OLYMPIA, WA – Washington State’s free school meals program is one step closer to being expanded after the Legislature approved House Bill 1238. The House accepted amendments from the Senate for Rep. Marcus Riccelli’s (D-Spokane) bill which expands access to the existing free school meals program to 90,000 students in Washington who previously did not qualify for the program.
The measure now goes to Governor Jay Inslee for his signature. If he signs HB 1238 into law and it goes into effect, over half of all of Washington’s over 1.1 million K-12 students will qualify for free school meals.
“This is another step forward toward our goal of providing a healthy, nutritious meal to every student in our public schools. Consistent access to nutritious food is a part of how we protect kids from getting sick while ensuring they have the fuel they need to learn, grow, and play. We will continue to push for universal meals, but in the meantime, 90,000 more students will get free breakfast and lunch and I am so happy that we can expand the program for those kids,” Riccelli says.
Legislators have been improving Washington’s school breakfast and lunch program over the last decade by passing Breakfast After the Bell in 2018 (HB 1508), and through Representative Riccelli’s legislation requiring more schools to participate in the USDA Community Eligibility Program (CEP) in 2020 (HB 2660), and his follow-up bill providing funding to more schools required to participate in CEP as recently as 2020 (HB 1878).
