Colorado voters overwhelmingly supported a pair of ballot measures that aim to ensure every public school child in the state is able to access free meals at their schools.
Proposition MM increases taxes on wealthy households earning more than $300,000 annually. The measure supplements a previously passed referendum from 2022 that also called for increases in taxes in order to help fund schools, but which fell short of its funding goals.
The tax increases will affect around 200,000 households across the state. Affected households can expect to pay an additional tax of $327 annually for single filers and $574 per year for joint filers.
The new measure will guarantee free breakfasts and lunches for all kids attending public schools. It also provides support for school districts to buy food that is local, and gives raises for school meal staffers, a profession that is drastically underpaid across the country.
The measure passed with support from nearly 6 in 10 voters (58.1 percent), as of Wednesday morning’s vote count.
Voters also passed, by similar margins, Proposition LL, which allows any excess funds from the school meals program to go toward providing additional funds for the state-managed Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps.
More than two-thirds of counties in the state — in both rural and metropolitan areas — voted in favor of the measures.
Proponents of the ballot initiatives, which will raise around $95 million in additional funding for the school meals program, celebrated their victories on Tuesday night.
“Propositions LL and MM will keep kids fed in school, leading to better grades, higher graduation rates, and better outcomes for Colorado students,” said Joe Kabourek, campaign manager for the Keep Kids Fed campaign.
During the pandemic, the federal government helped supply funding to states to ensure public schools could feed children across the country. But that program expired in 2022, after which many states opted not to fund free meals for school children. It is estimated that nearly 1 in 8 children is dealing with hunger in the U.S.
There is broad support for funding school meals for all children nationwide. A YouGov poll conducted in 2023, for example, found that 57 percent of Americans backed providing free breakfasts for all students, while 30 percent said these meals should only go to students from families with low incomes. Only 8 percent of respondents in the poll said no students should receive free breakfasts.
The numbers were similar when asked about lunches for school children, with 60 percent saying that all students should be able to access free lunch, and 29 percent saying lunches should be reserved for children from low-income families. Only 6 percent said lunches should not be free for any school child.
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