In this testimony Celia Hagert, senior policy analyst for the Center for Public Policy Priorities, testifies in support of CSHB 454, which relates to the provision of free lunch and breakfast to all enrolled students in certain school districts and campuses. Houston Independent School District (HISD) started serving free breakfast to all students in the Spring of 2006. The district reports that the implementation of its new program of breakfast at no charge to all students, and an expanded classroom breakfast program during the 2006-2007 school years, will result in increased participation. Students at 20 HISD schools participate in the "First Class Breakfast" program, which was designed specifically for HISD schools to improve student achievement. This program went into effect in September 2006 and gives students the option of having their morning meal brought to them at their desks every day rather than requiring them to go to the cafeteria to retrieve it. The program is designed to offer students a convenient option for obtaining a nutritious breakfast to start their day. School districts in Washington state and Tampa, Florida have eliminated the reduced price category in their school breakfast programs. This means they now serve free meals to all students with income below 185% of poverty. These districts report increased participation, lower labor costs, and a reduction in the costs associated with recouping the unpaid balances of students in the reduced-price category. In Tampa, the percentage of reduced students participating increased an average of 30% and federal revenue increased by approximately $700,000. For each day a low-income child was not being served breakfast in 2005-2006, school districts lost $1.27 in federal funding for every child who would have received a free breakfast, and $0.97 for every child who would have received a reduced-price breakfast. Those meals add up to hundreds of millions of dollars in federal child nutrition funding going unclaimed by Texas districts every year.