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Lawmakers Consider $10 Million State Match to Expand Universal Free School Meals
Summary
Delegate Julie Plokovich Carr presented HB 12 54, which would mandate $10 million in annual state funding to help approximately 200 additional schools join the federal Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), unlocking free meals for about 90,000 more Maryland students; advocates including health and food-bank groups urged a favorable report.
Delegate Julie Plokovich Carr told the committee HB 12 54 would provide $10 million in state matching funds to help roughly 200 additional schools participate in the federal Community Eligibility Provision, expanding universal free breakfast and lunch to about 90,000 more students.
Plokovich Carr said food insecurity remains common in Maryland and that universal school meals increase attendance, decrease stigma and can be a protective public-health measure. “We did it nationally during the pandemic and eight states still provide free school meals to all students,” she said, urging the committee to use state funds to unlock federal dollars that many qualifying schools cannot access without a state match.
Witnesses from the American Heart Association, Maryland Food Bank, Maryland Hunger Solutions and pediatric clinicians described health and learning benefits and urged a favorable report. They said feeding children in school reduces household food insecurity and can relieve food-service departments that are carrying growing meal-debt burdens.
Plokovich Carr said the funding mechanism under consideration is the For Our Kids Act (a proposed sugary beverage tax) and that the committee would review fiscal offsets elsewhere. The committee asked questions about that funding source and about district implementation; no formal vote was recorded in the hearing.
