Virginia House Bill 96 (Prefiled Legislation)

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Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 35)
Status: Introduced on January 2 2026 - 25% progression
Action: 2026-07-21 - Continued from last session
Pending: House Appropriations Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [HTML]

School breakfast; availability at no cost to students. Requires each school board to require each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division to participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and to make breakfast available to any student who requests such a meal at no cost to the student, unless the student's parent has provided written permission to the school board to withhold such a meal from the student. The bill clarifies that the provision of a breakfast by a school to a student at no cost to the student shall not be construed as creating a disincentive for the school or local school division to participate in the federal Community Eligibility Provision program. Additionally, the bill provides that schools shall maximize the number of students who participate in the school breakfast program by implementing one or more suggested service models to increase access to such program. The bill requires the Department of Education to reimburse each public elementary and secondary school for each eligible school breakfast served to a student, with a maximum of one reimbursable breakfast per student per school day, and provides the formula for determining the state reimbursement rate for such meals. Finally, the bill repeals a provision of law relating to the federal School Breakfast Program that is rendered obsolete by the provisions of the bill. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Commission to End Hunger. 

School breakfast; availability at no cost to students.

Sen. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker [D]	Del. Laura Jane Cohen [D]	Del. Marcia Price [D]	Del. Irene Shin [D]
Del. Shelly Simonds [D]	Del. Jessica Anderson [D]	Del. Gretchen Bulova [D]	Del. Katrina Callsen [D]
Del. Karen Carnegie [D]	Del. Stacey Annie Carroll [D]	Del. Nadarius Clark [D]	Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler [D]
Del. Rae Cousins [D]	Del. Mark Downey [D]	Del. Michael Feggans [D]	Del. Lily Franklin [D]
Del. Margaret Franklin [D]	Del. Debra Gardner [D]	Del. Jackie Glass [D]	Del. Rozia Henson [D]
Del. Karen Keys-Gamarra [D]	Del. Amy Laufer [D]	Del. Destiny LeVere Bolling [D]	Del. Michelle Maldonado [D]
Del. Marty Martinez [D]	Del. Adele McClure [D]	Del. Garrett McGuire [D]	Del. Leslie Chambers Mehta [D]
Del. May Nivar [D]	Del. Atoosa Reaser [D]	Del. Richard Sullivan [D]	Del. Joshua Thomas [D]
Del. Virgil Thornton [D]	Del. Kathy Tran [D]	Del. Vivian Watts [D]

Date	Chamber	Action
2026-07-21	House	Continued from last session
2026-02-06	House	Continued to next session in Appropriations (Voice Vote)
2026-02-02	House	Subcommittee recommends continuing to (Voice Vote)
2026-01-28	House	Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB96)
2026-01-22	House	Assigned HAPP sub: Elementary & Secondary Education
2026-01-21	House	Reported from Education and referred to Appropriations (18-Y 4-N)
2026-01-20	House	Subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations (10-Y 0-N)
2026-01-19	House	Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee
2026-01-02	House	Referred to Committee on Education
2026-01-02	House	Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101172D

HB96 (Carry Over) 2026-02-06 - Continued to next session in Appropriations (Voice Vote)

Type	Source
Summary	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20271/HB96
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20271/HB96/text/HB96
Supplement	https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1100490.PDF