{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://krishnamoorthi.house.gov/media/press-releases/krishnamoorthi-demands-usda-action-trump-backed-snap-cuts-put-free-school", "Krishnamoorthi Demands USDA Action as Trump-Backed SNAP Cuts Put Free School Meals at Risk", "2026-08-27", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "House", "IL", "Raja Krishnamoorthi", "K000391", "krishnamoorthi.house.gov", "krishnamoorthi", "https://krishnamoorthi.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) today demanded immediate action from the Trump Administration to protect children\u2019s access to free school meals as historic cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act take effect. In a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Food and Nutrition Administration Acting Administrator Shiela Corley, Krishnamoorthi warned that the cuts are already putting additional pressure on school meal programs in Illinois and across the country.\n\nNew data show Illinois has 47 fewer schools and 15 fewer school districts participating in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) this school year, with nearly 24,000 fewer Illinois students attending schools that provide free meals to all students through the program. Illinois was one of only three states to experience the largest declines nationwide in the number of schools participating in CEP.\n\nIn the letter, Krishnamoorthi writes:\n\n\u201cI am writing regarding the severe impact that cuts under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) are having on children\u2019s access to school meals as students across Illinois and the country return to the classroom. I strongly urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its Food and Nutrition Administration (FNA) to take immediate action to protect children\u2019s access to nutritious school meals, particularly in Illinois communities already experiencing losses in free meal eligibility as a result of the law\u2019s cuts to SNAP.\u201d\n\nThe OBBBA, enacted by Congress and the Trump Administration in July 2025, imposed new SNAP eligibility and work requirements while making the largest cuts to SNAP in the program\u2019s history. Since the law took effect, an estimated 4.5 million people, including 1.5 million children, have lost SNAP benefits nationwide. In Illinois, more than 300,000 people are expected to lose benefits because of the new work and paperwork requirements alone, while SNAP enrollment has already fallen 16 percent in the year since the law\u2019s enactment.\n\nThose losses can follow children directly into the classroom. Students enrolled in SNAP are automatically certified for free school meals without having to submit a separate household application. When families lose SNAP, children can lose that automatic eligibility even when their underlying need for food assistance has not changed.\n\nKrishnamoorthi writes:\n\n\u201cA paperwork failure by one household should not become a food insecurity problem for hundreds of children. If enough families lose direct certification, an entire school can lose access to CEP and its ability to provide free meals to every student.\u201d\n\nUnder CEP, schools and districts where at least 25 percent of students are directly certified through SNAP, Medicaid, or other qualifying programs can provide free breakfast and lunch to all students without collecting individual household applications. As families lose SNAP because of new paperwork requirements, schools can fall below that threshold and lose CEP eligibility.\n\nKrishnamoorthi is demanding that USDA and FNA conduct an immediate state-by-state assessment of the impact of the OBBBA\u2019s SNAP eligibility changes on children\u2019s access to school meals and make the results public. He is also seeking answers to the following questions:\n\nHow many children have lost direct certification for free school meals as a result of losing SNAP benefits since the OBBBA took effect, both nationwide and in each state?\n\nHow many schools and school districts have lost, or are at risk of losing, CEP eligibility as a result of changes in SNAP participation, and how many students attend those schools?\n\nWhat steps are USDA and FNA taking to prevent children who lose direct certification from losing access to free school meals and to help schools preserve CEP eligibility?\n\nWhich states and communities face the greatest risk of reduced access to school meals as a result of these changes, and what assistance are USDA and FNA providing to them?\n\nKrishnamoorthi requested responses to his questions and the results of the state-by-state assessment by September 10, 2026. He also requested that USDA make the assessment public so states, school districts, and families can understand the effects of the changes and the steps being taken to address them.", 1, "2026-08-28T17:11:49Z", "2026-08-28T17:13:14Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://krishnamoorthi.house.gov/media/press-releases/krishnamoorthi-demands-usda-action-trump-backed-snap-cuts-put-free-school"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.0359938498586416, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}