HR 7999 — Breakfast After the Bell Act of 2026

Summary

Increases reimbursement for school breakfasts by 10 cents per meal when served after the start of the school day.
Applies to schools where at least 40 percent of students are from low-income families or that participate in special assistance programs.
Defines eligible breakfast programs as those serving breakfast after the school day begins using alternative service models such as classroom service or cafeteria kiosks.
Requires state educational agencies to pass the increased reimbursement directly to schools serving the breakfasts.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)

Rep. Bera, Ami (D-CA) [#6]

Money behind the sponsor

Top reported contributors to Ami Bera’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.

THORN RUN PARTNERS $8,500
CORNERSTONE GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS $7,250
APERCEN PARTNERS $6,600
PEARL THERAPEUTICS $5,800
GOLDMAN SACHS LLC $5,800

Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Ami Bera → · Outside spending →

Actions (2)

Mar 19, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. · house
Mar 19, 2026 Introduced in House

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 19, 2026

Mr. Bera 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 provide additional reimbursement to schools with a breakfast after the bell program, 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 “Breakfast After the Bell Act of 2026”.

SEC. 2. INCREASED REIMBURSEMENT FOR BREAKFAST AFTER THE BELL.

Section 11(a) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(4) Breakfast after the bell reimbursement.—

“(A) In general.—A State educational agency shall receive an additional reimbursement of 10 cents for each reimbursable breakfast served—

“(i) after the beginning of a school day;

“(ii) through a breakfast after the bell program; and

“(iii) during a school year by a school that—

“(I) is served by a local educational agency that elects to receive special assistance payments under paragraph (1)(F)(ii) for such school for such year; or

“(II) had a percentage of enrolled students who were identified students that was not less than 40 percent during the prior school year.

“(B) Disburse funds to school.—A State educational agency that receives an additional reimbursement for a breakfast under subparagraph (A) shall disburse such additional reimbursement to the school that served such breakfast.

“(C) Breakfast after the bell program.—In this paragraph, the term ‘breakfast after the bell program’ means a school breakfast program that—

“(i) serves breakfast to students after the start of the school day; and

“(ii) uses a service model, including service of breakfast in the classroom or at a kiosk outside the cafeteria of the school, that the State educational agency determines increases participation in the breakfast program.”. <all>

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