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Lawmakers debate Medicaid Direct Certification pilot for free and reduced-price school meals; vote deferred
Summary
Committee members discussed an amendment to create a two-year, revenue-neutral Medicaid Direct Certification pilot to automatically certify eligible Medicaid recipients for free/reduced school meals with parental consent; the committee postponed a final vote to allow more review and public comment.
Representative Kelly introduced an amendment proposing a two-year Medicaid Direct Certification (MDC) pilot that would allow data-matching between Medicaid enrollment and Department of Education records to certify children for free and reduced-price school meals, with explicit consent language and a two-year hold on differential-aid calculations to prevent immediate budget impacts.
The amendment would require USDA approval to operate the pilot, include an opt-in/consent mechanism for families, and freeze differential-aid levels at pre-implementation amounts for the pilot period so that school funding would not increase automatically during the two-year demonstration. Supporters said the pilot would reach children who are eligible but currently not enrolled due to paperwork barriers; opponents said similar proposals had been considered and failed in policy committees and on the House floor and raised concerns about privacy, long-term fiscal exposure if certification counts increase, and lack of concrete local examples of students denied meals.
Committee members asked for time to read the amendment and invited further discussion on Monday; Representative Kelly and others urged the committee to consider the human impact of hunger in schools even if the state must evaluate fiscal implications carefully. No final committee vote was taken; members agreed to revisit the amendment at the next meeting.
