skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Marco Rubio unveils massive State Dept. overhaul with reductions of staff and bureaus; Visas revoked, status changed for international students in TX; Alaska lawmakers work to improve in-school mental health care; Montana DEQ denies Big Hole River decision, cites law opposed by EPA; Indiana moves to regulate legal THC sales and branding.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

White House defends Secretary Hegseth amid media scrutiny, federal judges block efforts to dismantle U.S. international broadcasters, and major restructuring hits the State Department and rural programs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Schools in timber country face an uncertain future without Congress' reauthorization of a rural program, DOGE cuts threaten plant species needed for U.S. food security, and farmers will soon see federal dollars for energy projects unlocked.

Blowback on GOP's proposed cuts to school meal programs

play audio
Play

Tuesday, March 18, 2025   

Children's advocates are crying foul after House Republicans called for $12 billion in cuts to school meal programs, including the Community Eligibility Provision, which allows high-poverty school districts to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students regardless of their ability to pay.

Erin Hysom, senior policy analyst at the Food Research and Action Center, said the funds are an important public investment and no child can learn on an empty stomach.

"We hear from teachers all the time that when schools offer healthy school meals for all, behavior in the classroom improves," Hysom reported. "Their academics improve and they're able to graduate and become more productive members of society."

Some 557 Colorado schools serving more than 206,000 students are projected to be affected. The proposed cuts are part of a sweeping effort by Republicans to eliminate waste and inefficiency in the federal budget in order to pay for extending President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts and other policy priorities, including mass deportations.

Hysom noted the Community Eligibility Provision has already reduced inefficiency and red tape, and cuts would send school nutrition directors away from kitchens and back to their desks to deal with unnecessary paperwork. She added the move would also affect farm-to-school initiatives putting money directly into the pockets of local farms and ranches.

"They're able to meet with local agricultural producers and bring in local products that not only improve the nutrition of the meal but also support the local economy," Hysom explained.

Cuts to federal nutrition funding would certainly not help Colorado's Healthy School Meals for All initiative, passed by voters in 2022. The popular program is competing with other priorities as the state grapples with a $1.2 billion budget shortfall.

Hysom worries the cuts could also mean the return of lunch line shaming.

"It really creates this stigma in the cafeteria," Hysom contended. "When we offer school meals to all children at no charge, it reduces that stigma."


get more stories like this via email

more stories
In Cleveland, more than 90% of homes were built before 1978, the year lead-based paint was banned for residential use. (Adobe Stock)

play sound

As Cleveland tightens its air quality standards for the first time since 1977, health officials are urging residents to take simple steps at home to …


Social Issues

play sound

A bus tour will zip through eastern South Dakota Thursday, where local leaders, health care providers and farm voices want to connect the dots …

Environment

play sound

Montana officials have denied a petition asking the state to designate the Big Hole River as "impaired" by pollution. Two conservation groups …


Many international students have said they did not know their visas were revoked, or that their status had been changed, until they were notified by federal officials. (Mediteraneo/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Hundreds of international college students in Texas are fighting to stay in the country after their visas were revoked and their legal status changed …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Colorado has made significant improvements in connecting young people with the mental health care they need, according to the mental health advocacy …

From 2021 to 2022, the Department of Energy tripled its funding for agrivoltaics, including $8 million for a new program studying how solar panels can benefit farmers and rural areas. (pkproject/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Results of a new study from Michigan State University suggest farmers no longer have to choose between growing crops and harnessing solar power…

Social Issues

play sound

Pennsylvanians over age 50 are voicing concerns about the Department of Government Efficiency plans to cut 7,000 jobs from the U.S. Social Security …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Nebraska lawmakers are considering a bill to ensure managed health care companies cannot limit the state reimbursement rate for mental health service …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021