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All schoolchildren would get three free meals under federal bill

Scott Willis
/
WAER News
Children enjoy a free meal earlier this summer in Burnet Park as part of an outreach effort by the Syracuse City School District.

Central New York children are back in school, and many of them are getting one or two free meals thanks to current federal and state funding. But legislation before Congress would change that to three meals per day for all children, regardless of income. It’s called the Universal School Meals Program Act, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand says it has multiple benefits. 

“If kids are well fed, you're going to see lower petty crime rates. You're going to see lower discipline problems," Gillibrand said. "You're going to see higher graduation rates. You're going to see better workforce development for kids coming out of high school and college. You're going to have a better society.”

Gillibrand says better fed children are also healthier when they become adults. She says the universal meals program also reduces burdensome paperwork, increases reimbursement rates for districts, and expands summer food service. Gillibrand admits it’s expensive at $11 billion. But she says the return on investment is well worth it.

“We will find a way to fully pay for this as we pay for everything in the federal budget, so it's not going to result in an increase in people's taxes to pay for this," Gillibrand said. "It's going to be a decision about what programs are less effective that should be cut.”

Only eight states provide universal school meals, including Minnesota, which gained national attention when Governor Tim Walz became the democratic vice presidential candidate. Other states include neighboring Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine, as well as New Mexico, California, Colorado, and Michigan.

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.