Happy New Year!  We hope you are continuing to stay healthy and safe, and especially now with the pandemic continuing to ramp up.  But we have some great action steps while you hunker down. 

At 11 AM today, the Joint Committee on Higher Education is hearing legislation that would ensure all children in Massachusetts qualify for universal free school meals. House bill 714/Senate bill 314. Although school meals are 100% free right now because of a temporary federal policy during COVID, that will end this year unless we pass this legislation. 

To follow the words of Maine State Senate President Troy Jackson (a member of a 5 generation logging family): “No child should ever have to prove that they are worthy of nutritious food. Schools shouldn’t have to go broke or jump through outrageous bureaucratic hoops just to feed students.”

Please see Project Bread's action alert and tools to post on social media all day. Let’s keep the momentum going and flood the inboxes of the legislature and get #FeedKidsMA and #SchoolMeals4All trending!  

Tune into the hearing @11am: https://malegislature.gov/Events/Hearings/Detail/4149  NOTE: There are several bills before School Meals for All.  It is possible that the Committee will not start testimony on the bill until noon. You can tune in anytime to see the status of the hearing. The Jt Committee already has a list of those providing oral testimony, so at this juncture, please join and listen in.

Submit written testimony:  You can submit a short, or long, statement in support of this bill anytime this week. Take a few minutes to draft up a quick letter of support and any personal experience you or a family member has with trying to learn on an empty stomach to underscore how important this bill is. You can submit it via email to the House and Senate co-chairs as follows: Alice.Peisch@mahouse.gov  and Jason.Lewis@masenate.gov . Please include in the SUBJECT LINE of your email "Education Committee Testimony, House Bill 714/Senate Bill 314, An Act relative to Universal School Meals.

Again, see Project Bread's action alert below.