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JBC approves HSMA funding true-up, asks staff to draft repayment options
Summary
Joint Budget Committee staff recommended replacing some State Education Fund appropriations with Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA) cash funds and adding roughly $27.5 million to fully fund meals in FY25–26; the committee approved the staff recommendation and authorized drafting to explore statutory fixes related to prior transfers.
Amanda Bickle, Joint Budget Committee staff, told lawmakers the first supplemental package addresses several Department of Education requests and her recommendation to "fully fund" Healthy School Meals for All for the full year in FY25–26. She said staff proposes replacing a prior State Education Fund appropriation with HSMA cash funds and adding an estimated $27.5 million to cover meal costs.
Bickle said the change is consistent with legislative intent that "Healthy School Meals for All should fully pay for the cost of the program." She also told members there is no strict statutory requirement to repay State Education Fund dollars that had been used in prior years: "The term ‘owe,’ I’m using entirely colloquially. There is no strict statutory requirement for this repayment," she said.
Committee members pressed staff on how recent ballot measures referenced as FF and LL affect State Education Fund receipts and whether additional revenue streams could cover prior transfers. Representative Taggart and other members asked whether dollars that entered the State Education Fund under FF could be directed back to HSMA; staff replied that LL allows retaining amounts received in the first full year of operations and that the interactions between measures and previous appropriations are complex.
Several lawmakers said they were concerned about the budgetary pressure on the State Education Fund and indicated they would prefer repaying borrowed dollars to strengthen the fund. Senator Mobley said the dominant need now appears to be the State Education Fund rather than additional HSMA reserves.
The committee voted to adopt the staff recommendation on the supplemental package that included the HSMA true-up and to authorize drafting work on possible statutory changes related to transfers and repayment mechanics. The motion for the staff recommendation on S3 passed on a voice vote recorded as 6–0.
The committee did not adopt any final statutory changes at the meeting; staff sought drafting authority to develop bill language for later consideration in figure setting and potential standalone legislation. The next steps are drafting and later committee consideration during the figure-setting process.
