MN Senate joins House in passing free school meals for all MN students

Josh Verges, Pioneer Press
Updated ·3 min read
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All Minnesota students will be eligible for free school meals, no matter their family income, under a bill that has passed both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature.

The Senate on Tuesday approved the DFL-led legislation, which will cost the state roughly $200 million a year. House lawmakers approved similar language last month and will have to agree to the Senate’s version before sending it along to Gov. Tim Walz, who on Tuesday said he’ll be “proud to sign it into law.”

Sen. Heather Gustafson, DFL-Vadnais Heights, said the bill will ensure children from low-income families can eat at school, even if their parents don’t complete forms showing they’re eligible. And even families that can afford to pay for meals could “use the break,” she said, calculating the savings in her district at $1,872 a year a family with two students.

“Look at it like a lunchbox tax cut; it gives money back to families,” she said.

The Senate vote was 38-26 as Republicans Zach Duckworth, of Lakeville, Julia Coleman, of Waconia, and Jim Abeler of Anoka, joined all DFL lawmakers voting yes.

The difference between the House and Senate bills concerns compensatory revenue – money that school districts get from the state each year based on their number of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals because of their low family income.

It is expected that fewer families will complete meal-subsidy forms once they’re no longer needed to qualify for free school meals. The Senate’s version of the bill says that for the 2024-25 school year only, school districts will get at least as much compensatory revenue from the state as they did in 2023-24.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are considering other legislation that seeks a more permanent change in the way Minnesota calculates how much extra money schools should get to address needs related to high concentrations of poverty.

“I think it’s extremely shortsighted to not have that important piece figured out” before passing universal school meals, said Sen. Carla Nelson, R-Rochester.

Other Republican opponents said the bill will mostly benefit middle- and high-income families, that school district leaders don’t consider it a priority, and that the program will feel like a burden in years when the state is not sitting on an unprecedented budget surplus.

“We have so many more needs,” said Sen. Jason Rarick, R-Pine City, who suggested spending the money on literacy programs instead.

Duckworth, the assistant minority leader, co-sponsored the bill but called it premature. He said the Legislature first should have agreed on spending targets for the entire education budget, but the Senate on Tuesday rejected his motion to table the bill.

Ultimately, Duckworth voted for it, saying it would do more good than harm.

Abeler agreed.

“There are some very real needs out there that this will help to address. Some might say that it helps a few who may not need the help, but actually I’m OK with that. There are a lot of pressures on a lot of families that this will take a load off,” he said.

The law would require public and private schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program to offer one free breakfast and one lunch to students each day, with the state and federal governments reimbursing their costs.

California and Maine already make school meals free to all students, and a recently passed ballot measure in Colorado will cover costs for schools that choose to participate. Three other states temporarily are providing free school meals, and many other state legislatures have had universal-meal bills introduced.

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