Co-Rep. considers asking voters for more funding for school lunch programs

DENVER — State lawmakers are considering sending a pair of voting measures to voters this fall to provide more funding to programs that provide free meals to all Colorado students.

When Colorado voters approved the Proposal FF in 2022, offering it to all students regardless of family income, free breakfast or lunch was seen as a major step towards tackling food anxiety among young Colorado people. Madeleine Ashur, director of K-12 education policy for the Colorado Children’s Campaign, said that healthy school lunches for all programs created by the passage of the proposition are overwhelming success.

“Every child in Colorado needs healthy school lunches and healthy meals every day,” Assur said.

However, there is one growing problem. Healthy school lunches for all programs cost more states than expected.

“The demand for the program exceeds the amount raised by the original voting law for the program,” Ashour said.

Rising food prices and changing federal rebates are also contributing to rising costs. The program, which was originally projected to cost between $480-78 million per year, is approaching $150 million per year, according to state budget analysts.

So lawmakers are considering House Bill 25-1274. This is a bill that sends two voting measures to voters. They will ask voters to be allowed to maintain the excess income collected by the state in the first year of the program. The other would ask voters to raise taxes to help the wealthier Coloradan pay for the program.

Rep. Lorena Garcia, who sponsors the Colorado House of Representatives action, said the state is in a situation “now or never.”

If voters approve the tax increase, Coloradan, of 194,000 people, who earn more than $300,000, will see the tax bill increase on an average of $570. The original voting law of 2022 concluded the charity tax credit for those making more than $300,000.

Read the HB25-1274 financial notes below

Ashur was one of a long list of people who testified in support of the bill last week.

“I think these two voting measures will provide the sustainable funding needed for the program,” Ashour said.

Alysia Bellamy, a teacher at the Academy of Las Animas Online, is based in Pueblo and calls the program a lifesaver for some of his students.

“Most of the students I have are low income,” she said. “They may not have access to the different types of meals they should be at home.”

Bellamy said students attending online schools can visit the “drop-in zone” and eat breakfast and lunch for free.

“People will go into the zone, eat breakfast, socialise and do school,” the teacher explained.

For the following proposition FF, please see the Blue Book Explainer

Colorado Blue Book 2022

R-Loveland State Assemblyman Ron Weinberg is against the plan. He said lawmakers need to spend more time studying the issue before sending voters to voters.

“My concern is that we must study the issue before writing a bill that attempts to solve the issue,” Weinberg said. “Back to the drawings, what’s the real problem? Does the community need this? What is the community?

Weinberg believes that much of the food offered by the program is wasted. He introduced a pair of bills to address it.

House Bill 25-1059 encourages school districts to adopt policies aimed at reducing food waste, while House Bill 25-1166 expands training on reducing food waste, increasing food donations and resale.

Weinberg said he never saw numbers indicating how much food is wasted. Ashur said food waste appears to be a major problem for the program.

“I think it’s funny that we haven’t started talking about food waste until we talk about starting to feed hungry children,” Assur said. “We put healthy, nutritious diets before all Colorado kids who don’t get particularly nutritious foods. Resolving that problem is probably more important in our list of priorities than dealing with kids who might throw away their fifth chicken nugget.”