October 6th, 2026Heinrich, Kim Introduce Legislation to Ensure Military Families Have Access to Healthy Meals

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, and U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D-N.J.) led the introduction of their Nutrition Continuity for Military Families Act, legislation that will ensure military families have access to healthy meals and critical nutrition programs. This builds on their introduction of the Military Dependents School Meal Eligibility Act , which they introduced last month. The Nutrition Continuity for Military Families Act of 2026 will ensure military families are notified of their potential eligibility and do not lose access to crucial supplemental nutritional benefits through the Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) program when conducting a mandated Permanent Change of Station (PCS). The Military Dependents School Meal Eligibility Act will help combat hunger among military families by ensuring military children are no longer excluded from school meal assistance programs. “Military families already sacrifice so much to serve our country — they shouldn’t also have to worry about whether their children have enough to eat or can access the meals they need at school,” said Heinrich. “Our legislation will cut through unnecessary barriers and make sure military families in New Mexico and across the country can access healthy school meals and critical nutrition programs. We have a responsibility to take care of the families who sacrifice so much to take care of all of us.” “As military families move place to place as a part of their service to our country, they shouldn’t have to worry about losing access to benefits along the way. We know hunger and access to care is a real issue in our military communities – let’s make this fix so essential services never get interrupted for those who need it most,” said Kim. The Nutrition Continuity for Military Families Act of 2026 Military service members make tremendous sacrifices to serve our country. Unfortunately, many military families, especially young, enlisted service members and their families, face food insecurity. And critical nutrition assistance remains significantly underutilized. Research highlighted by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that 70% of WIC-eligible active-duty military families were not enrolled in the program. Frequent military moves can disrupt access to these benefits and force families to repeatedly navigate new state and local systems. Ensuring service members and their families receive timely notification of potential eligibility and uninterrupted access to WIC benefits throughout a military move is critical to protecting military families from food insecurity during already challenging transitions. The Nutrition Continuity for Military Families Act helps ensure military families have uninterrupted access to critical nutrition benefits by requiring the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to: Notify families who may be eligible for WIC when they receive PCS orders; Issue a Verification of Certification card to covered service members at the time of WIC certification or recertification; Ensure WIC benefits remain certified throughout the PCS process; and Ensure each military installation has knowledgeable personnel available at least three days per week to provide WIC assistance to service members. A one-pager of the bill is here . The full text of the bill is here . The Military Dependents School Meal Eligibility Act School meals help children build healthy eating habits that can last a lifetime. Research shows that students who participate in school meal programs have better overall diet quality than nonparticipants. Yet military families can face unnecessary barriers to accessing free and reduced-price school meals because their Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) is counted as income when determining eligibility. The Military Dependents School Meal Eligibility Act ensures military families are not unfairly excluded from school meal programs by: Excluding BAH from income calculation for military families’ eligibility in free and reduced-price meals provided under the National School Breakfast Program and National School Lunch Program; and Requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and DoD to submit a report to Congress on the feasibility and cost of creating a program to directly certify military children for free and reduced-price school meal programs, including breakfast and lunch. The full text of the bill is here . Last month, Heinrich and Kim also introduced the Healthy Meals Help Kids Learn Act, legislation to address the rising cost of school meals and help end childhood hunger in America. ###