WHEREAS, More than 4.9 million California residents struggle to provide enough food for their families and nearly one in five children are food insecure, meaning they do not have consistent access to adequate food; and

WHEREAS, California ranks 27th in the nation in school breakfast participation, and the state provided only 55.6 percent of children eligible for free or reduced-price school meals with federally funded school breakfasts; and

WHEREAS, More than 58 percent of California public school pupils qualify for free or reduced-price school meals, yet many of those low-income pupils are not eating the nutritious school breakfast offered due to barriers such as social stigma, late buses or carpools, long cafeteria lines, and tight class schedules; and

WHEREAS, Eating breakfast as part of the schoolday is associated with positive pupil behavioral health and academic outcomes such as improved concentration in class, lower rates of chronic absenteeism, fewer classroom disruptions, and less frequent visits to the school nurse; and

WHEREAS, Breakfast After the Bell programs, such as breakfast in the classroom, grab and go breakfast, and second chance breakfast, are proven meal delivery methods that boost school breakfast participation and related positive outcomes; and

WHEREAS, School breakfast participation is associated with a lower body mass index, which is an indicator of excess body fat, lower probability of being overweight, and lower probability of obesity; and

WHEREAS, States across the nation have introduced legislation to require that schools with a high percentage of pupils who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals implement a Breakfast After the Bell program; and

WHEREAS, If California schools increased school breakfast participation to 70 percent of their pupils, an additional 1.8 million pupils would receive breakfast every day and school districts would receive an additional $101 million in federal meal reimbursements for their school nutrition budgets; now, therefore, be it