St. Paul, Minnesota — Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed HF 2480, a bill increasing state funding for reduced price lunches on a unanimous vote of 130-0. State Representative Mary Sawatzky (DFL – Willmar) was a co-author on the bill.
“Minnesota students should have access to a healthy, nutritious lunch, regardless of their income or family circumstances,” said Rep. Sawatzky. “We all know that going hungry without a hot lunch not only impacts student health, it negatively impacts a student’s ability to learn. I’m pleased we were able to pass this bill in a bipartisan fashion today.”
"It's awfully hard for students to fill their minds while their stomachs are empty," said state Representative Andrew Falk (DFL-Murdoch). "This bill helps ensure that students in Minnesota schools get a healthy meal that can fuel a full day of learning."
The federal government provides the majority of funding for school lunches; $2.93 for free meals, $2.53 for reduced-price meals, and $0.28 for fully-paid school lunches. Minnesota adds 12.5 cents to this funding for all three lunches. However, the forty-cent gap between free lunches and reduced-price lunches has resulted in alarming instances of kids being turned away when they can’t pay or being given a less nutritious alternative lunch.
HF 2480 tackles this issue by increasing state aid for reduced-price school lunch by 40 cents, which has the effect of making them free lunches. The bill also prohibits a district from charging a lunch fee to a student who is free or reduced-price lunch eligible.
On February 10, Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid released a report that detailed the extent to which Minnesota school districts either turn away kids who cannot afford lunch or provide them with a less nutritious alternative meal. The vast majority of the kids affected are those receiving reduced-price lunches.
The report stated that of the 306 districts that responded to the group’s questions (94% of districts statewide), 46 districts (15% ) report a policy of immediate or eventual denial to serve hot lunch or an alternative meal to a child that cannot pay. Besides denying these kids nutrition, the denial of lunch also causes embarrassing scenarios for the child. One hundred sixty-five of the districts (53%) offer a less nutritious alternative meal instead of turning the child away.
Reps. Sawatzky and Falk encourage constituents to contact them with any questions, comments, concerns, or ideas. Rep. Sawatzky can be reached by phone at 651-296-6206 or by email at rep.mary.sawatzky@house.mn. Rep. Falk can be reached at 651-296-4228 or rep.andrew.falk@house.mn.