To help offset financial hardship experienced by many low-income families, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law the “Working Class Families Anti-Hunger Act” on Jan. 16, expanding eligibility for free school meals to include nonpublic schools.
The “Working Class Families Anti-Hunger Act,” or A-5684, will make some 50,000 New Jersey families newly eligible, meaning that a total of 102,000 families in public and nonpublic schools will now be eligible to receive free meals via the National School Lunch Program or the federal School Breakfast Program.
The New Jersey Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops, advocated for the expansion bill, writing to Gov. Murphy on Jan. 11 to ask for his support.
Introduced in the 2022-2023 legislative session, the General Assembly passed A-5684 June 30, 2023, and amended versions passed in the Senate and Assembly Jan. 10.
The new law means that public and nonpublic schools can provide in-school meals – breakfast and lunch – free of charge to all eligible students. It extends eligibility to families making up to $67,200 a year (the previous income limit was $59,700) and raises the threshold to between 185 percent and 224 percent of the federal poverty level.
According to Catholic school leaders, the expansion will be supported by federal and state dollars. The use of state funds to pay for the additional free meals is an expansion of the federal National School Lunch Program of 1946, making nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free meals available for low-income students.
The new law also directs the New Jersey Department of Agriculture to provide funding to each school district and nonpublic school that participates in the National School Lunch Program and to reimburse nonpublic schools for certain free school lunches and breakfasts beginning with Spring 2024 and going forward with the 2024-2025 school year.
In his letter to the governor, NJCC executive director James King wrote: “One of the Catholic Church’s priorities is a ‘preferential’ care for the poor and vulnerable. Collectively, society must work together to implement laws and policies intended to eliminate barriers that prevent people living in poverty from obtaining basic needs, such as healthy food, affordable housing and quality healthcare. Without these basic needs, it is nearly impossible to flourish and live a life of dignity, to which, as children of God, all persons are entitled.”
King expressed appreciation that the governor signed the bill, and added, “The Catholic Church in New Jersey remains committed to these efforts through our daily charge to foster, promote and actionize our charitable legacy of feeding the hungry through a multitude of social agencies, parish-based food banks and Catholic Charities, and are grateful for your administration’s past support of anti-hunger legislation.”
Gov. Murphy signed similar legislation into law in Sept. 2022 – A2368/S1677 – which increased income eligibility for free public-school meals up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
To read the entire Working Class Families Anti-Hunger Act, visit https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2022/S4500/4055_E2.PDF
EmmaLee Italia is a contributing editor with The Monitor, the magazine for the Diocese of Trenton.
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