Kentucky lawmakers seek to expand free school meal access

It’s been an active couple days in the world of school nutrition legislation. Bills concerning lunch shaming and free meal access have been put forth, and another state is offering universal free meals. 

Here’s the latest at the state level. 

Kentucky bill looks to expand CEP 

Kentucky is the latest state to debut a bill that would expand free meal access for students. Senator Cassie Chambers Armstrong and Representative Chad Aull have introduced the legislation, which would require more schools to participate in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). CEP allows schools with a certain amount of low-income students to serve free meals to all students, regardless of their family income. 

Under the bill, public schools where at least 60% of the student body meets the CEP’s income requirements would have to participate in the program by the 2025-2026 school year. Schools with an income eligibility between 40% and 60% that choose not to participate in the program would have to document the reasons why they did not enroll in an effort to better understand what additional support they might need to participate. 

In addition, the bill would provide participating nutrition programs with extra funding by requiring the state to match the federal compensation rate for each CEP-eligible meal. 

The Kentucky Department of Education estimates that the bill would allow an additional 20,000 students to receive free meals at school. 

“For many students, school breakfasts and lunches are not just the best meals of the day; they’re often the only ones,” Sen. Chambers Armstrong said in a statement. “Unfortunately, and for a variety of reasons, some students have not been able to fully access these meals like they should. The bill that Rep. Aull and I are announcing today would help a lot of families have one less thing to worry about.”

The bill will be considered in the General Assembly early next year.

Arizona may ban lunch shaming

Arizona senators have introduced a bill that would ban lunch shaming in the state. SB 1233 would prevent school nutrition programs from providing an alternative lunch to students who are behind on meal payments. The bill has been referred to the Senate Rules Committee. 

Arizona joins North Dakota, Massachusetts and others in efforts to ban lunch shaming and reduce potential stigma surrounding student meal debt. Over the past couple of years, multiple pieces of legislation have been introduced at the federal level that would ban the practice; however, none of those bills have been signed into law. 

Illinois approves universal free meals 

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has signed HB 2471 into law, enabling free meal access for students whose schools participate in the National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program. The State Board of Education will be responsible for overseeing the free meals program, which goes into effect this school year.

Illinois joins a handful of states, including Colorado, Michigan and Vermont, in offering universal free meals this year. 

See which states currently offer universal free meals via the map below: