Last year, Representative Rae Moore and Senator Tizzy Lockman introduced House Bill 125 (HB 125), which would ensure that all public school students would receive free school breakfast and lunch, regardless of their income. Dozens of advocates, education nonprofits, and faith-based organizations support this legislation. In early March, this legislation passed the House Education Committee. However, despite the community pushing for it, Democrats didn’t do what was needed to pass the bill.

Much of the pushback with Universal School Meals was due to the $40 million fiscal note attached to the legislation. In late March, Representative Bryan Shupe, a Republican who went “Not Voting” on HB 125, introduced HB 361, which would provide free meals to students already receiving reduced-priced breakfast and lunch. HB 361 even had the support of a few Democratic Representatives -- Kendra Johnson and Ed Osienski -- both of whom did not sponsor HB 125.

Representative Rae Moore took the concerns of cost into consideration and introduced a substitute to HB 125, which would cover only reduced-lunch students and would only cost about $250,000 annually. The substitute passed the House and is currently awaiting action in the Senate. Although universal coverage isn’t guaranteed, this legislation is a big first step towards eliminating hunger in our schools.

Representative Rae Moore committed to continuing to work towards universal coverage next session and is encouraging advocates to keep demanding this investment. For now, we need to see this over the finish line. Send your Senator an email asking them to support expanding access to free school meals.