STATEHOUSE School breakfast plan put in supplemental budget
BY SUSAN M. COVER
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 03/28/2008

AUGUSTA -- Money to help low-income children get free breakfast at school is included in the $190 million supplemental budget in front of lawmakers.

While most of the budget makes cuts to fill a budget gap, there is about $200,000 in it that would cover the 30-cent-per-breakfast fee for children who are eligible for reduced-price meals at school.

Children are eligible if their parents earn $21,850 to $30,710 a year.

Senate Majority Leader Elizabeth Mitchell, D-Vassalboro, earlier this year sponsored a bill to make school breakfast accessible to more children in Maine.

But a tight budget means the bill no longer seeks to require that school breakfast be offered in every school that provides lunch. Instead, it proposes to pay the family portion of the breakfast in schools where it is already offered.

Ninety percent of Maine schools serve breakfast, and Mitchell's bill would help families who now have to pay a portion of it themselves.

"It is a scaled-down version recognizing the difficult economic times we're in," she said. "The state will step into the shoes of the children's parents and pay that piece."

Mitchell submitted the bill after reading an editorial series in the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel that called attention to the problem of hunger in Maine. The series showed that in many schools, teachers set aside food or money for children who are hungry.

Education Committee Chairwoman Rep. Jackie Norton, D-Bangor, said the bill will "put 30 cents in the hands of kids who need it."

"As a teacher, it's a great thing for us to feed kids," she said. "They can't learn if they are hungry."

As proposed in the budget, the $200,000 will come from the Fund for a Healthy Maine, the state's tobacco-settlement fund.

Becky Smith, executive director of the Maine Coalition on Smoking or Health, said the tobacco fund helps pay for many different health initiatives.

"We felt we really didn't want to see kids go hungry," she said. "Hungry kids have lots of other health issues."

The $190 million supplemental budget includes about $5 million from the tobacco fund, which has an annual balance of about $60 million. About half of the money is being used to fund different services, such as family planning, domestic violence and HIV/AIDS services.

The other half was cut from existing services paid for by the fund.

Mitchell said she's hopeful the funding for school breakfasts will be part of the budget that's scheduled to be approved by lawmakers this week. But just in case, she's keeping a separate school-breakfast bill alive.

"I'm not celebrating yet," she said. "I'm cautiously and reasonably optimistic."

Susan Cover -- 623-1056

scover@centralmaine.com

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