Last year, Governor Tim Walz signed a bill guaranteeing school meals for every public school student in his state. In contrast, Joe Lombardo’s veto of guaranteed meals for Nevada public school students is in lockstep with Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda to completely eliminate the Community Eligibility Provision in the federal school food program, which gives all students in qualifying schools guaranteed access to school meals and benefits hundreds of public schools here in Nevada. Due to Lombardo’s veto, many Washoe County parents will have to pay more this year compared to last for school meals as students will no longer have the guarantee of being able to eat at school, something that can make a sizable impact on student’s educational attainment, specifically by improving student health and attendance, reducing disciplinary infractions, and increasing test scores among marginalized groups of students. 

Despite being fact-checked, Assembly Deputy Minority Whip Danielle Gallant called school lunches for hungry kids “wasteful government spending” and State Sen. Carrie Buck said that the budget won’t be “in the red” on “wasted food.” The Nevada Assembly Republican Caucus even doubled down, claiming that guaranteeing that no student in Nevada goes hungry would “waste taxpayer money.”

“The contrast is clear: last year, while Governor Tim Walz signed guaranteed school meals for public school students in his state, Lombardo chose to let Nevada students go hungry by vetoing similar legislation in Nevada,” said Nevada State Democratic Party Spokesperson Claudia Alvarado. “Lombardo and Republican legislators abandoned thousands of Nevada students and passed the buck to the federal government even as Trump’s radical Project 2025 agenda seeks to eliminate the Community Eligibility Program and leave Nevadans behind once again.”