relative to additional grounds for eviction under the landlord and tenant statute, relative to the responsibility of local school districts to provide meals to students during school hours, and reimbursing schools for meals provided to students at no cost and making an appropriation therefor.

New sections 3 and 4 add a school meals program allowing school boards to vote to raise free meal eligibility to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, with state reimbursement at 50 percent of the difference between free and paid or reduced-price meal rates

Appropriates $107,000 for Department of Education administrative costs and $250,000 for district reimbursements and software related to online meal applications, both for the biennium ending June 30, 2027

Fiscal note estimates potential state reimbursement costs of approximately $6.9 million per year if all districts participate, plus two new Department of Education positions at roughly $204,000 combined in FY 2026

Requires the Department of Education to adopt rules mandating that participating districts offer both online and physical applications for free school meals, and to provide administrative or technical assistance to districts establishing online applications

Effective date is split: eviction provisions (sections 1-2) now take effect January 1, 2027 instead of 60 days after passage; school meal provisions (sections 3-4) take effect July 1, 2026

Removed the provision allowing eviction based on any crime where the maximum penalty is imprisonment in excess of one year (any felony) within 5 years. This was the broadest criminal conviction ground and its removal substantially narrows who can be evicted for criminal history.

Added a requirement that if a landlord does not conduct a criminal background check or request disclosure on the tenant application form, the landlord shall not be entitled to use criminal convictions as grounds for eviction under subparagraph II(k)(1). This creates an affirmative obligation on landlords before they can rely on this eviction ground.

Expanded the protection for disclosed convictions: previously only written disclosure by the tenant was protected, now convictions disclosed via a landlord-conducted criminal background check prior to the tenancy are also protected from later use as an eviction basis.

Changed 'may name as defendant' to 'shall name as defendant' in paragraph IX, making it mandatory (rather than permissive) that evictions under these new grounds name only the specific person(s) who committed the violation and not other household members.

Estimated annual General Fund expenditure reduced from $500,000 to $1,000,000 down to $200,000 to $700,000, reflecting the expected reduction in eviction filings after removing the broad felony provision.