COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A brand new Colorado poll measure goals to supply college meals without spending a dime to college students throughout the state, it doesn’t matter what. This comes as a federal COVID-19 waiver offering free college meals for all college students is ready to finish in June.
The expiration of that waiver will power faculties to solely serve free meals in high-poverty neighborhoods, reverting to how free college meals labored earlier than the pandemic.
House Bill 22-1414 would change that.
Starvation Free Colorado is an advocate for HB 22-1414, generally known as Wholesome Meals For All Public College College students.
Based on the non-profit, the inflation for groceries provides stress to many Colorado households already struggling to maintain meals on the desk.
Based on Starvation Free Colorado, offering college students with a wholesome breakfast and lunch makes them extra attentive and engaged within the classroom, main to raised grades, greater attendance charges, and better commencement charges.
“We estimate that this protects households $750 per baby with youngsters with the ability to have college meals in school,” Ashley Wheeland, with Starvation Free Colorado stated.
If accepted, HB 22-1414 would increase $100 million per yr to cowl the prices of this system by taxing Coloradans making over $300,000 a yr.
Wheeland tells KRDO, that it’s for that purpose that her group, Starvation Free Colorado, pushed for the poll proposition in order that kids in want might proceed receiving free meals in school.
“The easiest way to pay for that is to shut tax loopholes on high-income earners then it will principally deliver within the cash wanted to make sure each child in Colorado to get the meals they should must study,” she stated.
If voters approve the measure in November, the funding raised from that and offered to the colleges for the free meals would go into impact for the 2023-24 college yr.
“Inflation on our groceries which we’re all seeing is up 9 % so households are attempting to cowl the price of meals even to eat at residence,” Wheeland stated. “So this actually takes that stress off of them to ensure they get a meal in class. Sadly for some youngsters, that is the healthiest meal they are going to get.”
With solely days left within the 2022 Basic Meeting, HB 22-1414 awaits consideration from legislators.
