Bill would use Legacy Fund money to pay for school meals

BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota lawmakers heard testimony on Monday in support of a bill that would give free school lunches to all students in the state.

HB 1553 would take money from the Legacy Fund and use the funding to provide the free meals.

Breakfast and lunch for the students would be included.

It also ends stipulations on how students with unpaid meal balances are treated by schools.

Nobody testified in opposition to the bill, but several groups testified in support.

“We pay for meals for prisoners in our prisons. And our kids are mandated to be in school based on compulsory attendance, right? So, if we’re paying for the meals of our prisoners that have done something egregious that put them in that position, shouldn’t we pay for the meals for our kids in school? It seems like the right thing to do,” said Aimee Copas, executive director of the North Dakota Council of Educational Leaders.

A second bill would take $140 million from the state’s general fund to pay for school meals.