IN the early days of the pandemic, the USDA approved universal free meals at schools.
Now, two years later, that federal program is set to expire on June 30.
In Colorado, lawmakers are considering what they will do, if anything, when universal free school meals come to an end.
According to The Denver Post, Colorado schools were serving an additional 1.3million lunches a month under the program.
Right now, there is a push among state lawmakers to extend the universal lunch program if the USDA allows it to expire, but its future is uncertain.
The estimated cost to Colorado will be about $119million a year.
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What was the universal free lunch program?
The first Covid package signed by former President Trump allowed the USDA to waive certain regulations.
One result was that schools could serve free meals to all students.
There were no income requirements or eligibility rules, meaning no paperwork for families.
Schools now facing the June 30 expiration cliff are grappling with what to do.
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According to the USDA, the waiver allowed an additional 10million students to eat free lunch nationwide.
About 90% of schools have been using the program to serve free meals at school, according to a recent USDA survey.
In any normal year, the national school lunch program only provides free meals for students from households with incomes at or below 130% of the federal poverty line.
For reduced-price lunches, students must come from homes between 130% and 185% of the federal poverty line.
In Colorado, some families are saying the loss of free lunch will hit especially hard.
This is because families lost the expanded child tax credit a few months ago.
The expanded child tax credit expired on December 31, 2021.
What was the expanded child tax credit?
As part of the American Rescue Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in March 2021, the child tax credits were expanded to up to $3,600 per kid from the previous $2,000.
The payments, which started in July 2021, sent up to $300 per month to eligible parents.
To qualify for the full payment, married couples needed to make less than $150,000 and single parents needed to make under $112,500.
The Sun also explains five ways to boost your tax refund.
Plus, how millions of people are still waiting on their 2020 tax refunds.