Massachusetts passes budget that would make free school meals permanent
BOSTON - Free school meals for students are on the verge of becoming a permanent fixture in Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts Legislature passed a $56.2 billion budget on Monday that includes $171.5 million "to require public schools to provide universal school meals to all students free of charge." The bill now awaits approval from Gov. Maura Healey.
Students have been provided school meals free of charge since the pandemic. The Feed Kids campaign says 56,000 more children ate school lunch every day in October 2022 compared to October 2019.
"Massachusetts is on the precipice of a historic victory. Making this policy permanent would reimagine the system as we know it and bring us a giant step closer to ending hunger for generations of students to come," Erin McAleer, president and CEO of Project Bread, said in a statement.
U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern also praised Beacon Hill for including free school meals in the budget.
"If signed into law, free universal school meals will literally change lives, full stop," he said in a statement. "No child in Massachusetts will ever have to wonder how to get though the school day on an empty stomach."