Bill funds vehicles to deliver free meals to rural kids in summer
S. 5184 — FORK Act of 2026 · Filed by Jeff Merkley (D-OR) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill creates a three-year pilot program. It gives grants up to $100,000 each to schools and food groups. The grants pay to buy or fix vehicles. These vehicles deliver free meals to children during summer when school is closed. Rural and poor areas get priority. The program gets $1 million each year.
Who it affects
Low-income children in rural and poor areas get free meals in summer. Schools and food groups can apply for grants to run the program.
One thing to notice
The bill pays for vehicles but not for fuel, repairs, or staff after three years end. Schools and food groups may have to pay those costs themselves.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 2 Democrats.
- Jul 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jul 30, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- pilot program — A small test of a new idea to see if it works before doing it everywhere
- grants — Money the government gives to groups or schools that they do not have to pay back
- food groups — Organizations that prepare and hand out food to people
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,744 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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