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-Lent Upson, first director of Citizens Research Council

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June 18, 2025

State's Costs to Cover Free School Meals Would Increase with Federal Safety Net Cuts

Michigan took a major step to address childhood food insecurity by making no-cost school breakfasts and lunches available to all pre-K to 12th grade students, regardless of income, starting with the 2023-24 school year. In doing so, it became just one of eight states to commit to feeding all schoolchildren since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state continued the program for the just competed 2024-25 school year, supported by a $200 million appropriation in the FY2025 state budget. The $200 million appropriation to Michigan’s School Meals program provides schools with the necessary gap financing (difference between total costs and federal reimbursements) to afford to serve all students free meals without having to tap into other funding streams. 

Because it is not contained in permanent law, the future of Michigan’s free school meal policy will depend on continued state funding through the annual School Aid budget. Assuming lawmakers authorize and fund the policy as part of the upcoming FY2026 state budget, future state costs for maintaining the policy, however, will be largely tied to factors outside of their direct control. That is because the School Meals program, through different policies and mechanisms, is inherently tied to decisions at the federal level dealing with major social safety net programs.

IN A NUTSHELL

 -- Michigan’s new free school meals policy is likely to grow more expensive for the state budget with federal policy changes currently under consideration in Washington D.C.

 -- Changes that restrict participation in SNAP and Medicaid have downstream effects, beyond the original federal programs, that affect student access to federally-funded free school meals. Michigan students won’t go hungry because, if schools lose federal reimbursement dollars, state dollars will pick up the costs to ensure all students have access to free meals.

 -- State policymakers must stay abreast of the downstream impacts of these federal funding cuts and be prepared to factor prospective cost shifts into future School Aid Fund budgets.

Catch Up On More Recent Reports:

• Ecorse's High Tax Rates: A Showcase for Michigan's Ineffective Property Tax Rate Limits
• The Long and Winding Road to a FY2026 State Budget
• Is Michigan Getting the Most Out of its Road Funding? A Closer Look at the Data

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