Committee defers bill that would have made South Dakota school lunches free

(The Center Square) – A bill that would provide free school lunches to South Dakota public school students was deferred by lawmakers on the House Education Committee Monday.

House Bill 1221 states a school district would not be allowed to charge a student for any meal issued through a school food services program. The Department of Education would reimburse any costs for providing meals to students that were not reimbursed through the National School Lunch Program.

South Dakota Secretary of Education Joseph Graves told the committee he opposed the bill.

“This fiscal impact of this bill would be approximately $33.3 million,” Graves said. That number would increase quickly were the bill to pass, according to Graves.

“Because people will then simply decline to fill out free and reduced lunch forms,” he said.

Students in households at 130% at or below the poverty line can receive free lunches through the National School Lunch Program.

Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Minnehaha, who introduced the bill, said she believed the vast majority of opposition came from the fiscal side of it.

“The state of South Dakota ended its 2022 fiscal year with a $115 million surplus, which was deposited into the state’s budget reserve,” Wittman said. “I truly, I cannot think of a cause more worthy of investment than South Dakota’s children.”

Graves said there were better ways to spend the money.

“If you have $33.3 million to spend on a program like this, and it will have benefits to a few students, but for the most part, it’s going to pay a bunch of people who already are able to afford a breakfast and lunch, but if you’ve got $33.3 million, find a way to help people with limited means. Find a way to help the poor,” Graves said.

Wittman urged lawmakers not to get held up on the dollar amount.

“I do not think there is an amount that is too high for us to make sure we are providing South Dakota’s children adequate, nutritious food every day,” Wittman said.

The bill was moved to the 41st day by a vote of 14-1.

“I am tired of hearing about how we need to protect and take care of South Dakota’s kids, and yet when an opportunity to actually do so comes up, our state legislature votes along party lines to kill a bill that would help ALL school children,” Wittman said in Twitter post after the meeting.