1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education finance; limiting state-paid free school lunches to families 
1.3 	with  incomes at or below 500 percent of the federal poverty guidelines; establishing 
1.4 	school wellness and resiliency aid; increasing resources for school-linked behavioral 
1.5 	health grants; appropriating  money;amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 
1.6 	124D.111, subdivisions 1, 1c, 1d, 4, by adding a subdivision; Minnesota Statutes 
1.7 	2025 Supplement, section 124D.111, subdivision 1a; proposing coding for new 
1.8 	law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 126C.
1.9 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.10 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 124D.111, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
1.11 		Subdivision 1.School meals policies; definitions. (a) Each Minnesota participant in 
1.12 	the national school lunch program must adopt and post to its website, or the website of the 
1.13 	organization where the meal is served, a school meals policy.
1.14 	(b) The policy must be in writing and clearly communicate student meal charges when 
1.15 	payment cannot be collected at the point of service. The policy must be reasonable and 
1.16 	well-defined and maintain the dignity of students by prohibiting lunch shaming or otherwise 
1.17 	ostracizing the student.
1.18 	(c) The policy must address whether the participant uses a collections agency to collect 
1.19 	unpaid school meals debt.
1.20 	(d) The policy must ensure that once a participant has placed a meal on a tray or otherwise 
1.21 	served the meal to a student, the meal may not be subsequently withdrawn from the student 
1.22 	by the cashier or other school official, whether or not the student has an outstanding meals 
1.23 	balance.
2.1 	(e) The policy must ensure that a student who has been determined eligible for free and 
2.2 	reduced-price meals must always be served a reimbursable meal even if the student has an 
2.3 	outstanding debt.
2.4 	(f) If a school contracts with a third party for its meal services, it must provide the vendor 
2.5 	with its school meals policy. Any contract between the school and a third-party provider 
2.6 	entered into or modified after July 1, 2021, must ensure that the third-party provider adheres 
2.7 	to the participant's school meals policy.
2.8 	(g) For purposes of this section:
2.9 	(1) "application for educational benefits" means an online or paper application appropriate 
2.10 	for determining a student's eligibility for school meals and other educational benefits. A 
2.11 	student may qualify for free, reduced-price, or enhanced meals based on the application for 
2.12 	educational benefits or through the direct certification process;
2.13 	(2) "enhanced student eligibility standard" means a student whose family income is 
2.14 	between 185 percent and 500 percent of the federal poverty guidelines for that school year;
2.15 	(3) "enhanced student meal" means a meal served to a student whose family income 
2.16 	meets the enhanced student eligibility standard;
2.17 	(4) "federal poverty guidelines" means the poverty guidelines by family size published 
2.18 	by the United States Department of Health and Human Services for that school year;
2.19 	(5) "free meal" means a meal served to a student whose family qualifies for a free meal 
2.20 	under the national school lunch program;
2.21 	(6) "full paid meal" means a meal served to a student whose family does not qualify for 
2.22 	a free or reduced-price meal under the national school lunch program; and
2.23 	(7) "reduced-price meal" means a meal served to a student whose family qualifies for a 
2.24 	reduced-price meal under the national school lunch program.

2.25 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for fiscal year 2027 and later.

2.26 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement, section 124D.111, subdivision 1a, is amended 
2.27 	to read:
2.28 		Subd. 1a.School lunch aid amounts. (a) The school lunch state aid for a participant in 
2.29 	the national school lunch program is the sum of the amounts in paragraphs (b) and (c) and 
2.30 	the amount calculated under subdivision 1d.
3.1 	(a) (b) For fiscal years 2025 through 2027, the state must pay participants in the national 
3.2 	school lunch program either:
3.3 	(1) the amount of 12.5 cents for each full paid and free student lunch and 52.5 cents for 
3.4 	each reduced-price lunch served to students; or
3.5 	(2) if the school participates in the free school meals program under subdivision 1c, the 
3.6 	sum of: (i) 12.5 cents for each full paid, reduced-price, and free student lunch; and (ii) the 
3.7 	amount specified in subdivision 1d.
3.8 	(b) (c) For fiscal year 2028 and later, the state must pay participants in the national 
3.9 	school lunch program either:
3.10 	(1) the amount of 6.25 cents for each full paid and free student lunch and 46.25 cents 
3.11 	for each reduced-price lunch served to students; or
3.12 	(2) if the school participates in the free school meals program under subdivision 1c, the 
3.13 	sum of:
3.14 	(i) 6.25 cents for each full paid, reduced-price, and free student lunch; and
3.15 	(ii) the amount specified in subdivision 1d.

3.16 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for fiscal year 2027 and later.

3.17 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 124D.111, subdivision 1c, is amended to read:
3.18 		Subd. 1c.Free Enhanced school meals program. (a) The free enhanced school meals 
3.19 	program is created within the Department of Education.
3.20 	(b) Each school that participates in the United States Department of Agriculture National 
3.21 	School Lunch program and has an Identified Student Percentage below the federal percentage 
3.22 	determined for all meals to be reimbursed at the free rate via the Community Eligibility 
3.23 	Provision must participate in the free enhanced school meals program.
3.24 	(c) Each school that participates in the United States Department of Agriculture National 
3.25 	School Lunch program and has an Identified Student Percentage at or above the federal 
3.26 	percentage determined for all meals to be reimbursed at the free rate must participate in the 
3.27 	federal Community Eligibility Provision in order to participate in the free enhanced school 
3.28 	meals program.
3.29 	(d) Each school that participates in the free enhanced school meals program must:
3.30 	(1) participate in the United States Department of Agriculture School Breakfast Program 
3.31 	and the United States Department of Agriculture National School Lunch Program; and
4.1 	(2) provide to all eligible students at no cost up to two federally reimbursable meals per 
4.2 	school day, with a maximum of one free breakfast and one free lunch.

4.3 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for fiscal year 2027 and later.

4.4 	Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 124D.111, subdivision 1d, is amended to read:
4.5 		Subd. 1d.Free Enhanced school meals program aid amount. The department must 
4.6 	provide to every Minnesota school participating in the free enhanced school meals program 
4.7 	state funding for each school lunch and breakfast served to a an eligible student, with a 
4.8 	maximum of one breakfast and one lunch per eligible student per school day. The state aid 
4.9 	equals the difference between the applicable federal reimbursement rate at that school site 
4.10 	for a free an enhanced meal, as determined annually by the United States Department of 
4.11 	Agriculture, and the actual federal reimbursement received by the participating school for 
4.12 	the breakfast or lunch served to the student.

4.13 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for fiscal year 2027 and later.

4.14 	Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 124D.111, is amended by adding a subdivision 
4.15 	to read:
4.16 		Subd. 1e.Transfers from other funds. A participant in the national school lunch 
4.17 	program may set a student meal eligibility standard higher than the enhanced student 
4.18 	eligibility standard and may transfer other school funds into the participant's school nutrition 
4.19 	account to pay for the costs of these meals.

4.20 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for fiscal year 2027 and later.

4.21 	Sec. 6. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 124D.111, subdivision 4, is amended to read:
4.22 		Subd. 4.No fees. A participant that receives school lunch aid under this section must 
4.23 	make lunch available without charge and must not deny a school lunch to all eligible 
4.24 	participating students who qualify for free or meals, reduced-price meals, or enhanced 
4.25 	student meals whether or not that student has an outstanding balance in the student's meals 
4.26 	account.

4.27 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for fiscal year 2027 and later.

4.28 	Sec. 7. [126C.441] SCHOOL WELLNESS AND RESILIENCY AID.
4.29 	(a) For fiscal year 2027 and later, school wellness and resiliency aid for a school district 
4.30 	equals $....... times the district's adjusted pupil units for the school year.
5.1 	(b) School wellness and resiliency aid must be reserved and used to pay costs for:
5.2 	(1) licensed school counselors, licensed school psychologists, and licensed alcohol and 
5.3 	substance use disorder counselors to help provide early responses to problems;
5.4 	(2) on-site school mental health professionals; or
5.5 	(3) training school staff to identify and respond to mental health needs.

5.6 	Sec. 8. APPROPRIATION; SCHOOL-LINKED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH GRANTS.
 5.7 	(a) $....... in fiscal year 2027 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner 
5.8 	of human services for school-linked behavioral health grants under Minnesota Statutes, 
5.9 	section 245.4901. This appropriation is in addition to any other amounts appropriated for 
5.10 	school-linked behavioral health grants.
5.11 	(b) The grant money may be used to identify and diagnose mental health conditions and 
5.12 	substance use disorders of students, to build the capacity of schools to meet the needs of 
5.13 	students with mental health and substance use disorders, or for other uses authorized under 
5.14 	Minnesota Statutes, section 245.4901.
5.15 	(c) The base for fiscal year 2028 is $........

5.16 	Sec. 9. APPROPRIATION; SCHOOL WELLNESS AND RESILIENCY AID.
 5.17 	$....... in fiscal year 2027 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of 
5.18 	education for school wellness and resiliency aid under Minnesota Statutes, section 126C.441.