State Sen. John Fetterman has introduced a bill that would cancel school lunch debt nationwide.

The bill, cosponsored by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode island) and Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont), would ease the financial burden on working families by directing the USDA to pay for all debts owed to schools for lunch or breakfast programs, according to a news release from Fetterman.

"'School lunch debt' is a term so absurd that it shouldn't even exist. That's why I'm proud to introduce this bill to cancel the nation's student meal debt and stop humiliating kids and penalizing hunger," Fetterman said. "It's time to come together and stop playing political games with American's access to food. September is Hunger Action Month and I'm proud to be introducing this bill to help working families now, while we work to move our other priorities to combat food insecurity in our nation."

Fetterman's office says there are more than 30 million children in the U.S. who can't afford their school meals and the national public school meal debt is a whopping $262 million a year. In Pennsylvania alone, there are nearly half a million food insecure children who collectively owe nearly $80 million in debt.

Meanwhile, child poverty in the United States more than doubled last year, while the average household income declined

"Our students shouldn't have to worry about how they're paying for lunch – full stop. I'm proud to partner with my colleagues Senators Fetterman and Whitehouse on this commonsense bill, and urge my colleagues to stand with us," Welch said. "We have a duty to ensure that every student – in Vermont, and across America – is supported and respected."