Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson is pledging to fight for universal free school meals nationwide, a policy he helped enact in Maine but that Republican Sen. Susan Collins has repeatedly declined to support at the federal level, despite promising more than two decades ago to fight childhood hunger.
“I am so proud to have passed universal school meals in Maine. No kid should be expected to learn on an empty stomach,” Jackson told Beacon. “In the U.S. Senate, I will do what Susan Collins has failed to do and fight for universal school meals for kids across the country. If we had a senator who’d just say no to the war in Iran and the tax cuts for billionaires, we’d be able to make a difference for families.”
As Maine Senate president, Jackson sponsored legislation making breakfast and lunch free for all K-12 students, regardless of family income. The measure received unanimous initial approval in the Senate in 2021, helping make Maine one of the first states to guarantee universal free school meals.
Collins, meanwhile, declared in 2003 that Maine needed to ensure “every school child in Maine gets a healthy meal,” but the legislation she supported at the time never became law. She has also declined to cosponsor the Universal School Meals Program Act, including its latest version introduced this year by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ilhan Omar. The proposal would provide free meals to students nationwide, regardless of income, and eliminate school meal debt.
Collins also voted in June 2025 to advance Pres. Donald Trump’s budget bill, which included cuts to Medicaid and food assistance that could jeopardize Maine’s universal school meals program. Although Collins ultimately voted against the final bill, her earlier vote helped move it forward. Reduced SNAP and Medicaid enrollment could lower federal reimbursements for school meals, forcing Maine to shoulder more of the cost to keep students fed.
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