This is not the update that I was hoping to post but it is the latest nonetheless.

That key Texas legislator that I spoke with yesterday, well I received a call from that legislator’s Chief-of-Staff today, a summary follows: - First off, the legislator has not released an official statement so I don’t feel right about releasing a name. - HB 3562, the bill I am trying to have amended, was EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to get passed last year so, any amendment is likely to be a continuation of that struggle. - As expected the Republicans and the Tea Party put up the most resistance. - During the fight to pass HB 3562 the legislators examined several scenarios but in the end they decided that Texas school districts would SURELY adopt reasonable school meal charge policies. - The legislature was very hesitant to present school districts with mandates because the districts expect funds to accompany them. - If a legislator decides to pick up this fight when the legislature reconvenes in January 2017, the earliest we would likely see an amendment or a new law take effect would be 1 September 2017, still a year and-a-half away! - The Chief-of-Staff requested that I write the amendment that I would like to see so I guess I’m a politician now; No worries, I can do that, I’m thinking two, three sentences max. - In the meantime, the Chief-of-Staff recommends taking action to embarrass individual school boards and districts that have adopted unacceptable or unreasonable school meal charge policies and procedures. That concluded the summary from the Chief-of-Staff, in addition to building a formidable signature base, this fight needs to begin to target local school boards and school districts. Texas school districts are required to disclose their meal charge policies online, please read them and decide if you believe them to be reasonable and if not, the district contact list should be readily available on their website. I believe this to be a no-brainer amendment but I’m no politician, schools do not go any deeper in the hole by allowing students to eat the food that has already been prepared for them, the food has already been purchased, it’s already been heated, and if not consumed it will be discarded - why not feed it to the students as originally intended? I shared a side-by-side graphic that demonstrates that nothing is gained by taking meal trays away, I’ll share that again. I’m a bit disappointed, I was expecting a commitment from this legislator but didn’t receive it, well, not yet. I’m not done, I just have to plan for the full 15 rounds. And finally, I’ve come up with a Federal angle that I might pursue and will be working on that next week while I recover from an illness. Once again, sorry for such a long update but I prefer to share information as I receive it.