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Colorado lawmakers on a key legislative committee want to continue offering free school meals to all students, even though the cost of the popular new program is higher than initially expected.
During a hearing of the state’s Joint Budget Committee on Tuesday, several lawmakers came out against cost-cutting proposals that would eliminate universal free meals for students in some grades or school districts.
Sen. Jeff Bridges, the committee’s chairperson, said, “Making sure that kids aren’t hungry when they’re trying to learn is a core service [of schools], and it’s one that we as a state need to fund.”
Rep. Shannon Bird, the committee’s vice chair, agreed, adding, “I’m not in favor of anything that shifts financial responsibility for feeding kids to local school districts.”
Colorado’s universal school meals program launched last school year after voters approved funding in 2022 that reduced state income tax deductions for households earning $300,000 or more. The measure raised more than $100 million for the Healthy School Meals for All program, but there was still a $56 million shortfall last year. The legislature found the money to close that gap last year and this year, but is still seeking long-term solutions.
An advisory group report released this week offered 27 possible options. About one-third of the options would involve limiting eligibility to certain students or schools, for example, by removing high schoolers from the program or covering lunch but not breakfast. But a host of education and advocacy organizations consulted by the advisory group were “resoundingly” opposed to these types of restrictions, the report said
They believe “universal meals should be maintained as originally legislated; it is too soon to cut a program that has just begun,” the report said.
Other budget-balancing options in the report mostly revolve around bringing in more tax revenue to support the program or using existing federal or state dollars to augment current funding.
The Joint Budget Committee expressed particular interest in a move that was mentioned in the advisory report but was not officially one of the 27 options: asking voters next November if the state can keep the tax revenue it collected above what it initially asked voters for in 2022. In the first year of the program, that amounted to $26 million. A state law known as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, requires excess funding to be returned unless voters explicitly allow the state to keep it.
Committee members also briefly discussed potential legislation that would decouple state tax deduction rules used to fund universal school meals from federal tax deduction rules. If they don’t cut that tie, funding for the meals program could plummet after the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expires at the end of 2025.
While the Joint Budget Committee was clearly opposed to any budget solution that would feed fewer kids free school meals, they did seem willing to limit grant programs that were originally intended to roll out with the free meal offerings. The grants, which mostly are on hold now, would have helped districts buy Colorado-grown food, provide stipends for kitchen employees, and pay for training or equipment. The committee plays a major role in crafting the state budget each year, with the full legislature approving it. The meals program is part of the state budget.
Bridges said lawmakers won’t make a final decision on the grant programs until spring, when they get closer to finalizing the state budget. Still, he said, “I do think that it’s pretty clear where the committee is on that question, which is no on the grants, yes on the [meals].”
Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.
