Healthy Meals for Children Act
Public Law 104-149 · H.R. 2066 · 104th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on May 29, 1996 · Agriculture and Food
Sponsor: Rep. William Goodling (R-PA-19)
Cosponsors (29): Rep. Duke Cunningham, Rep. Steven Gunderson,
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Healthy Meals for Children Act - Amends the National School Lunch Act to permit schools to use any reasonable approach to meet certain school lunch and breakfast dietary guidelines, including use of the 1994-1995 school nutrition meal pattern. Prohibits schools from being required to use or conduct nutrient analysis.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Education and Workforce Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Early Childhood, Youth and Families Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 13 actions.
- May 29, 1996Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 104-149.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- May 22, 1996PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- May 16, 1996FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- May 14, 1996FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Clinger moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- May 7, 1996CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Education and Workforce Committee
- May 1, 1996CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Education and Workforce Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Early Childhood, Youth and Families Subcommittee of the House Education and Workforce Committee
- Aug 4, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Early Childhood, Youth and Families Subcommittee of the House Education and Workforce Committee
- Jul 19, 1995CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Education and Workforce Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.