Could a Free School Breakfast Bill Become Law This Year? 

An effort to provide free breakfast to K-12 students is again moving forward in Virginia’s legislature. The bill has advanced a few years in a row but has fallen short of becoming law due to some legislators’ concerns about cost.

Senate Bill 4 by Sen. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, and House Bill 96 by Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, D-Alexandria, narrow the scope of free meals provided to students to just breakfast, and would have the state reimburse each school for the breakfasts they provide.

After the Senate and Education Committee unanimously approved it on Thursday, it will be further deliberated by the Finance and Appropriations Committee. Bennett-Parker’s companion bill has also been advancing with bipartisan support.

If passed, the measures would bring Virginia in line with other states. Arkansas passed a similar law last year, and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster included language to create a free breakfast program in his recent state budget. Prior to its passage in Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders noted it as a legislative priority.

In an interview with The Mercury Thursday afternoon, Roem jokingly referred to Arkansas as a “blue progressive bastion,” given that Huckabee Sanders is a Republican and with the Republican-majority state championing the issue, Roem suspects bipartisan support for her bill can grow within Virginia’s legislature.

It’s also part of state Democratic lawmakers’ priorities to address affordability issues — a matter that won them gains in the legislature and the governorship of Abigail Spanberger.

Roem has carried some iteration of this bill for several years, but thinks the bill has a good chance of passing this year. It’s a stepping stone to a larger priority, she said.

“To be clear, I am using the School Breakfast bill to eventually get to breakfast and lunch,” she said, adding that she plans to introduce a free school lunch version next year.

The goal to provide free lunch for students is “still super important”, said Sarah Steely, director of No Kid Hungry Virginia.

Steely, who has advocated for Roem’s previous bills, noted how the higher cost of providing free school meals in Roem’s previous bills had been a hurdle for many legislators. A focus on breakfast this year, she believes, will be more attainable while they work towards the free lunch bill.

A 2025 survey commissioned by Steely’s organization showed that 45% of respondents claimed their debt had increased in the past year due to rising food costs.

In the past year, 65% of respondents with families reported choosing between “buying enough nutritious food and affording other essentials, like paying for gas or transportation, utilities, rent or mortgage payments, health care for themselves or a child, education expenses, and saving for retirement,” the survey noted.

Inflation at large has strained households across the country, but Steely emphasized that middle-income and lower-income families are feeling it harder. The Federal Reserve recently indicated sticky inflation through consumer price rises. Inflation rates that were higher during the COVID-19 pandemic and had started trending down since 2022 have begun creeping back up.

This rising cost of living, Steely said, means having free breakfast can help families with school-age children stretch their dollars a little further.

Steely emphasized that breakfast nourishes children and boosts their ability to focus, and the free breakfast measure can help parents make ends meet.

“I really do think about this through the lens of supporting our parents and caregivers,” she said. “We can make their lives easier, and that is reason enough to do this bill.”

by Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury

Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.