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Budget panel splits over how to fund Healthy School Meals for All as election approaches
Summary
After hours of testimony and options analysis, the panel endorsed a hybrid, contingent approach: fully fund HSMA for the first half of 2025–26, then pivot to a targeted model (CEP and high‑poverty schools) if proposed ballot revenue measures fail; staff to draft implementing language.
The Joint Budget Committee wrestled with funding for Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA), the voter‑driven program that makes breakfasts and lunches broadly available in Colorado schools. Staff presented three options: full year funding (projected to cost about $150 million); a targeted approach that guarantees all meals only for community eligibility provision (CEP) and high‑poverty schools (estimated about $80 million); and a hybrid that funds the program fully for the first half of the school year and then switches to a targeted model if proposed ballot measures fail.
Lawmakers expressed sharply different priorities. Some argued the committee should preserve broad access through the year and press ballot measures to supply new revenue; others warned the committee cannot responsibly appropriate large sums without near‑term revenue certainty. Members also debated the program’s current overexpenditure authority; several expressed concern that an open‑ended appropriation risked unanticipated liabilities.
After extended exchanges, the committee directed staff to draft the hybrid option: appropriate enough to run HSMA for the first half of the school year (estimated $8.1M gap under staff forecasts), hold any additional funds in escrow pending ballot outcomes, and include legislative triggers tied to vote results. The motion to proceed with hybrid drafting passed with the committee split; final appropriation language and whether to include a placeholder adjustment remain to be settled Monday.
Why it matters: HSMA touches food security for schoolchildren, affects school district operations and budget planning, and intersects with proposed ballot measures. Members asked staff to return clearer statutory language tying any second‑half adjustments to election results and to limit open‑ended overexpenditure authority.
What’s next: Staff will draft contingency language and a bill; the committee will revisit the item before finalizing the long bill.
