FRANKFORT, Ky. — A bipartisan group of legislators wants to reduce student hunger and help Kentucky farmers at the same time. The drafted bill, set to be filed next session, helps districts with meal costs while increasing the use of Kentucky grown food in those meals.

What You Need To Know

  • A bipartisan bill would establish the Kentucky Proud School Match Program 

  • Schools a part of the Community Eligibility Provision would be able to get further reimbursements from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture 

  • To be eligible schools would have a plan to buy Kentucky grown products and reduce food waste 

  • The bill will be filed during the 2025 session

A bipartisan piece of legislation seeks to establish the Kentucky Proud School Match Program for districts already taking part in the Community Eligibility Provision through the United States Department of Agriculture. State Rep. Chad Aull, D-Lexington, will be the bill’s primary sponsor.

“When a school district or individual school or a group of schools decides to participate in the community eligibility program, that local leadership is deciding they are going to provide every child in that group free breakfast or lunch,” Aull said.

Aull said some districts or schools are fully reimbursed from the USDA under the program, others are not. This bill looks to provide some financial relief to those communities not fully reimbursed.

“For those meals that reimbursed the paid rate, we’re going to establish a state fund which matches the federal paid rate,” Aull said.

The proposed legislation also supports Kentucky farmers. To be eligible for the Kentucky Proud School Match Program, districts must implement a plan that uses Kentucky grown agricultural products. One hundred and twenty farmers participate in a similar program funded on expiring monies.

State Rep. Shawn McPherson, R, Scottsville, said the bill is a win-win.

“These 120 farmers they count on knowing that there is going to be certain needs for their product,” McPherson said.

McPherson helped draft the bill with State Sen..Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, and Aull after the issue arose at an interim committee meeting on agriculture. McPherson reached out to Aull to help in any way he can.

“There’s many times we’re sitting in committee and we’re talking, and we see how much we have in common and how much that we say hey that’s a good idea, why didn’t I think of that,” McPherson said.

The bill will be filed in the 2025 session, which starts in early January.

Aull filed a bill nearly identical this past session, but it failed to get a committee assignment despite bipartisan support.

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