Students eat lunch at Carl Ben Eielson Middle School in Fargo on Jan. 22, 2025. (Photo by Dan Koeck/For the North Dakota Monitor)
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — North Dakota legislative leaders on Tuesday will decide whether to reconsider giving free school meals to K-12 students.
Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck, is proposing that lawmakers take up the issue during next week’s special session, but first he’ll need to pitch it to the Legislative Management committee.
The bill draft mirrors a proposed constitutional ballot measure that could be on the November ballot if supporters gather enough signatures. But while the ballot measure would add the meal program to the state constitution, the bill would add the program to state law, making it easier for lawmakers to adjust if the program becomes unsustainable.
“We need the flexibility for future legislatures in case we hit financially hard times,” Nathe said.
If advanced by Legislative Management, the bill will be introduced and debated by the full Legislature during a special session that begins Wednesday.
The Together for School Meals coalition spearheaded the ballot measure after lawmakers last year rejected two similar bills that aimed to provide free school meals to students. Instead, lawmakers narrowly expanded the number of families that qualify for free or reduced lunch.
The ballot measure would require public schools to provide free breakfast and lunch to students. Private schools, Bureau of Indian Education schools and other tribal schools could opt in to participate in the program.
Under Nathe’s bill, the state’s free school meals program would start this fall, while the ballot measure would start the program in fall 2027.
The bill has a $65 million appropriation attached to it for the first year, with funding coming from the state Strategic Investment and Improvements Fund. That figure is on par with what the Department of Public Instruction has estimated the program will cost per year, although the agency has said the cost is difficult to project.
“When we come back in January 2027, we’ll have half a school year under our belt and we’ll see what’s working and what’s not working and we can adjust,” Nathe said. “At that time, we’ll figure out the funding going forward for the next biennium.”
Providing free school meals would provide about $1,000 in savings per student for North Dakota families, said Nick Archuleta, president of ND United and a member of the ballot measure sponsoring committee
“This is everything we’ve asked for, for two legislative sessions in a row,” Archuleta said. “We are absolutely going to support the passage of this.”
Previously, Robin Nelson, chair of the sponsoring committee, said the group remains cautiously optimistic about Nathe’s bill, but will move forward with signature gathering for the proposed ballot measure.
Legislative Management meets at 1 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the school meal proposal and other bills lawmakers plan to pitch for the special session. Senate Majority Leader David Hogue, R-Minot, who chairs that committee, has previously said he is not in favor of relitigating issues the Legislature debated last session.
If the committee does not advance a bill, a lawmaker could still attempt to introduce it from the Senate or House floor. The bill would need support from at least two-thirds of the members to be introduced.
Comments