Restaurant Meals Program Reform Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6657 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6657

 To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to reform the restaurant 
                 meals program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 11, 2025

 Mr. Messmer introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to reform the restaurant 
                 meals program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Restaurant Meals Program Reform Act 
of 2025''.

SEC. 2. RESTAURANT MEALS PROGRAM.

    Section 9(h) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 
2018(h)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``determines that the 
                participation'' and inserting the following: 
                ``determines that--
                    ``(A) the private establishment is a retail food 
                store that--
                            ``(i) operates a prepared food section, hot 
                        bar, or deli counter;
                            ``(ii) is not primarily engaged in the sale 
                        of quick-service or fast-food items, as 
                        determined by the Secretary; and
                            ``(iii) meets all State and local food 
                        safety and health standards applicable to 
                        grocery stores or supermarkets; and
                    ``(B) the participation'';
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (6);
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
            ``(3) Eligible meals.--Benefits may be redeemed under the 
        program under this subsection from a private establishment 
        described in paragraph (2)(A) only for meals from a prepared 
        food section, hot bar, or deli counter that--
                    ``(A) are intended for immediate consumption; and
                    ``(B) contain at least--
                            ``(i) 1 fruit or vegetable; and
                            ``(ii) 1 protein, as defined by the 
                        Secretary.
            ``(4) Single authorization.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A retail food store authorized 
                under section 9 shall not be required to obtain a 
                separate authorization for participating in the program 
                under this section.
                    ``(B) EBT systems.--The Secretary shall ensure that 
                State agencies maintain or update EBT card coding and 
                retailer coding systems necessary to restrict 
                redemption of benefits under this subsection to 
                eligible households.
            ``(5) Spousal exclusion.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of this Act, a spouse of an individual eligible for 
        benefits under the supplemental nutrition assistance program 
        shall not be eligible to participate in the program under this 
        subsection.''; and
            (4) in paragraph (6) (as so redesignated), by striking 
        ``Senate a report on the effectiveness of a'' and inserting the 
        following: ``Senate, and make publicly available, a report 
        describing--
                    ``(A) the number of private establishments 
                participating in the program under this subsection;
                    ``(B) for each private establishment participating 
                in the program under this subsection--
                            ``(i) the name and location of the private 
                        establishment; and
                            ``(ii) the amount of benefits redeemed at 
                        the private establishment;
                    ``(C) the number of individuals receiving benefits 
                under the program under this subsection;
                    ``(D) the costs of the program under this 
                subsection; and
                    ``(E) the effectiveness of the''.
                                 <all>