Last week the House Education Committee heard from Dartmouth college students who presented a study on universal meals programs around the country, and the House Ways and Means Committee continued discussing the challenge of funding a proposed program in Vermont.
Rep. Esme Cole, D-Hartford, reporting on H.165 for the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency and Forestry, told the House Education Committee some families who don’t qualify for free or reduced-price meals are likely experiencing food insecurity.
“There exists a portion of students who are unable to take advantage of these investments because of unmet basic needs. To get the full bang for our buck in Vermont’s investments in education, we need to guarantee that every one of Vermont’s students are food secure,” Cole said.
About 25,000 students in Vermont are not eligible for free or reduced meals, according to Cole. That’s the number of students Vermont taxpayers would need to fund if a universal meals program becomes law this year.
However, that funding could come from local school budgets. Rep. Curt Taylor, D-Colchester, explained how that would work for local districts.
“So with inflation, the reimbursement would get adjusted each year but the school would still have to pay any difference to the actual cost of getting that meal, and that would be reflected in the local school budget,” Taylor said.
The total tax impact on Vermonters is an approximate $0.03 increase on both the homestead property tax rate and the non-homestead property tax rate.
Dartmouth College study on universal meals
Lawmakers in the Education Committee also reviewed a study students at Dartmouth College conducted on the pros and cons of a universal meals program.
While the students giving the presentation seemed to endorse the program, they noted some of the challenges faced by other states that tried to fund universal meals.
For example, a universal meal program in Maine used a state-run online application system intended to draw more federal assistance. However, that ended up costing the state more funds to run and maintain than it brought in.
“It seems that an online statewide application system would not be worth the minimal benefits it brings,” said Elizabeth Rudnick, one of the three students who testified before the committee.
The presentation from the Dartmouth students can be viewed online here.
Michael Bielawski is a reporter for True North. Send him news tips at bielawski82@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @TrueNorthMikeB.
Universal school meals are breadlines for children that normalize government dependency. If you can afford it, feed your own kids. If you cant, cut costs somewhere else so you can. It is neither hard nor expensive to put together a meal that shows your love and responsibility to your children and is by far nutritionally superior. A government big enough to give you everything you need is a government big enough to take everything you have.
There’s food insecurity is for more then just the Kids with bidenflation at 7-9%. It’s a top down fix that has to be started with those who are ruing the economy . The puppet biden administration needs to go before the cost of food will come down. While we struggle to pay for a weeks grocery bill now, because Ukraine, the Russians are enjoying fully stocked shelves at our pre biden prices and only a 2% inflation rate. End the stupid war which only the WEF and one worlder’s want.