Statewide universal school meal programs are experiencing financial strain as state legislatures struggle to keep up with the unexpected demand from students eating free meals. According to the Food Research & Action Center, nine states implement their own universal school meal programs. Those states are California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York and Vermont.
Recently, President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful” budget law, which Congress passed in July, is likely to create financial barriers for these states’ universal meal programs. The legislation includes cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid that could have severe ripple effects for these programs. In addition, SNAP and Medicaid cuts are expected to reduce the number of students who are automatically opted into free school meal programs like CEP and will also increase the costs of running the fairly newer statewide universal meal programs.
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