Bill > B26-0108

Introduced Session

an active, healthy life.1 Pre-pandemic, 77% of children in the District received free or reduced-price school meals.2 During the pandemic, the federal government implemented universal free school meals by issuing a waiver allowing schools to offer all students free school meals, regardless of income. This policy ended at the start of the 2022-2023 school year. Subsequent United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) analysis revealed that states that did not continue the 1 2023 Food System Assessment. DC Food Policy Council. https://dcfoodpolicy.org/wp- content/uploads/2024/04/2023-food-system-assessment-1.pdf 2 The District of Columbia’s School Meals Report for School Year 2018-2019. DC Hunger Solutions. https://www.dchunger.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/DCHS_School_Meals_Report_2018-2019.pdf COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA The John A. Wilson Building 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20004 universal free school meals policy experienced a 9.8% increase in food insufficiency, driven by students whose household incomes were just above the free and reduced school meals program’s eligibility threshold.3 In addition to reducing food insufficiency for children because of a benefits cliff, universal free school meals reduces the social stigma that children who receive free and reduced price school meals experience. As of April 2024, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, and Vermont passed laws or ballot initiatives to permanently supplement federal free school meals programs with local funds, making free and reduced-price breakfast and lunch available to all students throughout the school year. I am eager for the District to join this group of states, and the obstacles to doing so are minimal. A 2022 D.C. Food Policy Council analysis estimated that universal free school meals would cost the District $8 million annually.4 However, the USDA’s 2023 expansion of the Community Eligibility Provision, which designates individual schools as eligible for universal free school meals depending on federal benefits programs participation, indicates that the cost to the District would now be considerably lower.5 Grocery costs have risen, families whose income barely misses the free school meals eligibility cutoff struggle to feed their children, and many children in the District are hungry and experience food insecurity. We know from other states how to solve that issue. A measure of a city’s greatness is how well it does by its children, and by ensuring that all children are nourished and can flourish in school, the District will live up to its ideals. 3 State Universal Free School Meal Policies Reduced Food Insufficiency Among Children in the 2022-2023 School Year. USDA. https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2024/june/state-universal-free-school-meal-policies-reduced- food-insufficiency-among-children-in-the-2022-2023-school-year 4 Universal Free School Meals for DC Students. DC Food Policy Council. https://dcfoodpolicy.org/2022/12/16/universal-free-school-meals-in-dc/ 5 USDA Expands Access to School Breakfast and Lunch for More Students. USDA. https://www.usda.gov/about- usda/news/press-releases/2023/09/26/usda-expands-access-school-breakfast-and-lunch-more-students er Councilmember Christina Henderson Councilmember Robert C. White, Jr. Councilmember Janeese Lewis George Councilmember Matthew Frumin Councilmember Brooke Pinto Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie Councilmember Anita Bonds AN ACT IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA To provide universal free school meals and after school snacks to public school, public charter school, and participating private school students in the District of Columbia.

AI Summary

Charles Allen (D)*,  Anita Bonds (D)*,  Matt Frumin (D)*,  Janeese George (D)*,  Christina Henderson (I)*,  Kenyan McDuffie (I)*,  Brianne Nadeau (D)*,  Zachary Parker (D)*,  Brooke Pinto (D)*,  Robert White (D)*, 

Notice of Intent to Act on B26-0108 Published in the DC Register (on 02/07/2025)

Official Document