MN Free Lunch Program Getting Pricey

Minnesota’s program to provide free school meals to all students regardless of income is costing more than expected. Advocates said the free meals would ease stresses on parents while lifting the stigma on kids who get them. Minnesota is the fourth state in the nation to offer universal free school meals.

Republican lawmakers objected to the program saying it was a poor use of taxpayer dollars to subsidize meals for students whose parents could afford them. Now, with costs rising faster than expected — $81 million more over the next two years and $95 million in the two years after that.

Governor Tim Walz says budgeting for new programs is always tricky, but he called the free meals “an investment I will defend all day.”