Ohio lawmakers propose making breakfast, lunch free at schools

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A bipartisan bill introduced to the Ohio Senate would make all breakfast and lunch free at public and chartered nonpublic schools.

With two teenage sons, Natalie Hastings buys a lot of food.

"[My younger son] is waking up in the middle, like late at night, and going down and eating again because he's so hungry," Hastings said.

As food at grocery stores is getting more expensive for the mom, it's getting more expensive at school, too.

"Wow, school lunch is expensive now," she said. "There have been times when I've called the nurse and said, 'Can you call my kid down to your office and give them a granola bar because I think they're hungry.'"

And while her kids know she will pay for it, data from Feeding America reports that one in five Ohio children are unsure of where their next meal is coming from. State Sen. Bill Blessing (R-Colerain Township) said this is unacceptable.

"You're looking at about $3,000 a year spent on breakfast and lunch," Blessing told me.

The Republican and state Sen. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) have introduced bipartisan S.B. 109, which would provide free breakfast and lunch to public and chartered nonpublic school students.

"It's a public good — the benefit will accrue to families across the state," Blessing added. "Just thinking about it philosophically, if children have issues with hunger, parents have trouble feeding them, they're going to want to go to school, if for no other reason for that meal."

I couldn’t find anyone to speak out publicly against meals for kids, but Donovan O'Neil with conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity warns about the price tag.

"What the state spends goes up biennium over biennium by very significant amounts," O'Neil said. "So we do caution for fiscal stewardship, fiscal restraint, fiscal responsibility."

If the bill became law, it's estimated it would cost the state $300 million per fiscal year — less than one percent of the proposed state budget. However, 15% of the budget is already being spent on public education.

Our extensive reporting on threats to public school funding led to massive backlash for lawmakers, and numerous GOP members spoke out privately.

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O’Neil said that, overall, he would rather state dollars for education go directly to the families instead of school districts.

"Get to a place where we are funding families, then through the policy decisions we're doing, we're maximizing flexibility and creating an environment that ultimately increases the supply of education opportunities," he added.

Hastings argued that spending a portion of the state’s dollars on children will only help the kids learn — and help the economy — in the long run.

"In order for us to be able to come to school, get those math scores where we want them to be, to continue to be an innovative population, then let's just start with something easy like feeding kids," Hastings said.

The bill will be heard in the coming weeks.

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