South Dakota House Education Committee votes down free school lunch

The South Dakota House Education Committee voted down House Bill 1042 on Monday, legislation that would’ve given free meals to low-income school children.

The committee killed the bill by a thin 8-7 margin, with all eight yay votes coming from Republicans. Six Republicans joined state Rep. Eric Emery (D-Rosebud), the lone Democrat on the committee, in voting no. After the vote, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s Budget Director Jim Terwilliger said the state doesn’t have the money to feed children.

“I know that if we could vote with our hearts, I know we’d all vote to support feeding our children,” Terwilliger said. “However, as we all know, there’s a cost to these program and proposals at the end of the day. We’ve all heard the saying ‘there is no free lunch,’ meaning someone has to pay.”

NEWS: South Dakota rejects providing free school lunch to children.

NOEM BUDGET DIRECTOR (R): “If we could vote with our hearts, I know that we’d vote to support feeding our children … But we’ve all heard the saying ‘there is no free lunch.’”

The bill died in committee, 7-8. pic.twitter.com/n43w4ruKSa

— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) January 22, 2024

The members who voted to kill the bill cited the financial cost, which was estimated to set the state back $578,000 a year. In July, Noem’s office reported a $96.8 million budget surplus.

Rep. Kadyn Wittman (D-Sioux Falls) sponsored House Bill 1042 and introduced it on Jan. 4. The bill received support from several organizations like School Administrators of South Dakota, the South Dakota Education Association and Early Learners South Dakota.