‘Got Milk’ bill divides committee over costs, practical fixes as lawmakers weigh allowing free single cartons

A proposal to allow students who bring a lunch from home to receive only a free milk — rather than being required to take a full reimbursable meal — prompted broad committee discussion on March 25 about food-service contracts, federal reimbursement rules and the Minnesota Department of Education's fiscal estimate.

Representative Allen presented House File 2,387 saying the measure would reduce food waste and save taxpayer dollars. Allen cited a per-lunch average cost of $4.50 and said milk accounts for about $0.50; he argued that when students who bring lunch want only milk, allowing them to get milk without taking a full meal would prevent wasted lunches and net savings.

Beth Geiss, superintendent of Kenyon-Wanamingo Public Schools, supported the bill and described local sharing tables and waste patterns observed in her district. Geiss said she counted 60 students out of 654 who brought packed lunches during one observation day, and that much of that packed lunch ends up discarded when students instead collect milk at school.

House Fiscal and Minnesota Department of Education staff presented a fiscal note that differed from sponsors' back-of-envelope estimates. House Fiscal staff reviewed the fiscal note (in the committee packet) and said the bill's estimated cost for the 2026–27 biennium is about $9,297,000 and about $9,217,000 for the 2028–29 biennium. That estimate relies on MDE assumptions that roughly 25 percent of students who bring a cold lunch would take a milk if allowed; MDE estimated about 54,501 students would take a milk daily under those assumptions and used a federal reimbursement rate of $0.50 per half-pint.

Committee members pushed back on the size and methodology of the fiscal note. Several members suggested districts manage milk distribution locally with sharing tables or other practices; Representative Joakim and others said some districts have already implemented low-cost solutions. Members questioned the need for the FTE and IT costs included in the fiscal note; MDE staff said the agency modeled needed changes to point-of-service software and a small administrative workload associated with implementation and compliance.

Superintendent Geiss explained one practical barrier: some districts outsource meal service to contracted providers that will not allow a reimbursable milk to be given without the full reimbursable meal. Geiss said that contractual rules and federal reimbursable-meal requirements (which dictate required meal components) limit local flexibility. MDE and House Fiscal staff said the fiscal note reflects those constraints and system-change costs.

Committee members and the sponsor discussed other options, including statutory language changes, using nutrition fund balances and clarifying rules to avoid adding a new full-time MDE position. Chair and members indicated they were willing to explore language and technical fixes but expressed skepticism about the fiscal note as drafted. Representative Allen's bill was laid over for possible omnibus inclusion; sponsors and agency staff agreed to follow up with clarifying information on assumptions, contracted services and possible statutory fixes.