Minnesota House Passes Free Meals For All Students
School lunch is critical to a student's health, well-being, and ability to learn. Now the Minnesota House has voted to make meals available to all students at no cost.
On Thursday the Minnesota House voted 70-58 along party lines to spend around $200 million a year to make school breakfasts and lunches available to all students at no charge.
According to TwinCities.com the vote went down party lines with Democrats voting for the bill while Republicans voted against it.
TwinCities.com quotes comments from both parties on the issue...
Rep. Pam Altendorf, R-Red Wing said “Why are we feeding kids in Edina or rich areas that do not need this extra funding? We are pushing tax dollars where they are not needed.”
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Sydney Jordan, DFL-Minneapolis, made the point that “We give every kid in our school a desk. There are lots of kids out there that can afford to buy a desk, but they get a desk because they go to school.”
In Minnesota an estimated 1/3 or around 274,886 students in the public school system are already eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
During the first two years of the Covid Pandemic, the U.S. Government picked up the cost of all school meals across the country. But that program has ended.