On Aug. 1, the Massachusetts Legislature  said ‘yes’ to a budget proposal that mandates all state public schools provide all K-12 students with free meals,  extending a program that was both necessary and popular during the COVID – 19 pandemic.

Federal funding to continue the free meals program ran out last year.  Some states moved to put the program back in their own budgets, including Massachusetts which earmarked $171.5 million to supply the free lunches.

If Governor Maura Healey signs the budget into law, parents will no longer have to worry about paying cafeteria charges.

Rep. James McGovern (D- Worcester) said, “I’m extra proud to be from Massachusetts today. In our Commonwealth, under the leadership of the Healey-Driscoll administration, we recognize that our kids are 100% of our future. They should be learning, growing, and thriving—not worrying about where their next meal will come from or how to pay their lunch debt.”

“If signed into law, free universal school meals will literally change lives, full stop. No child in Massachusetts will ever have to wonder how to get though the school day on an empty stomach. Thank you to Speaker Mariano, Senate President Spilka, Senator Sal DiDomenico, Representative Andy Vargas, and all the amazing advocates who made this happen—including Project Bread and the Feed Kids Coalition,” he said. “Now we keep pushing to take this policy nationwide and continue building on the momentum of last year’s White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. The promise of this country ought to be that no child ever goes hungry in any school.”

“The promise of this country ought to be that no child ever goes hungry in any school.”

U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), one of the most outspoken anti-hunger advocates in Congress, applauded the Massachusetts Legislature for making free school meals permanent and said the move «will literally change lives, full stop.»

“No child in Massachusetts will ever have to wonder how to get through the school day on an empty stomach,” said McGovern. “The promise of this country ought to be that no child ever goes hungry in any school.”

“We would not be where we are today without the voices and activism of thousands of advocates and organizations, who made it clear that feeding our kids must be a statewide priority,” Erin McAleer, president and CEO of the Massachusetts anti-hunger group Project Bread, said in a statement Monday. «We are grateful to all of our partners across the state and in the Legislature who enabled this victory.