South Dakota Lawmakers Vote Down Free School Lunches Bill

The state House's education committee voted Monday to kill a bill that would have offered free school lunches to food-insecure kids.

A South Dakota bill aimed at feeding hungry school kids was killed by the state House’s education committee by a single vote.

The bill, H.B. 1042, would have directed state funding to provide free lunches for food-insecure kids who currently only get them at a reduced price. It failed after the House Education Committee voted 8-7 on Monday against it, Dakota News Now reported.

State Rep. Kadyn Wittman (D-Sioux Falls) introduced the bill, which would have cost the state approximately $578,000 per year, and her efforts won support from numerous education and health groups, the Argus Leader reported. Several conservative lawmakers opposed the bill because of its cost.

“I can’t think of anything more core to education than children having fully developed brains and being able to focus in their schools,” Wittman said during testimony before Monday’s vote. “If we want South Dakota to pull ahead in terms of test scores, absenteeism rates and having better health outcomes for our kids, I can’t think of a better investment.”

South Dakota’s finance commissioner, Jim Terwilliger, said in his own testimony that while the bill is “well-intentioned,” there is no such thing as “free lunch.”