On the heels of last week's news that Minnesota's budget surplus has grown larger, there are renewed calls to approve free school meals for all students, regardless of income.

Districts that participate in the National School Lunch Program receive federal funds to offer free and reduced-price meals to eligible students. A universal program asks the state to provide the remaining funds to cover all students.

Colleen Moriarty - executive director of Hunger Solutions Minnesota - said with visits to food shelves still trending higher, they want to ensure that children from those households have as much access to nutritious food as possible.

She argued that it will help these students learn better collectively.

"Nutritious food solves a lot of issues," said Moriarty. "It doesn't solve all of them, but it breeds a more calm atmosphere, I think."

Temporary federal support for universal lunches, spurred by the pandemic, expired in June.

In Minnesota, a permanent plan was floated last legislative session, but lawmakers failed to agree on most supplemental spending.

Democratic-Farmer-Labor Gov. Tim Walz suggests he will prioritize universal lunches next session. There's still Republican opposition, but Walz's party will control the Legislature.

Those who oppose the idea question whether free meals should be offered to students who don't need them. But supporters have long argued that part of the push involves removing the stigma associated with these programs.

Moriarty added that hunger is increasingly affecting families who don't meet the eligibility threshold, and that the problem isn't isolated to certain areas.

"There are kids in rural areas who go hungry," said Moriarty. "There are kids in suburban areas that go hungry. It's not just one part of the state. It's a chance to really make a difference."

Currently, three states around the U.S. have approved permanent universal meals.

Meanwhile, Moriarty said they anticipate that visits to Minnesota food shelves will approach the five million mark during a year in which inflation has added pressure to household budgets.

She said they'll likely ask for additional food-shelf funding as well.

Three weeks into state Senate Republicans' walkout from the Oregon Legislature, concern is growing the move could sink action on important issues such as addressing hunger in the state.

Susannah Morgan, CEO of Oregon Food Bank, said rates of hunger are still above pre-pandemic levels, and it is anticipated the food assistance system in the state will serve more than a million people this year.

"This is a crisis that so many of us need help feeding our families," Morgan pointed out. "In order to meet that crisis we need our government to work."

Republicans walked out on May 3 in part because of a bill which would expand abortion rights and further protect transgender health care. Senate Republicans have pledged to come back on the final day of the session, scheduled for June 25, to pass bipartisan bills. Morgan argued one day does not give the Legislature enough time to pass a number of important bills.

She said one important measure is Senate Bill 610, which would ensure people who are undocumented can receive food assistance. It is estimated more than 62,000 Oregonians are excluded from federal food aid.

"This would really, really, really help us address this deep hunger crisis," Morgan explained. "And that is stuck because nothing is moving in the Oregon Legislature right now."

Morgan added she is asking Republican senators to go back to Salem.

"This is not intended as a partisan statement," Morgan cautioned. "This is intended as a statement about what our communities need to ensure that their food needs are met right now."

More than 17,000 Kentuckians could lose food assistance when pre-pandemic SNAP work requirements go back into effect this summer, for adults between ages 18 and 49.

That's on top of a proposal House Republicans are pushing in the debt-ceiling bill in Congress that would implement work requirements for people up to age 55.

Groups working to fight hunger say the combination could trigger a food insecurity crisis.

Cassidy Wheeler, advocacy coordinator for the nonprofit Feeding Kentucky, said the Commonwealth ranks second nationwide for food insecurity among people in their 50s.

She said rural communities left behind in the tech era have made finding employment difficult.

"We have a lot of blue-collar workers here in Kentucky," said Wheeler, "who maybe have worked in factories their whole lives, farmed, or they've done some sort of physically intensive job that they're not able to do anymore. And they may not have the skill set now, to transition into a different field."

Backers of work requirements say it's one way to reduce fraud and trim the budget by providing aid only to those who need it most.

Anyone concerned about their eligibility should call the Department of Community Based Services at 1-885-306-8959 or visit the Kentucky SNAP Benefits website through 'kynect.ky.gov.'

According to an American Economic Association study, work reporting requirements could mean more than half of a state's SNAP participants losing assistance - and are most likely to affect people without stable housing.

Wheeler added that many older Kentuckians are living with conditions that make it challenging to meet work requirements, but they don't qualify for disability benefits.

"Taking away someone's SNAP benefits is not going to make them find a job faster or easier," said Wheeler. "They will just be hungry while they're doing it."

The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy estimates more than 9,000 people in 39 counties, largely in eastern Kentucky, would be exempt from reporting work hours due to higher-than-average unemployment rates.

Groups working to fight hunger in California are praising Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposed changes to the state budget regarding food assistance for undocumented people, but say they do not go far enough.

The governor's "May Revise" would allow undocumented immigrants over age 55 to participate in food assistance programs two years earlier than planned, starting in 2025 instead of 2027.

Tia Shimada, director of programs at Nourish California, said the state should not exclude people from CalFresh or the California Food Assistance Program because of their age or immigration status.

"Those inequities, they're written into our policies," pointed out. "They're a choice, and California can do better. Gov. Newsom and the California state Legislature should end the unjust exclusion of immigrants from food assistance."

Senate Bill 245 and Assembly Bill 311 would expand the food assistance programs to include from 580,000 to 670,000 low-income undocumented people under age 55. Opponents cited cost concerns.

Food insecurity is associated with negative physical and mental health outcomes and has been shown to impair cognitive development in children.

Ali Ahmed, a student at the University of California-San Diego, said it is tough for immigrant students who struggle to afford basic necessities.

"This is the case for many of my friends at school," Ahmed observed. "These immigrants are left to rely on food pantries or have to make hard choices between paying for school materials or buying food to keep them nourished and ready to learn."

Advocates have organized under the banner of the "Food4All" campaign, a coalition of 100 groups around the state. They say 46% of undocumented immigrants under age 55 experience food insecurity.


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