Stop Child Hunger Act of 2025.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill's status and its potential impact on local educational agencies are noted based on official sources, but these points may change if there are future legislative actions or overrides.

Stop Child Hunger Act of 2025

The Stop Child Hunger Act of 2025 aims to improve access to food for children during summer months by creating a statewide online application process for the Summer EBT program, contingent upon legislative appropriation.

What This Bill Does

• Requires state agencies to develop and provide families with a single statewide internet website for applying to the Summer EBT program if funded by the Legislature.
• Ensures that completed applications are sent to local educational agencies to check eligibility for Summer EBT benefits.
• Requires school districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools to make paper applications available as needed by federal law.
• Requires online meal application providers to include links to information about the Summer EBT program on their websites.

Who It Names or Affects

• Families with children eligible for free or reduced-price school meals during summer months.
• State and local educational agencies responsible for administering the Summer EBT program.
• School districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and other entities involved in providing meal applications.

Terms To Know

Summer EBT

A federal program that provides grocery benefits to children who qualify for free or reduced-price school meals during summer months.

State-mandated local program

A state-imposed requirement on local agencies or officials, which may include financial obligations.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill was vetoed by the governor and the veto has been sustained.
• Local educational agencies and other entities might face new duties if this bill were to be implemented.
• If the bill creates state-mandated costs, local agencies would need reimbursement from the state as required by law.

Official Summary Text

SB 411, Pérez.
Stop Child Hunger Act of 2025.
Existing federal law establishes the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) program, under which pupils who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals receive $40 per month, with specified adjustments, during summer months for grocery benefits. Existing federal regulations require, by 2025, the designated state agency to make a Summer EBT application available to households whose children are enrolled in schools participating in the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program and who do not already have an individual eligibility determination.
Existing state law requires the State Department of Social Services, as the lead agency in partnership with the State Department of Education, to maximize participation in the Summer EBT program. Existing law requires the governing board of a school
district and the county superintendent of schools to make paper applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils at all times during each regular schoolday.
Existing law authorizes those entities to make an application electronically available online if the online application complies with certain requirements, including, among others, the inclusion of links to certain internet websites providing information on, and applications for, other government programs, such as CalFresh.
This bill, the Stop Child Hunger Act of 2025, would require, upon an appropriation made by the Legislature, the State Department of Education, with support from the State Department of Social Services, to comply with the above-described
federal regulations by developing, and providing families with, a statewide application that is made available through a single statewide internet website that enables families to submit federally required information relating to the Summer EBT program, as specified. The bill would require the internet website to, among other things, have the capability of routing a family’s completed information to the family’s local educational agency to determine Summer EBT eligibility.
The bill would require the governing board of a school district, a county superintendent of schools, and the governing body of a charter school to make the above-described paper applications available if required by federal law and guidance, as specified.
The bill would require the governing board of a school district, a county office of education, the governing body of a charter school, or a school food authority that provides an application online for free or reduced-price meals, as described above, to also provide links to the internet website providing information about the Summer EBT program.
To the extent that the bill would create new duties for local educational agencies or county or other local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF