If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that school children should never go hungry. As parents of children enrolled in New York City public schools know, breakfast and lunch are offered free of charge to all students, no matter their family’s financial circumstances. However, the majority of municipalities in the United States have no such policy. Most American school children do not learn in a school district that offers universal free school lunches. In 2021, Senators Bernie Sanders and Kirsten Gillibrand and Representatives Ilhan Omar and Gwen Moore introduced the Universal School Meals Program Act of 2021, a bill that would permanently provide “free meals to all school children regardless of income.” This bill has not moved since being introduced in the House in 2021, leaving many states to pick up where the federal government left off.
Multiple states have begun to provide free school meals to all students, regardless of income, and many more are considering making the move as per proposed legislation. Three states—California, Colorado, and Maine—have made this policy permanent.
California
California has had universal free school meals since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, having used funding from Congress in 2020 to provide free meals to all students even through unexpected school closures. The policy was then made permanent in the 2022-2023 school year. California was the first state in the nation to pass such legislation. Both breakfast and lunch are provided for students in grades K-12 at all public and charter schools, regardless of financial circumstances. The bill also requires that “high poverty schools” adopt a provision that increases access to the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program (which provide reimbursement to schools providing meals to students below a certain income level) while simultaneously reducing paperwork and other administrative burdens at the local level.
Colorado
Starting in the 2023-2024 school year, Colorado will begin offering public schools the option to provide universal free school breakfasts and lunches to students. Unlike the legislation passed in California and Maine, this policy is not required by all school districts, and was passed via ballot initiative. Participating public schools will be reimbursed for the full cost of all meals provided. The state statute, called Healthy Meals for All Public School Students, also includes language to “provide local food purchasing grants to eligible participating school food authorities; provide funding to participating school food authorities to increase the wages or provide stipends for individuals employed to prepare and serve food; and provide assistance to participating school food authorities through the local school food purchasing technical assistance and education grant program.”
Maine
Public schools in Maine provide free school lunches and breakfasts, as per a bill passed by Maine lawmakers and signed by Governor Janet Mills after pandemic-era federal funding for meals ended. The permanent law took effect in the 2022-2023 school year. The bill also directs the Maine Department of Education to assist school districts in maximizing their federal reimbursement for school meals.
Three other states—Massachusetts, Nevada, and Vermont—have passed universal free school meals only for the 2022-2023 school year.
Massachusetts
While permanent universal free school meals has not yet passed through the Massachusetts legislature, bills in the House and Senate will be revisited in the next legislative session. Lawmakers did, however, extend the pandemic-era universal free school lunch into the 2022-2023 school year.
Nevada
Nevada has used funding from the American Rescue Plan to provide universal free school meals during the 2022-2023 school year, and has approved additional funding to continue the program into the 2023-2024 school year. There is not yet word of any proposed legislation to make the program permanent.
Vermont
On May 31, 2022, Governor Phil Scott signed a bill extending free school meals into the 2022-2023 school year. Furthermore, in 2021 Vermont established a task force to advise on future legislation to make the program permanent. The task force has submitted a report of recommendations to lawmakers to begin providing universal free school meals no later than the 2026-2027 school year.
Twenty-one states are currently planning, drafting, discussing, or negotiating universal free school Meal legislation.
- Connecticut intended to provide universal free school meals during the 2022-2023 school year, but funding (through the American Rescue Plan) ran out a few months into the year. There are nascent discussions regarding bills in the House and Senate to establish the policy during the 2023 legislative session.
- In Hawaii, a bill to implement universal free school meals at all public and public charter schools starting during the 2023-2024 school year has been introduced in the Hawaii House of Representatives.
- Maryland saw the introduction of a bill permanently establishing universal free school meals during the 2022 legislative session. The bill will be updated and re-introduced during the 2023 session.
- On February 9, 2023, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed a bill (70-58) to guarantee universal free school breakfasts and lunches. The bill is now set to move onto the Senate, and then, ideally, to the desk of Governor Tim Walz.
- Bills in the House and Senate have been introduced in Missouri to “provide each student enrolled in such public school with one free breakfast and one free lunch each day such student attends classes in such public school.”
- A bill is currently being drafted in Montana to “eliminate costs to students for school meals.”
- In Nebraska, a bill was introduced in 2021 to adopt the “Hunger-Free Schools Act,” which would provide universal free school breakfasts and lunches. However, it was postponed indefinitely in April 2022, and has been introduced again in January 2023.
- New Jersey saw the introduction of a bill that “requires schools to universally provide free meals to all students” in February 2022. While the bill was not passed during the 2022 session, it is likely to be revisited in 2023.
- New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham stated her intention to pursue legislation establishing universal free school meals in the 2023 legislative session, and state Senators Michael Padilla and Leo Jaramillo introduced a bill in January 2023.
- New York City, Albany, Rochester, and Yonkers are among the municipalities in New York that offer universal free school meals. While a bill on the State level was introduced in 2021, it has been in committee ever since. Community Food Advocates is among those supporting statewide legislation, and the policy is supported by the NY Health Foundation.
- In North Carolina, following the success of the pandemic-era federal policy, bills establishing permanent universal free school meals have been brought to the House and Senate.
- In January 2023, the North Dakota legislative branch saw two bills related to school meals: one to provide universal free school meals at public schools, and another that fights “lunch debt” stigma.
- The Ohio Board of Education passed a resolution in 2022 recommending that the legislature use funding from the American Rescue Plan to establish universal free school meals.
- In the Oregon House, a bill is currently in committee to establish universal free school meals.
- Pennsylvania is providing universal free school breakfast during the 2022-2023 school year while bills establishing universal free school lunches are currently in committee in the House and Senate.
- In South Carolina, a bill requiring that all “eligible” schools provide universal free school meals was introduced in January 2023.
- Tennessee saw a first attempt at passing universal free school meals in 2022, but the bill was not passed during the 2022 legislative session. Two more bills have subsequently been introduced in 2023.
- A bill introduced in Virginia would establish universal free school meals to elementary and secondary school students while simultaneously rendering obsolete all existing school lunch debt.
- Bills introduced in the Washington State House and Senate would establish universal free school meals have so far gained bipartisan support.
- In Washington, D.C., a bill to implement universal free school breakfasts, lunches and snacks in public school, public charter schools, and participating private schools students has been introduced to the Council of the District of Columbia. According to the D.C. Food Policy Council, this would cost about $8 million each year.
- In the Wisconsin State Assembly, a bill establishing universal free school meals for both public and private schools was introduced in 2021, but failed to pass in 2022.
