Summer Meals and Learning Act of 2026
Introduced Aug 6, 2026 by Sen. Jeff Merkley
It's waiting on a committee vote to reach the full chamber. Most bills never leave this stage.
This bill establishes a grant program to support summer early reading programs held at schools with a summer lunch site.
Specifically, the Department of Education must use funds provided for the program to award competitive grants to state library administrative agencies to enable them to award subgrants to eligible local educational agencies for summer early reading programs held at schools with a summer lunch site.
The program is open to local educational agencies that include schools where at least 50% of the students in prekindergarten through grade 3 are (1) reading below grade level at grade 3, or (2) at risk of reading below grade level at grade 3.
Summary by the Congressional Research Service.
No floor votes yet — it hasn't reached the floor of either chamber.