Free school meals under consideration as state budget work set to resume

Jun. 3—HARRISBURG — Breakfast and lunch may be on the house for all of Pennsylvania's 1.74 million public school students when schools reopen beginning in August.

Democrats called for the check, proposing companion legislation in the House and Senate to cover the cost of two meals each school day, requesting $275 million from the state budget — less than 1% of Gov. Josh Shapiro's estimated $44.4 billion budget proposal for 2023-24.

In a separate proposal, Shapiro seeks $38.5 million in the budget for universal free breakfast.

"We can't expect our kids to pay attention in class, learn, and succeed if they haven't eaten all day — and that's why I want to give free breakfast to every child in our schools," Shapiro said Thursday at a visit to a Montgomery County elementary school where he sought to highlight the need.

Though Republicans acknowledge the budget has a host of bipartisan initiatives that they back — among them, investments in infrastructure and workforce development — ranking members warn the governor's budget plan as a whole does nothing to steer the commonwealth away from a structural deficit.

During a budget hearing in March, Sen. David Argall, R-Carbon/Luzerne/Schuylkill, questioned the fiscal logic of paying for meals beyond that for students who qualify under existing income limits.

Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, told media at that time that House Republicans are concerned with Pennsylvania's long-term fiscal outlook and said school meal programs should be "means-tested," especially in affluent school districts.

"If the Biden administration believes that these initiatives should be funded going forward, then it has the responsibility to provide the money to do so. But the elimination of this funding is a clear signal that the administration feels the programs are no longer necessary," Sen. Scott Martin, R-Berks/Lancaster, wrote in a LancasterOnline opinion piece critiquing Shapiro's budget plan, specifically citing food stamp enhancements and universal free breakfast.

Free meals became the norm during the anything-but-normal pandemic period. The selective free and reduced lunch programs were on hold as schools received reimbursement to feed all students.

The federal benefit ended in 2022-23 and free and reduced programs resumed, though Pennsylvania continued universal free breakfast this school year within former governor Tom Wolf's final budget. For example, a family of four with a household income below $36,075 would qualify for free lunches; for reduced, $51,338.

The change may have gone unnoticed by many as free breakfast and lunch was served in 1,476 schools including charter schools, private schools and career and technical schools where at least 40% of the student population qualifies for free lunch. The free meals were provided through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). Those entities had a combined enrollment of about 712,400 students, state data shows.

Free meals will continue through CEP and could expand under a proposed federal rules change seeking to lower the threshold to 25%. Data from the Department of Education shows the expansion would make another 697 schools with a combined enrollment of nearly 413,900 students eligible for free meals.

According to data from the state Department of Education, Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, Milton, Midd-West, Mifflinburg, Mount Carmel, Shamokin, Shikellamy and Warrior Run schools all participated in CEP. Danville, Line Mountain and Selinsgrove would all become eligible under an expansion.

Supporters cite the increased cost of living across the board as an example for instituting free school meals, helping ease the burden for those living above poverty thresholds but struggling paycheck to paycheck.

The latest inflation data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows rising prices easing in the food sector but, year over year, it's still costlier to eat now — 7.1% higher at home, 8.6% higher away from home when comparing April 2023 to April 2022.

"I maintain that feeding our most vulnerable residents, especially kids in public schools, is a worthwhile and necessary investment from the state," Rep. Emily Kinkead, D-Allegheny, wrote in a rebuke of Martin's stance.

Kinkead introduced one of the two free meal bills, House Bill 180. The companion measure, Senate Bill 180, was introduced by Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-Allegheny, and Sen. Judith Schwank, D-Berks. Neither have yet received a committee vote to advance to the respective chamber floors.

The three legislators put forward companion legislation on the topic last session, too. This session, however, Democrats have a majority in the House, albeit the slimmest possible, and a first-year governor looking to make a mark.

"With families facing higher costs across the board, now is not the time to take a step backward — especially when the estimated cost to feed every student in Pennsylvania would be a small fraction of our overall budget," a legislative memo for Williams' and Schwank's bill reads.

Pennsylvania lawmakers return to Harrisburg on Monday to resume session work and hammer out a final budget proposal. The statutory deadline for a new budget is June 30, however, it is a deadline that isn't always met.