Colorado voters will be asked this fall to weigh in on two ballot measures concerning the state’s free school meals program, the only statewide contests in the 2025 off-year election.

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Propositions LL and MM were referred to the ballot by the Colorado General Assembly earlier this year. Together, they aim to shore up funding for the Healthy School Meals For All program, which was authorized by Colorado voters in 2022 but has exceeded cost projections in its first years of operation.

Without additional funding, program administrators have said they will have to take steps to restrict eligibility to only low-income students and schools. Additional efforts to purchase locally-grown produce, increase wages for cafeteria workers and offset federal food stamp cuts would also go without funding.

Keep Kids Fed Colorado, an issue committee registered in support of Propositions LL and MM, has reported $152,000 in contributions, mostly from the nonprofit Hunger Free Colorado. The campaign touts a long list of endorsements from organizations including Children’s Hospital Colorado, Great Education Colorado, Mi Familia Vota, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union and Save the Children Action Network.

Proposition LL

Three years ago, Colorado voters approved a ballot measure to create the school meals program, which provides free breakfast and lunch to all students regardless of their family’s income level. It was funded by limiting income tax deductions for filers earning over $300,000 per year.

The program’s funding mechanism raised more than expected in the 2023-2024 fiscal year. Proposition LL would allow the state to keep the $12.4 million in excess revenue that would otherwise be returned to voters under the 1992 state constitutional amendment known as the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

That money has already been collected by the state. If Proposition LL is approved, the state would keep it and spend it on the school meals program.

If Proposition LL is rejected, the money would be refunded to Colorado households making at least $300,000 a year. Roughly 200,000 filers in Colorado, representing the richest 6 percent of households, would receive an average refund of $62.

Proposition MM

While Healthy School Meals For All initially raised more revenue than projected, the program’s costs also exceeded projections, resulting in a budget gap that rose to roughly $50 million this year.

Proposition MM aims to permanently fund the full program by further limiting tax deductions for filers earning over $300,000 a year, raising an additional $95 million annually for the program. Households in that high-income category would pay an average of $486 more in income taxes yearly, according to nonpartisan state fiscal analysts.

The program’s budget gap has led to delays in implementing two supplementary programs that were also included in the 2022 ballot measure: grants for purchasing locally grown food from Colorado farmers and increased wages for cafeteria workers. If Proposition MM is approved, those provisions would be implemented.

During a special legislative session in August, Colorado lawmakers also tweaked Proposition MM to allow the additional revenue to be spent on broader efforts to reduce food insecurity, once the Healthy School Meals For All program’s costs are covered. That would help the state partially offset the impact — estimated at up to $170 million annually — of reduced funding and higher administrative costs for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as a result of cuts passed by congressional Republicans in July.

Colorado voting basics

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold certified the 2025 ballot on Sept. 8. In addition to the two statewide measures, the coordinated 2025 election will see voters decide on numerous candidates and issues at the local level, including municipal elections in Aurora, Pueblo and Fort Collins, and school board races in Denver, Aurora, Douglas County and many other districts across the state.

Election Day is Nov. 4. Eligible Coloradans can register to vote or update their registration at GoVoteColorado.com.

Mail ballots will be sent to all active registered voters in Colorado beginning Oct. 10, and any eligible voter who registers to vote before Oct. 27 will receive a ballot in the mail. After Oct. 27, eligible voters can still register and vote in-person at a polling location until 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Voters who receive a mail ballot can return it through the mail, deposit it in a secure ballot drop box, or drop it off at an in-person polling location. Information about ballot drop box and in-person service locations is available at local county clerks’ websites.