proposed $12 billion cuts to school breakfast and lunch programs included in the House Budget Committee Chairman’s budget reconciliation proposals.

These cuts would significantly reduce the number of schools that can provide free meals to all their students through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). Additionally, they would impose burdensome paperwork requirements, restricting access to free and reduced-price school meals in non-CEP schools.

Eliminating this vital program will increase hunger in the classroom, reintroduce unnecessary paperwork for families and schools, grow school meal debt, and create stigma in the cafeteria. The CEP simplifies school administrative processes by removing the need for food service departments to handle school meal forms and eliminating school meal debt. It is both a sound business practice for schools and a way to enhance program delivery.

Along with cutting CEP, the proposal would require all families who apply and are approved for free and reduced-price meals at non-CEP schools to document their household income when they submit their school meal application. This requirement will make applying for school meals particularly complicated for schools and families and cause some children eligible for free or reduced-price school meals to fall through the cracks.

Ensuring that students are well-fed is part of safeguarding the health and well-being of our country’s children, which is essential to our national security. Please strongly oppose any efforts to weaken the School Meal Programs.

Sincerely,
[FOOD BANK / PANTRY LEADER or Community Member]
[POSITION OR TITLE IF APPLICABLE]
[ORGANIZATION NAME IF APPLICABLE]

Step #3        Select your legislator (click the button to visit their contact page):

U.S. House Members

U.S. Senate Members

Step #4        Paste your letter into the message box of the contact form.

(Here’s a proposed Subject Line: [Oppose Any Cuts to School Meals])

Step #5 Edit the letter. Replace the [bracketed] text with your information before clicking the submit button.

Step #6        Click the submit button on the form to send the letter to your representative.

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You can also call your congressman.