2024 Policy Priorities
2024 Legislation Session Policy Priorities
This session provides Oregon legislators with impactful opportunities to address Oregon’s ongoing hunger crisis. Currently, as many as 1 in 8 Oregonians are food insecure, and certain communities are consistently drastically more impacted, such as single mothers, renters, and the indigenous population. Oregon legislators must act now to address hunger on a systemic level. Below you’ll see recommendations for three policies that will support Oregonians directly accessing food, as well as a six additional policies addressing the intersection issues that drive hunger in our communities.
Our Policy Priorities
Fund Summer EBT administration to end summer hunger for Oregon’s kids
Consistent access to food is central to children’s ability to learn and grow, yet child hunger consistently spikes during summer months. Summer EBT is a new, federally-funded program that will provide $40/month per summer month to school-age children who qualify for free or reduced-price meals at school.
This program will bring $35 million in food assistance a year to Oregon’s kids, but state legislators need to act quickly to approve funding to cover just half of the annual administrative costs. With a modest initial investment, Oregon legislators have the opportunity to unlock federal funding and alleviate the summer hunger gap for Oregon’s kids.
Tell your legislators to prioritize Summer EBT funding in the ODHS budget request
Ensure Access to School Meals
Students can’t learn when they’re hungry, or when they’re worried about where their next meal will come from. Urgent action is required to make sure that schools have access to funds that are already set aside to provide school meals for Oregon’s kids.
The state has enough funding to allow hundreds of more schools to provide school meals for all students. To release this money, and allow schools to provide universal meals, state rules must align with federal rules. This needs to be accomplished quickly, either through the ODE agency rule change, or legislative action.
Pledge to support our School Meals for All coalition!
Student Emergency Needs Package – HB 4162
College and university students in Oregon are reporting increasing rates of food insecurity, housing instability and challenges affording and accessing textbooks, transportation, childcare, and other basic needs. The 2024 Student Emergency Needs Package is a bipartisan, student-centered effort to support Oregon’s Basic Needs Navigators and Textbook Affordability Program with $6 million dollars in one-time, emergency funding.
HB 4162 will ensure that the Benefits Navigators on college campuses will have resources to support the students that walk through the doors and prevent textbook affordability from becoming a financial crisis for students.
Learn more about the Student Emergency Needs Package
We are supporting:
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- SNAP Restaurant Hot Meals Pilot
- Double Up Food Bucks Program Funding
View and download the one-sheet of our policy priorities below, and look for us at the Capitol this session!
Hunger-Free Schools
Every Child Deserves a Healthy Start to the School Day
Our Vision for Hunger-Free Schools
We envision universal school meals for every child, where school meals are free for all K-12 students in Oregon and in every state. Because every child deserves an equal opportunity to succeed in school — no matter where they’re from or how much money their families make.
Access to meals at school help kids learn, grow, and thrive. But the reality is that too many kids in Oregon experience hunger and food insecurity. With as many as one in every six children in the state of Oregon currently food insecure, many families rely on school meals for their nutritional needs.
Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon works to expand access to school meals through state and federal policy advocacy.
Through our combined advocacy, Oregon has made some incredible strides in improving access to school meals, and now is the time to cross the finish line.
We are convening a powerful coalition of students, school employees, and advocates to bring School Meals for All to Oregon’s legislators. Because no child should go hungry at school.
"Free school meals allowed me to focus on learning and growing throughout the school day, instead of hunger and worry. Instating them created a calmer environment in my school, that set me and my peers up for success."
– Sophia, high school student
– Sophia, high school student
Powerful Victories for Oregon Families
In 2019, we led the coalition expanding access to free school meals in the state through the Student Success Act, making Oregon the national leader in school meal access. In 2022, we won expanded supports in Oregon legislation that allow 3 of 4 Oregon schools to provide universal school meals to all students. Today, we continue this work with state and federal advocacy to fight for true access to school meals for ALL students.
The 2019 Student Success Act, significantly improved access to school meals for all students. We worked hard to ensure that the law was designed to benefit communities at the highest risk of hunger. Learn more about our 2019 Hunger Free Schools campaign.
The Student Success Act includes:
- More schools serving universal school meals: Oregon is supplementing the federal reimbursement for school meals so that more schools can opt into a program allowing them to provide all school meals free of charge (Community Eligibility Provision).
- More kids qualifying for free school meals: Students whose families earn between 185% and 300% of the federal poverty line (FPL) now qualify for meals served at no charge, an increase of 37% of food insecure families.
- Dramatic increases to Breakfast After the Bell: All schools with 70% or more students eligible for federal free or reduced price meals are now making free breakfast available to all students after the school day begins.
In 2023, Oregon legislation passed a historic investment in Oregon schools in House Bill 5014. HB 5014 included funding to support up to 3 out of 4 schools to qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision, and support schools to provide universal school meals to all schoolchildren!
We look forward to supporting school districts in implementing the new option in the school year ’24-’25, and continuing to push for universal school meals for all Oregon students.
Resources for Communities
- One Pager: School Meal Eligibility Has Changed! Here’s what you Need to Know (2021)
- Report: Oregon School Meal Access during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Barriers, Best Practices, and Policy Recommendations (2021)
- Case Study: Hunger-Free Schools Campaign (2019)
Resources for School Meal Professionals
“There are so many ways a student can fall through the cracks and go hungry at school – paperwork issues, employment changes, meal debt, even stigma. Fortunately, the changes governments made during the pandemic proved there’s a better way. Universal access to meals is good for our schools, good for parents and good for kids — and we have a real chance to make sure everyone has the resources we need to succeed.”
– David Wieland, Policy Advocate