Lindsey Williams and Emily Kinkead have proposed taking $275 million from the state budget and using it for a free school lunch program aimed at combating child hunger and improving academic success.
For some children, a school lunch might be their only source of food.
That’s why state Sen. Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny) and Rep. Emily Kinkead (D-Allegheny), along with anti-hunger advocates and educators, are pushing for legislative action to reinstate the no-cost lunch program at Pennsylvania K-12 schools.
Williams and Kinkead each recently introduced bills in the Senate and House calling for $275 million from the state budget to be used for the program aimed at combating child hunger and improving academic success by providing access to healthy meals.
“Whether we’re helping a student who forgot their lunch at home, a parent struggling with the loss of a job, or a family just trying to make ends meet, ensuring that every student has access to breakfast and lunch with no shame or stigma is one of the most common sense ways we can help our kids be ready to learn every single day,” Williams said during a press conference.
The proposals follow months of urging from Democratic lawmakers for the Wolf administration to offer no-cost meals ahead of the 2022-23 school year. Just weeks ago, Gov. Tom Wolf announced the Universal Free Breakfast Program.
Waivers approved by the US Department of Agriculture afforded students free school meals from March 2020 through the 2021-22 academic year, amounting to nearly 1 million Pennsylvania students eating for free each year. With the waivers, schools across the commonwealth served more than 16 million free lunches in November 2021 alone, according to state reports.
Both bills have been referred to the Senate and House education committees.
Politics
Pennsylvania redesigned its mail-in ballot envelopes amid litigation. Some voters still tripped up
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A form Pennsylvania voters must complete on the outside of mail-in ballot return envelopes has been redesigned, but that did...
Biden makes 4 million more workers eligible for overtime pay
The Biden administration announced a new rule Tuesday to expand overtime pay for around 4 million lower-paid salaried employees nationwide. The...
Malcolm Kenyatta makes history after winning primary for Pa. Auditor General
State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, who was first elected to the state House in 2018, won the Democratic nomination for Pa. Auditor General and will...
Local News
What do you know about Wawa? 7 fun facts about Pennsylvania’s beloved convenience store
Wawa has 60 years of Pennsylvania roots, and today the commonwealth’s largest private company has more than 1,000 locations along the east coast....
Conjoined twins from Berks County die at age 62
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations,...