North Dakota House passes free lunch bill, will next be debated on by senate

BISMARCK, N.D. — The North Dakota House passed a bill on Thursday, Jan. 22, that would provide free school lunches to all students in the state.

HB 1624 would provide free school lunches to every student in the state, regardless of income status.

The bill, sponsored by 12 republicans and Representative Liz Conmy as the lone Democrat, will also allocate 65 million dollars from the strategic investment and improvements fund to pay for the meals.

Many took to the house floor to speak both for and against the bill. Those who opposed the bill say it’s to expensive, or unneeded due to bills passed in the previous session that gave free lunches for children from lower-income families.

But many of those in favor of the bill said they were doing so due to the possibility of a ballot measure that would enshrine free school lunches into the state’s constitution.

“If we approve this bill, we have control over this program,” said West Fargo Representative Austin Schauer. “If the initiative measure, if the ballot measure moves forward, we have zero control over this program. We do not go out and try to get elected and reelected to have programs like this to be under the constitution. It has to be under our control and future leaders’ control.”

The bill now moves forward to be debated on in the senate.