Gov. Janet Mills Celebrates Expansion of Free School Meals Program in Supplemental Budget

As part of the supplemental budget signed into law earlier this month created a new grant program designed to expand free meals to students at off-site public preschool programs.

This provision was based on a bill introduced by Senate President Mattie Daughtry last year.

Included under Part BB of the supplemental budget, the Early Childhood Nutrition Grant Program will allow eligible off-site public preschool programs to receive a grant equal to or less than the total annual per-student reimbursement rate for the National School Lunch Program.

Funds from this program cannot be distributed until the 2027-28 school year.

For the purposes of this legislation, an off-site public preschool program is defined as “a public preschool program offered by a public school in the State in partnership with a community provider that is not located on the site of a public school.”

These facilities have been ineligible for reimbursement through the federal National School Lunch Program due to restrictions.

Gov. Janet Mills (D) visited the Family Focus Early Learning Center in Brunswick alongside the Senate President to celebrate this new measure being signed into law as part of the supplemental budget.

“My Administration has made Maine a national leader in supporting young learners — guaranteeing free school meals for all students and making record investments to expand public pre-K programs across the state,” Gov. Mills said.

“This program will build on that progress by making sure more pre-K students can benefit from a nutritious meal, regardless of where their classroom is located,” she said. “I thank President Daughtry for her important work on behalf of Maine’s children and working families.”

Senate President Daughtry also spoke during Wednesday’s event.

“Families across Maine are stretched thin right now and every penny saved matters,” said Daughtry. “During our child care listening tour, we heard directly from families and providers about this exact gap — kids in the same public program, but not getting the same support.”

“This law fixes that by making sure a nutritious meal follows the child, no matter where they learn, and gives providers the ability to focus on caring for kids instead of figuring out how to cover the cost of feeding them,” Daughtry said.

Click Here to Read Gov. Mills’ Full Press Release

This is just one of many policy changes included in the state’s new supplemental budget, which passed through the Legislature along partisan lines earlier this month.

Among the provisions included in the final version of the budget were a new tax on Mainers earning over $1 million, free community college, funding for “reproductive health care” providers, as well as a plan to send $300 checks to many Maine residents, among other things.

[RELATED: $500 Million Supplemental Budget Signed by Gov. Janet Mills After Partisan Passage]

While Democratic lawmakers have praised the bill, Republicans have criticized it on several counts, including for dipping into the state’s emergency fund, also known as the Rainy Day Fund, to cover the cost of some of these initiatives.

During debate on the chamber floor, numerous Republican-backed amendments were raised and rejected before the final version of the legislation was passed and sent to the governor’s desk for a signature.