8 US states offer free lunch for students. Here's how they pay for it, from a 4% millionaire's tax to a $0.03 property tax rate increase.

California was the first state to pass free lunch legislation after the COVID-19 meal plan was not renewed for the 2022-2023 school year.

Christina House / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

• Massachusetts is the latest state to expand free school lunch since a COVID-era program ended.
• The state funds it through a 4% millionaire's tax, while other states increase property taxes. 
• Here's how eight states pay for free lunch for public school students. 

Last week, Massachusetts became the eighth state to offer free lunch for all public school students, joining a small but growing roster of states that have expanded their free school lunch programs since the expiration of Congress' COVID-19 federal free lunch funding. 

Massachusetts' program, which was part of a record $56.2 billion fiscal budget for 2024 signed by Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday, will be supported by a 4% millionaire's tax aimed at people's income above $1 million per year, as well as federal and state funding. 

The decision will allow students regardless of family income to have free lunch every school day — a move advocates like CEO and President of Project Bread Erin McAleer told CBS News takes "the burden off of kids" and lets them "just go to school and get free school meals." 

But Massachusetts' plan isn't novel. Seven other states have also created free lunch programs after a divided Congress let its COVID-era federal program expire before the 2022-2023 school year. 

Here are how eight US states pay for free lunch. 

Most states mandate school participation in free lunch programs

Before Massachusetts announced its program, seven states had been offering school lunch and school breakfast programs: California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Vermont. All of those states except Colorado required school districts to offer free meal programs, according to the Associated Press. 

Some states have established hearty budgets for free lunch, paying for the programs through general revenues or education funds.

California, for instance, became the first state to establish a free lunch program, deciding in June 2021 to include funding in its state budget rather than as a separate bill, according to EdSource. The Proposition 98 fund of $650 million reimburses school districts for the meals and determined what portion of the money goes to both community colleges and K-12 schools. 

Maine, following closely after California, passed its free meals legislation in June 2021. When the bill was introduced, it received a 33-0 bipartisan state Senate vote, The Portland Press Herald reported at the time, and its estimated $34 million annual cost would be included in the state's fiscal budget.

New Mexico similarly set aside $22 million in its state budget when it passed its free school meals in March 2023. Additional money would be used to improve school kitchens and cooking equipment, AP said. 

This past July, Michigan included a $160 million investment in its fiscal year budget for free meals, although the state has been offering free and reduced meals to about 50% of students for years, according to WPBN.

And Minnesota's free meal plan — close to a massive $400 million in its first two years and increasingly more expensive in the future, according to MPR News — is state-funded but doesn't include second helpings or separate a la carte items. 

Like Massachusetts, other states fund their free meals through increases in specific taxes

While many states fund their programs through state budgets, Massachusetts joins a few states that find more creative ways to pay for free meals. Its 4% millionaire tax, which is on income, is different from President Joe Biden's billionaires' tax proposal from February, which is aimed at wealth. 

Colorado, the one state that doesn't require school districts to participate, handles the funding of universal free lunch through a voter-passed tax measure. The state's Healthy School Meals for All program passed 55.1% to 44.9% in 2022, reduces income tax deductions for households earning $300,000 or more to fund its meals, AP said. 

And Vermont's free meals program, which was allowed through in June 2023 by Gov. Phil Scott despite him opposing it and not signing it, according to Vermont Public — will result in a $0.03 increase in the property tax rate. 

Free meals make a difference, advocates say

Regardless of how states fund their public free meal programs, advocates praise the moves for allowing students to focus on their education rather than worrying about going hungry. 

"They should have to come to school to learn and not worry about where their next meal is coming from," Comstock Elementary School in Southwest Michigan principal Susan Caswell told WPBN.

And while only a few US states now offer free lunch, some say the momentum for future programs across the nation is growing. 

"There's always been a small number of people who are very, very passionate about universal school meals," Erika Edwards, the director of operations for Jefferson County schools in Colorado, told EducationWeek. "The availability of universal free meals during the pandemic absolutely changed that momentum."

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