Meanwhile eight states, seven Democratic trifectas (CA, CO, MA, ME, MI, MN, NM) and Vermont, took a lesson from the pandemic and made universal free school meals permanent.
The governors of a dozen Republican-led states — AL, AK, FL, GA, IA, MS, OK, SC, SD, TX, UT, WY — opted out of a new federal food assistance program, leaving about 9.5 million students without the aid this summer