The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Utah requires free school lunches for eligible students, share tables, and bans withholding recess for punishment
Last action · March 6, 2026: House/ filedSponsors: Tiara Auxier and 3 others
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What This Bill Proposed
This bill enacts provisions related to school community councils, school meals, and recess in public school.
Qualifying low-income students receive daily school lunches at no charge, local schools must alter scheduling to accommodate food waste reduction and mandatory lunch planning meetings, and elementary educators lose the ability to use recess restriction as a disciplinary tool outside of specific student safety or accommodation plans.
- The National School Lunch Program is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools providing nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day. context
- School community councils in Utah operate at the school building level to involve parents in decision-making and advise on school improvements and trust lands program money. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Eligible students
Students qualifying for reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program receive daily school lunch at no charge.
Local education agencies
LEAs must provide free meals to eligible students, establish share table programs, direct meal debt notices only to parents, and participate in annual school lunch planning meetings.
Elementary school students
Elementary students are protected from having recess, physical education, or physical activity withheld as punishment for behavior, incomplete work, or remediation outside of specified exceptions.
School community councils
Councils must hold an annual school lunch planning meeting, review wellness policies, and oversee parent surveys regarding school lunch and recess.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who qualifies for free school meals under this bill?
Can schools still withhold recess as a punishment for bad behavior or missing classwork?
What is a share table program?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · passed the House · in Senate committee.
Procedural history
39 actions- Mar 6, 2026HouseHouse/ filed
- Mar 6, 2026HouseHouse/ received from Senate
- Mar 6, 2026SenateSenate/ to House
- Mar 6, 2026SenateSenate/ strike enacting clause
- Mar 3, 2026SenateSenate/ comm rpt/ sent to Rules
- Mar 2, 2026SenateSenate Comm - Recommends Returned to Rules
Show 33 earlier actions
- Feb 26, 2026ReleasedLFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0440S02
- Feb 25, 2026SenateCommitteeSenate/ to standing committee
- Feb 25, 2026Version SponsorLFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0440S02
- Feb 24, 2026SenateIntroducedSenate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
- Feb 23, 2026SenateSenate/ received from House
- Feb 23, 2026HouseHouse/ to Senate
- Feb 23, 2026HouseFloorHouse/ passed 3rd reading
- Feb 23, 2026HouseHouse/ floor amendment
- Feb 23, 2026HouseHouse/ substituted
- Feb 23, 2026HouseHouse/ 3rd reading
- Feb 21, 2026Legislative Fiscal AgencyLFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0440S02
- Feb 21, 2026Legislative Fiscal AnalystLFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0440S02
- Feb 18, 2026ReleasedLFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0440S01
- Feb 17, 2026Version SponsorLFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0440S01
- Feb 13, 2026HouseHouse/ 2nd reading
- Feb 13, 2026HouseHouse/ comm rpt/ substituted/ amended
- Feb 12, 2026HouseHouse Comm - Favorable Recommendation
- Feb 12, 2026HouseHouse Comm - Amendment Recommendation
- Feb 12, 2026HouseHouse Comm - Amendment Recommendation
- Feb 12, 2026HouseHouse Comm - Amendment Recommendation
- Feb 12, 2026HouseHouse Comm - Substitute Recommendation
- Feb 12, 2026Legislative Fiscal AgencyLFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0440S01
- Feb 12, 2026Legislative Fiscal AnalystLFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0440S01
- Feb 9, 2026HouseCommitteeHouse/ to standing committee
- Feb 4, 2026HouseHouse/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst
- Feb 4, 2026ReleasedLFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0440
- Feb 3, 2026Version SponsorLFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0440
- Feb 2, 2026HouseIntroducedHouse/ 1st reading (Introduced)
- Jan 30, 2026HouseHouse/ received bill from Legislative Research
- Jan 30, 2026Legislative Fiscal AgencyLFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0440
- Jan 30, 2026Legislative Fiscal AnalystLFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0440
- Jan 30, 2026Legislative Research and General CounselNumbered Bill Publicly Distributed
- Jan 30, 2026Legislative Research and General CounselBill Numbered but not Distributed
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Mandatory Share Tables and Recess Protection
The legislation pairs school nutrition funding and food waste reduction mandates with explicit statutory protections preventing elementary schools from using recess as a disciplinary tool.
Connected Entities
Sources
le.utah.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
- Controversy25Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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