School Meal Bill Introduced in North Dakota Legislature

Sponsored by Rep. Ista, Sen. Barta, Rep. Beltz, Sen. Braunberger, Rep. Hager, Rep. Heinert, Sen. Hogan, Rep. Jonas, Rep. Mock, Rep. Murphy, Rep. O'Brien, Rep. Richter

View the bill here -  https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/68-2023/regular/documents/23-0879-03000.pdf

HB 1491 (https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/68-2023/regular/bill-overview/bo1491.html) would provide school lunch at no cost to all students in North Dakota.

Sponsored by Representatives Hager, Hanson, Ista, Schneider, Schreiber-Beck

Senators Hogan, Mathern

View the bill here - https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/68-2023/regular/bill-overview/bo1491.html

North Dakota AFL-CIO President Landis Larson on HB 1494:

"We’d love to see school meals provided to all children without charge, lunch and breakfast; just like it was through the pandemic. That’s the gold standard for school nutrition and the best policy for kids and working families.

"All families, regardless of income, would benefit from a fully funded meal program at school. With an average monthly cost of around $60 per student, the out-of-pocket costs impacts family budgets across the board.”

North Dakota AFL-CIO President Landis Larson on HB 1491:

"We need to address lunch shaming by making sure that all our schools have policies that treat our kids with dignity and respect, and get them the nutrition they need to be successful students."

"It's wrong that we treat some kids different than others when it comes to school meals. We are glad to see a bi-partisan group of legislators agree that we need to end lunch shaming in North Dakota."