In 2022 Colorado voters approved Proposition FF, creating the Healthy School Meals for All program that offers free breakfast and lunch to every public school student. That measure funded the program by limiting state income tax deductions for taxpayers earning over three hundred thousand dollars, raising more than one hundred million dollars. Program costs have since exceeded initial projections, resulting in funding shortfalls requiring additional revenue or program reductions. Senate Bill 25B-003, referred to voters as Proposition MM, would increase state tax revenue by ninety-five million dollars annually by limiting itemized or standard income tax deductions to one thousand dollars for single filers and two thousand dollars for joint filers with federal taxable income of three hundred thousand dollars or more. The change affects only the top six percent of filers in Colorado and raises a voter-approved revenue change to support nutrition programs. Revenues generated by this measure would first fully fund the Healthy School Meals for All program, ensuring free breakfasts and lunches, increasing wages for cafeteria workers, helping schools prepare meals with basic nutritious ingredients, and sourcing Colorado-grown products. Beginning in the 2026-27 fiscal year, any surplus revenue not spent on school meals would support the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to offset anticipated federal cuts and increased state administrative costs. Fiscal analysts estimate the measure impacts approximately two hundred thousand tax filers, representing about six percent of all filers. The average increased tax liability for eligible high-income filers is forecast at roughly four hundred to five hundred dollars annually. A NO vote would require returning roughly twelve million dollars in excess revenue to those filers and could lead to scaling back the statewide meal program and leave SNAP unfunded for administrative or benefit costs.
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