Gavin Newsom defends universal school lunch bill despite not knowing the cost
Jenny Goldsberry
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Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) was on the defensive for a bill in the U.S. Senate that would provide free school meals for all students but without stating how it would fund the program.
The Universal School Meals Program Act has been teased by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) since 2019 but was introduced in 2021. This bill promises to increase schools’ reimbursement rates to $2.72 for breakfast and $3.81 for lunch and dinner, offer a $0.30 per meal incentive for schools that have at least 30% local products, and a less strict eligibility requirement for summer meal programs without explicitly stating how much it could cost the country or a way to fund it.
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Fox News tweeted an article about the bill titled “Democrats demand universal free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack for kids in school.” Newsom responded with a quote tweet that read: “how dare they.”
https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1658948750814085121
Currently, schools with eligible children apply for Title 1 funding. There were roughly 98,000 participating schools from 2020 through 2021 that shared Title 1 allocations that added up to $16,996,790,000 in 2020 and $17,226,790,000 in 2021. The Department of Education requested $37,246,790,000 for fiscal 2022.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) held a press conference last week to announce herself as another co-sponsor and teased the bill could see more action soon.
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This came just before Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said lawmakers must raise the debt ceiling by June 1 or risk a default on U.S. debt obligations. When exactly the U.S. would run out of money remains uncertain. On Tuesday, Yellen said, “It is impossible to predict with certainty the exact date when Treasury will be unable to pay all of the government’s bills.” The debt ceiling is the maximum amount of debt Treasury can issue.
Newsom did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.