Virginia HB 96 — School breakfast; availability at no cost to students.
Virginia, 2027. HB 96: School breakfast; availability at no cost to students.
Latest action
July 21, 2026 — Continued from last session
Summary
School breakfast; availability at no cost to students. Requires each school board to 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 and to make 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 clarifies that the provision of a breakfast by a school to a student at no cost to the student shall not be construed as creating a disincentive for the school or local school division to participate in the federal Community Eligibility Provision program. Additionally, the bill provides that schools shall maximize the number of students who participate in the school breakfast program by implementing one or more suggested service models to increase access to such program. The bill requires the Department of Education to reimburse each public elementary and secondary school for each eligible school breakfast served to a student, with a maximum of one reimbursable breakfast per student per school day, and provides the formula for determining the state reimbursement rate for such meals. Finally, the bill repeals a provision of law relating to the federal School Breakfast Program that is rendered obsolete by the provisions of the bill. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Commission to End Hunger.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-79.7:1 of the Code of Virginia and to repeal § 22.1-207.3 of the Code of Virginia, relating to school breakfast; availability at no cost to students.
Sponsors
- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker — primary sponsor
- Laura Jane Cohen
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price
- Irene Shin
- Shelly A. Simonds
- Jessica L. Anderson
- Gretchen M. Bulova
- Katrina Callsen
- Karen R. "Kacey" Carnegie
- Stacey Annie Carroll
- Nadarius E. Clark
- Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler
- Rae Cousins
- Mark C. Downey
- Michael B. Feggans
- Lily V. Franklin
- Margaret A. Franklin
- Debra D. Gardner
- Jackie H. Glass
- Rozia A. Henson, Jr.
- Karen Keys-Gamarra
- Amy J. Laufer
- Destiny LeVere Bolling
- Michelle Lopes Maldonado
- Marty Martinez
- Adele Y. McClure
- Garrett McGuire
- Leslie Chambers Mehta
- May Nivar
- Atoosa R. Reaser
- Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.
- Joshua E. Thomas
- Virgil Thornton
- Kathy K.L. Tran
- Vivian E. Watts
Bill text
Introduced Read version ↗ Read version ↗
Recorded votes
No roll-call votes were supplied for this bill. This does not imply that no vote occurred.
Legislative history
- Continued from last session
- Continued to next session in Appropriations (Voice Vote)
- Subcommittee recommends continuing to (Voice Vote)
- Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB96)
- Assigned HAPP sub: Elementary & Secondary Education
- Reported from Education and referred to Appropriations (18-Y 4-N)
- Subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations (10-Y 0-N)
- Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee
- Referred to Committee on Education
- Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101172D
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