Parents, educators and anti-hunger advocates gathered at a community farm in Lakewood on Tuesday to launch a campaign in support of two Colorado ballot measures that would fully fund a voter-approved universal school meals program.
Propositions LL and MM would shore up funding for the Healthy School Meals For All program, which was created by Colorado voters in 2022 but has exceeded cost projections in its first years of operation. Referred to voters by the state Legislature, the two propositions are the only statewide measures that will appear on Coloradans' ballots in the off-year election in November.
"We're here today because we believe that children shouldn't have to worry about the cost of lunch, or not having access to one because their family can't afford afford to pay for it," said Erika Cervantes, director of organizing and community partnerships for Hunger Free Colorado.
Colorado voters approved Proposition FF in 2022 to create the school meals program, which provides free breakfast and lunch to all students regardless of family income. It was funded by limiting income tax deductions for filers earning over $300,000 per year. The measure authorized the state to collect up to $100 million in new revenue through this reduced deduction. A 1992 constitutional amendment known as the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights requires tax hikes to be approved by voters.
The program's funding mechanism raised more than expected in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, but its costs also exceeded projections, resulting in a budget gap that rose to roughly $50 million this year. Proposition LL would allow the state to keep $12 million in excess revenue that would otherwise be returned to voters under TABOR.
Proposition MM aims to permanently fund the full program by raising an additional $95 million annually for the program through further limits on tax deductions for filers earning over $300,000 a year. Earners in that high-income category would pay an average of $486 more in income taxes yearly.
Enrollment in school meal programs grew by 30% or more in many school districts in the program's first year of operation, exceeding expectations and leading to the budget shortfall. The gap has caused delays in implementing two supplementary programs that were also promised in Proposition FF -- grants for purchasing locally grown food from Colorado farmers and increased wages for cafeteria workers -- but advocates say the enrollment numbers underline the need for the program.
"We hear from our members around the state that the impact of Healthy School Meals For All has lived up to all the hopes and dreams we had for the program," said Shannon Thompson, public policy and legislative chair for the Colorado School Nutrition Association. "No child has to face being stigmatized as poor when lining up for healthy meals. No child has to worry about whether or not there is money in their account as they approach each year. No child has to rush out the door in the morning hungry and not know where their next meal will be."
Keep Kids Fed Colorado, an issue committee registered in support of Propositions LL and MM, has reported $150,000 in contributions, mostly from Hunger Free Colorado. The campaign touts a long list of endorsements from ogranizations including Children's Hospital Colorado, Great Education Colorado, Mi Familia Vota, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union and Save the Children Action Network.
In last month's special legislative session, Colorado lawmakers passed a bill that tweaked Proposition MM, allowing the additional revenue to be spent on broader efforts to reduce food insecurity, once the Healthy School Meals For All program's costs are covered. That would help the state partially offset the impact -- estimated at up to $170 million annually -- of reduced funding and higher administrative costs for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as a result of cuts passed by congressional Republicans this year.
"This summer, Congress slashed billions of dollars for programs that help families put food on the table," said Jen Frankel, a parent who organizes a weekly food pantry for students and families at Denver South High School. "If voters do not turn out in November, hundreds of thousands of Coloradans, including children, older people and people with disabilities, will be in danger of going hungry."
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