A bill that would expand free and reduced lunch moved forward in the South Dakota Legislature on Monday.
Representative Kadyn Wittman, a Sioux Falls Democrat, has advocated for expanding free school lunches for the past four years.
The bill advanced from the House Education Committee to the House Appropriations Committee on a 13 to 1 vote.
Wittman said it’s clear the conversation about providing school meals has changed over the past few years.
She stated not only is the state seeing the need in urban communities but also in rural communities.
After years of bipartisan negotiation by Wittman and support by committee Republicans, they agreed on a state cost of $600,000 per year.
However, Grant Judson, representative of the state’s Bureau of Finance and Management, opposed the bill, saying the cost of meals is already heavily subsidized by the federal government.
Judson said the bill would require the state’s department of education to cover the costs of 40 cents for lunch and 30 cents for breakfast.
The BFM was the only opposition testimony to the bill.
