PIERRE, S.D. (SDBA) — Legislators voted Monday to send a school meal funding bill to Appropriations with a “do not pass” recommendation.
The House Education Committee voted 13-2 to send House Bill 1089 to the Joint Appropriations Committee with a negative endorsement.
The measure would cover meal copays for reduced-price eligible students.
The Bureau of Finance and Management estimates show a $616,000 annual cost.
“One in six kids in South Dakota face hunger,” said Miss Hot Springs Julia Stanek, representing Feeding South Dakota through her Miss America platform.
Bill sponsor Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls, recalled choosing between eating lunch and saving her parent’s money. “I remember days where I thought about not eating lunch to save my parents 40 cents.”
“This is a federal program, and the cost of meals is already heavily subsidized,” said Grant Judson with the Bureau of Finance and Management.
Some legislators who opposed the bill said they had seen considerable wasted food in school lunchrooms.
The bill targets students from families earning between 130% and 185% of the federal poverty level, covering their 40-cent lunch and 30-cent breakfast copays.
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