This thread is really misleading. Before the pandemic, there was a robust and well functioning school free meals program. This program stays - no matter what. This new bill is not needed - it’s taking state money to feed students whose families can afford meals already. There are a lot higher priorities than feeding kids with enough food already, in my opinion. State money is not unlimited like federal money is - we can’t run a debt. So if we spend money on this, other things can’t get funded. And yes, we could raise taxes, but states are somewhat hamstring with this because we’re in competition with other states - if our taxes get too high, businesses will relocate.

Also, this is just me, but I don’t think we should be encouraging kids who are eating food from home to switch to institutional food that is prepared according to flawed USDA nutritional guidelines. And if the food was free for everyone, I bet a lot of kids would start eating the school lunches, and in a lot cases, have worse nutrition.