A ballot measure passed in 2022 (Proposition FF) to fund the Healthy School Meals for All program isn’t raising enough money to cover the cost of providing every K-12 public school student in Colorado with breakfast and lunch.
Proposition MM, on the November ballot this year, aims to raise tax revenue to fully fund Healthy School Meals for All and bolster the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP or food stamps, after the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress made cuts to its funding.
Under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, the state cannot raise taxes without asking voters for approval. That’s why Proposition MM is on the ballot this year after being referred to voters by Democrats at the Colorado Capitol.
Here’s what you need to know about the measure.
Who would be taxed under Proposition MM and how much?
If Proposition MM passes, households earning at least $300,000 would pay more in taxes.
Currently, single filers earning $300,000 or more are able to deduct $12,000 from their state taxable income and joint filers are able to deduct $16,000. If Proposition MM passes, those earners would only be able to deduct $1,000 if they are a single filer and $2,000 if they are a joint filer, increasing the amount of taxes they will owe.
Nonpartisan legislative staff estimate the average single filer earning $300,000 or more would owe an additional $327 in taxes if Proposition MM passes and the average joint filer earning $300,000 or more would owe an extra $574.
The change would affect an estimated 200,000 households, or about 6% of households filing taxes in Colorado.
In total, Proposition MM, should it pass, would let the state collect and spend up to $95 million in state budget year 2026-27, which begins July 1, 2026.
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What would the new tax revenue be used for?
Before Proposition FF passed, only Colorado public schools students from families with incomes below a certain threshold qualified for free or reduced price school meals. After the measure passed, every K-12 public school student in the state became eligible for school breakfasts and lunches, regardless of their families’ income.
If Proposition MM passes, the additional revenue it generates will be used to fully fund the Healthy School Meals for All program.
With the new funding, the Healthy School Meals for All program will provide:
- Reimbursements to public K-12 school districts for providing free school meals to all students
- Grants for school districts for local food purchasing and technical assistance
- Wage increases and stipends for school employees who serve students meals
Once all of those aspects of the Healthy School Meals for All program are funded, any extra revenue from Proposition MM could go toward the SNAP program.
The federal SNAP program provides monthly payments to individuals and families with low incomes so that they can purchase food. It also provides nutrition education programming.
Recently, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress reduced the federal contribution to SNAP administrative costs to 25% from 50%, leaving states to make up the difference. Colorado estimates it will cost the state $50 million starting next year to cover its share and to administer new work requirements for SNAP participants.
How are Proposition MM and Proposition LL related?
Proposition MM isn’t the only measure on the November ballot related to the Healthy School Meals for All program.
Proposition LL (read about it here) asks voters to let the state keep and spend all the revenue generated by Proposition FF in excess of what was projected by nonpartisan legislative staff. That was about $12 million in the program’s first fiscal year.
TABOR requires voter approval for the state to keep and spend any money generated by a tax increase referred to the ballot by the legislature when the revenue collected exceeds projections by nonpartisan legislative staff.
What happens if Proposition MM fails?
If Proposition MM fails, people and couples who earn $300,000 or more in federal adjusted gross income will not see a tax increase.
Free school meals will continue to be offered to all public school students in Colorado through this school year. In future school years, the program will be offered only as funding allows. But there will be little to no funding available for local food purchasing, technical assistance and wage increases for school meal staff. And there will be no funds raised for SNAP.
If both propositions LL and MM fail, only certain students will be eligible for free school meals starting in January 2026.
“In eligible low-income public schools, free school meals will be offered to all students,” nonpartisan legislative analysts wrote in this year’s state ballot guide, known as the blue book. “In all other public schools, free school meals will be offered to eligible low-income students.”
The eligibility would be determined by federal income thresholds.
Who is spending money to support and oppose Proposition MM?
Keep Kids Fed Colorado is the committee supporting Propositions LL and MM. It had raised $352,000 through Sept. 24, including more than $250,000 from Hunger Free Colorado, a nonprofit.
There doesn’t appear to be any organized opposition to the measures, though some Republicans have blasted the initiatives for seeking to retain more in excess of what TABOR allows and for increasing the tax burden on high-earning Coloradans.
The median household income in Colorado was just shy of $100,000 in 2024.