WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine) and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced the School Lunch Price Protection Act, legislation that would prevent School Food Authorities (SFAs) from being forced to raise meal prices when a school's program is financially solvent, a federal mandate known as Paid Lunch Equity.

“In many cases, school lunches are the only healthy, wholesome meal that students are able to have during the day.  Raising the prices of those meals when it’s not necessary can end up making them too expensive for families who are already struggling financially,” Senator King said. “Parents shouldn’t have to worry about whether rules out of Washington are going to make it more difficult for them to feed their kids. By fixing federal law to prevent price increases at schools with solvent nutrition programs, our bill will help ensure that students will continue to have access to affordable meals and can remain focused on their education.”

Under current law, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires organizations tasked with administering school lunch programs – known as School Food Authorities (SFAs) – to increase prices for meals according to a formula called the Paid Lunch Equity Formula. The goal of the formula was to ensure that SFAs have adequate funds and are able to remain solvent.

However, as currently designed, the formula can force an SFA to raise their meal prices even if the SFA has a positive fund balance. The increase in price can result in lunches becoming unaffordable, which forces parents to find the additional money or stop using the school lunch program altogether. In fact, according to a 2014 study by the nonpartisan Government Accounting Office, participation in the school lunch program declined by 1.2 million students from 2010-2013. The study also concludes that price increases likely contributed to the steep decline in the number of students buying full-price lunches.

As a result, USDA allowed SFAs in strong financial standing to file for an exemption from the Paid Lunch Equity formula during the 2013-14 school year, and the Department extended the exemption process into the 2014-15 school year. The School Lunch Price Protection Act would permanently exempt schools with a positive balance from the pricing formula, thereby allowing solvent SFAs to keep their participation up while maintain a strong financial standing. Under the bill, should an exempted SFA see its fund balance become negative, it would then be subject to the Paid Lunch Equity formula again.

“Maine school nutrition directors and staff are working hard to provide high quality nutrition to children,” said Martha Spencer, President of the Maine School Nutrition Association. “The requirement to increase prices has forced some families to choose not to participate in the program. This flexibility will help schools make decisions at the local level.”

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