SALT LAKE CITY — Efforts to offer free school meals to more Utah children stalled in the legislative session.
Rep. Tyler Clancy (R-Provo) requested $4 million in appropriations to expand free school meals to families qualifying for reduced-price lunch.
The request did not receive priority in the state’s multi-billion dollar budget.
“You don’t give up,” Rep. Clancy said. “It’s one of those issues where you make progress and it's incremental.”
A FOX 13 News report in April 2023 found Utah families were carrying nearly $2 million dollars in unpaid student lunch debt during the 2022-2023 school year.
READ: Utah students plagued with over $1.7 million in school lunch debt
A federal program during the COVID-19 pandemic provided free meals at schools to all children regardless of the economic status of their family.
Student lunch debt in Utah skyrocketed when that program ended.
Clancy plans to bring this issue back in 2025. He sees it as a way to maximize the state’s investment in education.
“If we aren't addressing core human needs we aren’t enhancing that spend,” he said.
Clancy built a coalition with several community groups including Utahns Against Hunger.
“It's about priorities,” said Neil Rickard, a child nutrition advocate with Utahns Against Hunger. “There are a lot of decisions the legislature has to make about spending that aren’t easy – but they are ready to do things that raise taxes on things that are legislative junk food.”
Rickard added he is grateful for the effort invested by Clancy and other legislators who supported expanding the program. While disappointed, he is looking forward to continuing the work to address food insecurity.
“People don't necessarily think of schools as the first place to go, but it is a reliable spot where kids need to be,” he said. “They do tremendous work in the schools. Anything we can do to continue to support them in making those meals more accessible is the way to move forward."
Clancy plans to gather more data to show how expanding the program could positively impact Utah families struggling to make ends meet.
“Some of the negative feedback is about what is the reduced price piece versus the no cost,” Clancy said. “We want to be more specific next year and get more data.”
He is prepared to crunch the numbers to present a stronger case to convince those with the power of the purse.
“For me it didn’t feel like, ‘no.’ It felt like, ‘not this year,’’ he said.
