Bill > SB86

This bill establishes a two-year pilot program that requires the Hawaii Department of Education to provide free school lunches to all students enrolled in department schools, beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. The program mandates that free lunches meet federal meal requirements and ensures that no student will be denied a meal due to inability to pay. The department is required to develop and adopt rules for administering the program and must submit two reports to the legislature: an interim report before the 2026 legislative session and a final report before the 2027 legislative session. The final report must include program results and a recommendation on whether the program should be made permanent. The bill appropriates funding from general state revenues to cover the total plate costs of the program after federal funding has been accounted for, and the pilot program is set to terminate on June 30, 2027. Additionally, the bill modifies existing statutes related to school meals to accommodate the new free lunch program, with a provision that allows the governor to modify the program's implementation if necessary to secure federal aid, while requiring immediate reporting of any such modifications to the legislature.

Education

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=86&year=2026