Legislation mandating free school meals became law Wednesday without Gov. Phil Scott’s signature.
Under H.165, public schools will now be required to provide free breakfast and lunch for Vermont students, regardless of their family’s income. The new law sets aside state money to reimburse schools for the cost of those meals. Should they choose to provide meals, private schools will also be eligible for reimbursements, but only for students attending with public tuition.
In a Wednesday afternoon announcement, Scott said that he had decided to allow the bill to become law, despite his concerns about its cost.
“I know a veto would in all reality be overridden, and further distract us from the work we should be prioritizing for our kids, like reversing pandemic learning loss; addressing declining math and reading scores; addressing youth mental health challenges (which inhibit learning); and more,” Scott wrote in a letter to lawmakers informing them of his decision.
In 2020 and 2021, federal pandemic aid money paid for free meals in schools across the country. In spring 2022, with those dollars set to dry up, Vermont tapped a surplus in its education fund — the pot of money, filled mostly with property taxes, that funds the state’s public schools — for a one-year pilot meal program.
This year’s legislation, however, has no end date, effectively creating a permanent statewide free meals program.
Anore Horton, the executive director of the nonprofit Hunger Free Vermont, which has spent years lobbying for free school meals, hailed the governor’s decision.
“This has been over a decade in the making, this incredible victory for all of Vermont’s kids and families and schools today,” she said.
“We’re just super thrilled and super relieved,” she added.
The legislation sets aside $29 million from the education fund to pay for meals in the upcoming school year. The fact that the fund is projected to enjoy another unexpectedly large surplus may have softened the blow of that expenditure.
But it’s unclear how much the program will cost in the future, and Scott expressed concern that, in leaner years, the program will push Vermonters’ property taxes up. He noted that the program will fund free meals for even wealthy students.
“That’s not progressive education funding policy, it’s regressive policy that hurts the very families we are trying to help,” he said.
But, in order to receive reimbursement funds, schools are required to participate in federal food aid programs to maximize the federal dollars available to them.
In an emailed statement, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, said he was “very pleased” with the passage of bill, which will allow the state to “continue improving access to nutritious food, supporting local farms and enhancing stronger social and educational outcomes for Vermont’s kids.”
