 On Wednesday, Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan announced that over 1 million more lunches have been served monthly by the free school meals program this year, saving families thousands of dollars. In the first month of the program, 1.1 million more breakfasts and 1.1 million more lunches were served to students than the same period in 2022. Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan made the announcement at Edgerton Elementary in Maplewood.
?We?re serving free, healthy meals to more students than ever before. That?s time and money saved on packing lunches, and it?s more kids who are getting the fuel they need to succeed in and out of the classroom,??said Governor Walz.??Feeding our children is one of the best investments we can make for our students? future, and we?re saving families thousands of dollars a year in the process.?
?As a kid who relied on free and reduced-price lunch at school, I knew universal school meals would be life changing for millions of Minnesotans,??said Lieutenant Governor Flanagan.??With free school meals, we?re feeding more students than ever, ensuring they have healthy meals which allow them to learn, grow, and thrive each day at school.???
 On Monday, Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan hosted a roundtable in the metro to hear from Planned Parenthood providers and staff on their work to provide access to reproductive health care in the year and a half following the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision. The roundtable came as the Supreme Court considers further restricting life-saving reproductive care in states across the country.
"After the Dobbs decision, Minnesota put reproductive freedom into law and strengthened protections for those seeking or providing an abortion."?said Governor Walz. "In Minnesota, we?ll continue to choose the right fights, deliver on our promises, and protect your rights ? not take them away."
"Last year, Minnesota put protections for those seeking or providing an abortion into law," said Lieutenant Governor Flanagan. "As the Supreme Court moves to further restrict reproductive health care, our message is this: You?re welcome in Minnesota. We?ll keep fighting for reproductive freedom for all."
 On Tuesday, Governor Walz visited a DVS in the metro to purchase a blackout license plate and highlight the availability of new specialty license plates that became available on January 1. He was joined by?Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson and DPS Driver and Vehicle Services Director Pong Xiong.
"Now Iowa has nothing over us, because we've got black plates," said Governor Walz.
 On Thursday, Governor Walz visited BevComm, a broadband provider in Blue Earth, to discuss the state?s progress to expand broadband access. Over the last year, the state has provided enough funding to expand broadband to 46,000 Minnesota homes and businesses that didn?t previously have access.?
?The momentum behind our work to expand high-speed broadband access across the state is connecting more Minnesotans to their jobs, their businesses, their health care, and their friends and family,??said Governor Walz.??We?re helping our network of providers expand this critical infrastructure to thousands of homes and businesses, improving quality of life for Minnesotans, making businesses more competitive, and connecting folks to critical services.?
 On Thursday, Lieutenant Governor Flanagan visited an elementary school in Lakeville to announce a new round of applications for Minnesota?s Solar for Schools program. With 105 schools already participating, Minnesota is among the top states in the country for solar schools.
"The good news: With 98% of the school powered by solar energy, Lake Marion Elementary has set a high bar," said Lieutenant Governor Flanagan. "Even better news: With new state funding, we?re making it easier than ever before for schools to catch up as we work toward a cleaner, greener future for Minnesota."
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