Minnesota Legislature
HF 2201
as introduced - 94th Legislature (2025 - 2026) Posted on 04/02/2025 12:31pm
Bill Text Versions
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| Introduction | Posted on 03/11/2025 |
Current Version - as introduced
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A bill for an act
relating to education finance; increasing local optional aid for schools; limiting
state-paid free school lunches to families with incomes at or below 500 percent of
the federal poverty level; appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes
2024, sections 124D.111, subdivisions 1, 1a, 1c, 1d, 4, by adding a subdivision;
124E.20, subdivision 1; 126C.10, subdivision 2e.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 124D.111, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1.
School meals policiesnew text begin ; definitionsnew text end .
(a) Each Minnesota participant in
the national school lunch program must adopt and post to its website, or the website of the
organization where the meal is served, a school meals policy.
(b) The policy must be in writing and clearly communicate student meal charges when
payment cannot be collected at the point of service. The policy must be reasonable and
well-defined and maintain the dignity of students by prohibiting lunch shaming or otherwise
ostracizing the student.
(c) The policy must address whether the participant uses a collections agency to collect
unpaid school meals debt.
(d) The policy must ensure that once a participant has placed a meal on a tray or otherwise
served the meal to a student, the meal may not be subsequently withdrawn from the student
by the cashier or other school official, whether or not the student has an outstanding meals
balance.
(e) The policy must ensure that a student who has been determined eligible for free and
reduced-price meals must always be served a reimbursable meal even if the student has an
outstanding debt.
(f) If a school contracts with a third party for its meal services, it must provide the vendor
with its school meals policy. Any contract between the school and a third-party provider
entered into or modified after July 1, 2021, must ensure that the third-party provider adheres
to the participant's school meals policy.
new text begin
(g) For purposes of this section the following terms have the meanings given:
new text end
new text begin
(1) "full paid meal" means a meal served to a participating student whose family does
not qualify for a free or reduced-price meal under the national school lunch program;
new text end
new text begin
(2) "free meal" means a meal served to a participating student whose family qualifies
for a free meal under the national school lunch program;
new text end
new text begin
(3) "reduced-price meal" means a meal served to a participating student whose family
qualifies for a reduced-price meal under the national school lunch program;
new text end
new text begin
(4) "enhanced school meal" means a meal served to a participating student whose family
income meets the enhanced meal eligibility standard;
new text end
new text begin
(5) "federal poverty guidelines" means the poverty guidelines by family size published
by the United States Department of Human Services for that school year;
new text end
new text begin
(6) "enhanced meal eligibility standard" means a student whose family income is between
185 percent and 500 percent of the federal poverty guideline for that school year; and
new text end
new text begin
(7) "application for educational benefits" means an online or paper application appropriate
for determining a student's eligibility for school meals and other educational benefits. A
student may qualify for a free, reduced-price, or enhanced school meal based on the
application for educational benefits or through the direct certification process.
new text end
new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end
new text begin
This section is effective for fiscal year 2026 and later.
new text end
Sec. 2.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 124D.111, subdivision 1a, is amended to read:
Subd. 1a.
School lunch aid amounts.
new text begin
(a) The school lunch state aid for a participant in
the national school lunch program is the sum of the amount in paragraph (b) and the amount
calculated under subdivision 1d.
new text end
new text begin (b) new text end Each school year, the state must pay participants in the national school lunch program
either:
(1) the amount of 12.5 cents for each full paid and free student lunch and 52.5 cents for
each reduced-price lunch served to students; or
(2) if the school participates in the free school meals program under subdivision 1c, the
sum of: (i) 12.5 cents for each full paid, reduced-price, and free student lunch; and (ii) the
amount specified in subdivision 1d.
new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end
new text begin
This section is effective for fiscal year 2026 and later.
new text end
Sec. 3.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 124D.111, subdivision 1c, is amended to read:
Subd. 1c.
deleted text begin Freedeleted text end new text begin Enhancednew text end school meals program.
(a) The deleted text begin freedeleted text end new text begin enhancednew text end school meals
program is created within the Department of Education.
(b) Each school that participates in the United States Department of Agriculture National
School Lunch program and has an Identified Student Percentage below the federal percentage
determined for all meals to be reimbursed at the free rate via the Community Eligibility
Provision must participate in the deleted text begin freedeleted text end new text begin enhancednew text end school meals program.
(c) Each school that participates in the United States Department of Agriculture National
School Lunch program and has an Identified Student Percentage at or above the federal
percentage determined for all meals to be reimbursed at the free rate must participate in the
federal Community Eligibility Provision in order to participate in the deleted text begin freedeleted text end new text begin enhancednew text end school
meals program.
(d) Each school that participates in the deleted text begin freedeleted text end new text begin enhancednew text end school meals program must:
(1) participate in the United States Department of Agriculture School Breakfast Program
and the United States Department of Agriculture National School Lunch Program; and
(2) provide to allnew text begin eligiblenew text end students at no cost up to two federally reimbursable meals per
school day, with a maximum of one free breakfast and one free lunch.
new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end
new text begin
This section is effective for fiscal year 2026 and later.
new text end
Sec. 4.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 124D.111, subdivision 1d, is amended to read:
Subd. 1d.
deleted text begin Freedeleted text end new text begin Enhancednew text end school meals program aid amount.
The department must
provide to every Minnesota school participating in the deleted text begin freedeleted text end new text begin enhancednew text end school meals program
state funding for each school lunch and breakfast served to deleted text begin adeleted text end new text begin an eligiblenew text end student, with a
maximum of one breakfast and one lunch pernew text begin eligiblenew text end student per school day. The state aid
equals the difference between the applicable federal reimbursement rate at that school site
for deleted text begin a freedeleted text end new text begin an enhanced schoolnew text end meal, as determined annually by the United States Department
of Agriculture, and the actual federal reimbursement received by the participating school
for the breakfast or lunch served to the student.
new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end
new text begin
This section is effective for fiscal year 2026 and later.
new text end
Sec. 5.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 124D.111, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:
new text begin Subd. 1e. new text end
new text begin Transfers from other funds. new text end
new text begin
A participant in the national school lunch
program may set a school meal eligibility standard higher than the enhanced meal eligibility
standard and may transfer other school funds into its school nutrition account to pay for the
costs of these meals.
new text end
new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end
new text begin
This section is effective for fiscal year 2026 and later.
new text end
Sec. 6.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 124D.111, subdivision 4, is amended to read:
Subd. 4.
No fees.
A participant that receives school lunch aid under this section must
make lunch available without charge and must not deny a school lunch to allnew text begin eligiblenew text end
participating students who qualify for free deleted text begin ordeleted text end new text begin meals,new text end reduced-price meals,new text begin or enhanced school
mealsnew text end whether or not that student has an outstanding balance in the student's meals account.
new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end
new text begin
This section is effective for fiscal year 2026 and later.
new text end
Sec. 7.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 124E.20, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1.
Revenue calculation.
(a) General education revenue must be paid to a
charter school as though it were a district. The general education revenue for each adjusted
pupil unit is the state average general education revenue per pupil unit, plus the referendum
equalization aid allowance and new text begin the new text end firstnew text begin and secondnew text end tier local optional aid deleted text begin allowancedeleted text end new text begin
allowancesnew text end in the pupil's district of residence, minus an amount equal to the product of the
formula allowance according to section 126C.10, subdivision 2, times .0466, calculated
without declining enrollment revenue, local optional revenue, basic skills revenue, extended
time revenue, pension adjustment revenue, transition revenue, and transportation sparsity
revenue, plus declining enrollment revenue, basic skills revenue, pension adjustment revenue,
and transition revenue as though the school were a school district.
(b) For a charter school operating an extended day, extended week, or summer program,
the general education revenue in paragraph (a) is increased by an amount equal to 25 percent
of the statewide average extended time revenue per adjusted pupil unit.
(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the general education revenue for an eligible special
education charter school as defined in section 124E.21, subdivision 2, equals the sum of
the amount determined under paragraph (a) and the school's unreimbursed cost as defined
in section 124E.21, subdivision 2, for educating students not eligible for special education
services.
new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end
new text begin
This section is effective for fiscal year 2026 and later.
new text end
Sec. 8.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 126C.10, subdivision 2e, is amended to read:
Subd. 2e.
Local optional revenue.
(a)new text begin For fiscal year 2026 and later, a district's first
tier local optional allowance equals $92.
new text end
new text begin
(b) For fiscal year 2026 and later, a district's second tier local optional allowance equals
$300.
new text end
new text begin
(c) For fiscal year 2026 and later, a district's third tier local optional allowance equals
$424.
new text end
new text begin (d)new text end Local optional revenue for a school district equals the sum of the district's first tier
local optional revenue deleted text begin anddeleted text end new text begin ,new text end second tier local optional revenuenew text begin , and third tier local optional
revenuenew text end . A district's first tier local optional revenue equals deleted text begin $300deleted text end new text begin the first tier local optional
allowance times the adjusted pupil units of the district for that school year. A district's
second tier local optional revenue equals the second tier local optional allowancenew text end times the
adjusted pupil units of the district for that school year. A district's deleted text begin seconddeleted text end new text begin thirdnew text end tier local
optional revenue equals deleted text begin $424deleted text end new text begin the third tier local optional allowancenew text end times the adjusted pupil
units of the district for that school year.
deleted text begin (b)deleted text end new text begin (e)new text end A district's local optional levy equals the sum of the deleted text begin firstdeleted text end new text begin secondnew text end tier local optional
levy and the deleted text begin seconddeleted text end new text begin thirdnew text end tier local optional levy.
deleted text begin (c)deleted text end new text begin (f)new text end A district's deleted text begin firstdeleted text end new text begin secondnew text end tier local optional levy equals the district's deleted text begin firstdeleted text end new text begin secondnew text end
tier local optional revenue times the lesser of one or the ratio of the district's referendum
market value per resident pupil unit to $880,000.
deleted text begin (d) For fiscal year 2023, a district's second tier local optional levy equals the district's
second tier local optional revenue times the lesser of one or the ratio of the district's
referendum market value per resident pupil unit to $548,842. For fiscal year 2024, a district's
second tier local optional levy equals the district's second tier local optional revenue times
the lesser of one or the ratio of the district's referendum market value per resident pupil unit
to $510,000.deleted text end new text begin (g)new text end For fiscal year 2025, a district's deleted text begin seconddeleted text end new text begin thirdnew text end tier local optional levy equals
the district's deleted text begin seconddeleted text end new text begin thirdnew text end tier local optional revenue times the lesser of one or the ratio of
the district's referendum market value per resident pupil unit to $626,450. For fiscal year
2026, a district's deleted text begin seconddeleted text end new text begin thirdnew text end tier local optional levy equals the district's deleted text begin seconddeleted text end new text begin thirdnew text end tier
local optional revenue times the lesser of one or the ratio of the district's referendum market
value per resident pupil unit to $642,038. For fiscal year 2027 and later, a district's deleted text begin seconddeleted text end new text begin
thirdnew text end tier local optional levy equals the district's deleted text begin seconddeleted text end new text begin thirdnew text end tier local optional revenue
times the lesser of one or the ratio of the district's referendum market value per resident
pupil unit to $671,345.
deleted text begin (e)deleted text end new text begin (h)new text end The local optional levy must be spread on referendum market value. A district
may levy less than the permitted amount.
deleted text begin (f)deleted text end new text begin (i)new text end A district's local optional aid equals its local optional revenue minus its local
optional levy. If a district's actual levy for deleted text begin first ordeleted text end second new text begin or third new text end tier local optional revenue
is less than its maximum levy limit for that tier, its aid must be proportionately reduced.
new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end
new text begin
This section is effective for revenue for fiscal year 2026 and later.
new text end
Sec. 9. new text begin APPROPRIATIONS.
new text end
new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end
new text begin Department of Education. new text end
new text begin
The sums indicated in this section are
appropriated from the general fund to the Department of Education in the fiscal years
designated.
new text end
new text begin Subd. 2. new text end
new text begin Local optional aid. new text end
new text begin
For additional general education aid under Minnesota
Statutes, section 126C.19:
new text end
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$ new text end |
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2026 new text end |
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$ new text end |
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2027 new text end |
new text begin Subd. 3. new text end
new text begin School lunch. new text end
new text begin
For school lunch aid under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.111:
new text end
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$ new text end |
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2026 new text end |
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2027 new text end |