North Dakota Senate Votes to Increase Its Own Meal Budget After Rejecting Free School Lunch Bill
Just over a week ago, North Dakota lawmakers voted to prevent giving free school lunches to low-income students. Then, on Thursday, they voted to increase the amount of money they get to spend on their own lunch.
Debating free school lunch for low-income kids, North Dakota State Sen. Mike Wobbema (R) says families are to blame for their hunger: "It’s really the problem of parents being negligent with their kids, if their kids are choosing to eat in the first place."
The bill died, 23-24.
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) March 29, 2023 Link here.
On Thursday, the Senate voted 26–21 to pass a bill to raise per diem meal reimbursements for state employees traveling within the state, from $35 to $45.
Now I don’t know all the ins-and-outs of these bills. And I do know politics and the media can be overly dramatic in presenting the so-called facts. But on its face, this stinks to their high heaven.
If there is a problem with parents abusing the allowances for their kids lunches, work on fixing that. Don't scrap the allowance altogether for such kids in need.
Q: Do you agree that there is something wrong with this picture? What’s the justification for decreasing meals for kids, while increasing meal allowances for your own meals? Explain that to me.