#factsmatter, The Citizens Research Council Of Michigan Podcast

#FactsMatter host Guy Gordon chats with Craig Thiel, Research Director for the Citizens Research Council, who first wrote about the impact of state budget uncertainty on Michigan’s $200 million School Meals program back in June –before passage of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Michigan’s two-year-old School Meals program guaranteed universal access to free school breakfast and lunch to all K-12 students across the state, regardless of their income status. The continued lack of certainty about Michigan’s K-12 budget, due to its not being passed, has already prompted at least one notable district, Okemos, to discontinue its universal school meals program, effective the first day of school. Funding for the state School Meals program, established in response to student food insecurity concerns following the COVID-19 pandemic, has been in place for the last two years. Current funding will end on September 30. The budget passed by the Michigan House does not include dedicated funding for t