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Congress extends pandemic school lunch waivers

Congress
Posted at 4:07 PM, Jun 24, 2022
and last updated 2022-06-24 16:07:19-04

Tens of millions of kids will still be able to eat for free at school this summer and into next year.

Now that school meal waivers will be sticking around.

Congress approved the extension of the "Keep kids fed act" Friday.

It puts nearly $3 billion towards a number of types of waivers.

School meal waivers started going out last year during the pandemic.

They allowed all children to get free meals at school, regardless of income.

To be clear though, this extension isn't as broad as the initial bill was, so it won't cover as many kids now.

It will require most low-income families to apply for the program before the school year starts.

And kids who qualify for reduced-price meals would have to start paying again.