Some bills take a circuitous route in the Statehouse. On Thursday, the Senate approved S.100, which would mandate that all schools offer free breakfasts for Vermont students.
This piece of legislation had begun its journey as a much broader proposal aimed at making breakfast and lunch free for kids.
However, an ominous price tag of between $24 million and $40 million stopped it in its tracks. The measure seemed to be on life support after it left the Senate floor on a stretcher earlier this session, but it was soon revived in committee.
Members of the Senate agriculture and education committees busied themselves with trimming and chopping — landing on the proposal that was unanimously approved Thursday.
Their job was made easier by last week’s decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to extend federal funding for free school meals for another year, through June 2022.
“This bill has taken many twists and turns as it’s wound through the process,” Sen. Chris Pearson, P/D-Chittenden, a lead sponsor of the legislation, said on the virtual Senate floor. (The legislation still needs to clear the House, which could be challenging given how late in the session it is.)
In its current form, the $8 million bill would require schools to offer free breakfast to all and create a task force to achieve universal free meals by the 2026-27 school year.
It also includes language incentivizing school districts to buy from local farms. The Senate’s budget bill, which was also approved Thursday, includes $500,000 for the incentive program.
Senators made clear that despite the narrower nature of the current proposal, they continue to support a broader bill.
“There still is tremendous enthusiasm around getting at some point to universal school meals,” said Sen. Brian Campion, D-Bennington, who chairs the Senate Committee on Education.
During Thursday’s debate, Pearson cited the USDA’s decision to extend federal aid as an example of the incremental steps state lawmakers were seeking to take.
“We wanted to build on that, and that is what we aimed to do here,” he said.
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