A group of senators has asked U.S. officials to ban transaction fees on school meal accounts, arguing that companies that process student lunch payments unnecessarily increase costs for families.
In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. and seven other senators urged the Department of Agriculture, which administers the program, to take immediate action. provides billions of meals to students national every year.
While the meals are low-cost (or in some cases free), families face “exorbitant” fees from private payment processors when they deposit money into their children’s accounts, the letter says.
“Every day, greedy payment processing companies steal from working families, ripping off dollars meant to pay for children’s school meals to increase their profits,” the letter, first shared with NBC News, reads. “It is unacceptable for parents to face exorbitant fees so their children can eat school lunches, and USDA must prohibit these fraudulent fees.”
The letter, signed by seven Democratic senators from Vermont and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, comes two months later. report about school meal payment processors from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government agency that works to ensure fairness in the marketplace. The report revealed that the companies collect more than $100 million in transaction fees per year.
Although school meal prices vary across the country, a A survey by the School Nutrition Associationa trade organization found that lunch typically costs about $2.83 for elementary school students, $3 for middle school students, and $3.05 for high school students. School breakfasts typically range from $1.75 to $1.80.
The prices mean that $100 million in operating fees could have bought another 33 million school lunches or more than 55 million school breakfasts.
“There should be no unnecessary fees for lunch at school. When kids pay for school lunches, their families shouldn’t have to be squeezed by online payment processors for every last nickel and dime,” Warren said in a statement to NBC News.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who also signed the letter, called the actions of payment processors “simply disgusting.”
“These rubbish payments are happening to hard working parents. It’s time for the USDA to end this harassment and stand up for families, not big corporations that want to steal children’s lunch money,” he told NBC News.
Processing fees disproportionately burden low-income households, according to a July report. This is because low-income families often make smaller, more frequent deposits into their children’s school lunch accounts, and many payment platforms charge a flat fee per deposit.
Salaries may be added. Families with incomes between 130% and 185% of the poverty level, who qualify for reduced-price meals, can send payment processors 60 cents for every $1 they spend on school lunches, or about $42 per school year, the report says. .
In addition to Warren, Sanders and Fetterman, Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Sherrod Brown, Sens. Bob Casey of Michigan, and Sens. Bob Casey, read the letter Wednesday, which said these payments are usurious profits by payment processors and must be stopped. from Ohio, Raphael Warnock from Georgia and Brian Schatz from Hawaii.
Although the Department of Agriculture has instructed school districts not to charge extra for the cost of school meals, it has allowed a discount for these individuals. Online payment processors since 2014 — provided schools offer other free payment methods. The letter states that many districts do not adequately inform parents about no-fee alternatives.
The senators urged USDA officials to withdraw the 2014 exemption. Asked for a response to Wednesday’s letter, a USDA spokeswoman told NBC News in an email that the agency is “taking additional steps to reduce trash fees that increase school meal costs for families” and said she would share more. details in the future. The press secretary also referred comments from Vilsack in Julyit pledged: “USDA will review its policies and work with schools, state regulatory agencies and payment processors to ensure that all families have a clear and easily accessible fee-free payment method.”
The request to ban the fees is part of a broader push by senators to address food insecurity among students. Last week, Warren et al Legislation in both houses of Congress to help expand college students’ eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.
On Wednesday, Fetterman chaired a Senate subcommittee hearing on the benefits of providing free school meals to all schoolchildren, regardless of family income. temporarily occurred throughout the country during the pandemic Designed to remove barriers for families struggling with federal child nutrition waivers in the Covid era.
Anti-hunger advocates have called for a return to universal school meals, arguing that more children in need can receive school lunches without the burdensome paperwork required to determine eligibility for free or reduced-price meals, and without stigma for some students. it used to be about free meals. They said transaction fees make the situation worse.
“We know that food insecurity is on the rise,” said Marisa Kirk-Epstein, senior director of research and policy at the nonprofit Share Our Power. USDA report. “It’s a problem that families, especially low-income families who might miss the eligibility limit for free school meals, are faced with these additional costs and fees that simply come out of pocket and make it harder to feed their children.”
Studies have shown According to the USDA, school lunch is often the most nutritious meal of the day for US schoolchildren. A handful of states have made universal school meals permanent, but most have returned to the pre-pandemic format. Meanwhile, free of charge school meal debt ballooned.
“School lunch should always be free and absolutely not judgmental,” Fetterman said at Wednesday’s meeting. “Honestly, that shouldn’t be the conversation.”