MLRI Celebrates Signing of Meal Debt Legislation
Governor Baker Signs Law that Will Ensure More Children Have Access to Free Lunches at School and Curtail Practice of Shaming Children with Meal Debt
Boston, Mass. (October 14, 2021) – The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) is celebrating the enactment of new legislation that addresses the challenge that children and families living in poverty face when it comes to unpaid school meal debt. Governor Charlie Baker signed today the new law called An Act Promoting Student Nutrition, which was championed by State Senator Cynthia Stone Creem and State Representative Andy Vargas.
“We are grateful to Governor Baker and the Massachusetts legislature for taking seriously the need to change the meal debt practices in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said Georgia Katsoulomitis, MLRI’s executive director. “No child should be made to feel uncomfortable at school because their family is unable to afford a school lunch. This new law will ensure that more children have access to free lunches at school and will put limits on how meal debt is collected.”