The Pennsylvania House on Monday moved to create a program that would wipe away large amounts of student lunch debt and reinstate a ban on “lunch shaming,” which had been enacted and then repealed in the commonwealth several years ago.

During Monday’s session, the House gave final approval to a bill that would bar public schools from denying students meals or forcing them to eat low-cost alternatives if they have been unable to pay for regular cafeteria food — a practice commonly called “lunch shaming.”

The bill would also prohibit schools from restricting students’ ability to participate in school activities due to unpaid lunch bills and would set up an $80 million state fund to reimburse districts for forgiving students’ lunch debts.

The proposed law “allows us to ensure that kids eat when they are in school regardless of whether or not they can pay,” said Rep. Emily Kinkead, D-Allegheny, the bill’s prime sponsor, and allows school districts to “make sure they can feed kids without having to take funds from other areas in order to cover those debts.”

In 2017, the legislature passed — and then-Gov. Tom Wolf signed — a “lunch shaming” ban driven in part by national headlines about a Pennsylvania cafeteria worker who quit after being forced to deny hot lunches to indebted students.

But in the following school year, many districts complained that more and more students were taking meals they weren’t paying for, to the point of threatening the solvency of school cafeteria funds that were budgeted to be self-sustaining.

The 2019 revision of the school code bill — passed as part of that year’s budget process — contained a clause allowing schools to reinstate “lunch shaming” practices for students who owned lunch payments above a certain threshold.

“We had this law in place and we undid it, and it is time to put it back in place,” Kinkead said, noting that students have been suspended over lunch debt, and families have been threatened with having child services contacted.

“Study after study has shown that when kids are hungry in school, they do not learn as well, they do not comprehend information, they are more likely to have issues with discipline,” Kinkead said.

Her bill passed the House on a vote of 118-to-84, with every member of the Democratic majority and 16 Republicans in favor.

While no Republicans spoke against the bill Monday, some members of the GOP have previously balked at the financial costs of Democrats’ proposals to end school lunch debt and/or create universal free meals programs, something that Democrats say is well worth the investment given the known benefits for schools.

In addition to students’ lunch money, schools also receive per-meal reimbursements from the United States Department of Agriculture; those reimbursements are higher for students who qualify for free or reduced-price food.

Federal law established a universal free meals program during the covid-19 pandemic, using federal stimulus funds to reimburse schools the full USDA amount regardless of whether students qualified for free or reduced lunches.

Democratic lawmakers have proposed to continue such a program using state funds, and Gov. Josh Shapiro secured universal free school breakfasts in the last budget at a cost of $46.5 million.

The programs have been well-received by schools that say they help break down social barriers and reduce stigma on students whose families struggle to pay for their meals. Kinkead’s bill also includes $1 million in outreach funding to help low-income families sign up for USDA free and reduced school lunches.

The bill now heads to the Republican-controlled state Senate for consideration.

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