MN bill to guarantee students free lunches faces opposition

Brut America

In response to a proposed bill that would guarantee free meals to all students in the state, this Republican State Senator argued he had “yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry.”

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00:00I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry.

00:04I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that says they don't have access to enough food

00:09to eat.

00:10That's what one Minnesota Republican had to say in opposition to a proposed bill that

00:13would guarantee free meals to all students in the state.

00:16This is pure socialism.

00:19This is about control.

00:21The next thing the Socialist Party of Minnesota will be bringing to this chamber is one to

00:25provide their clothing.

00:27They'll be coming to buy their socks and buy their pants and buy their shirts and maybe

00:32their hats and maybe their winter clothing and who knows what next.

00:37Draskowski argued that the approximate $400 million needed to fund the bill should instead

00:42be allocated towards improving reading, math, and science proficiencies.

00:46That is what our Constitution provides for, to teach them, not to feed them.

00:52Senator Heather Gustafson, the bill's author and an experienced teacher, rebutted Draskowski's

00:57arguments.

00:58I've had countless students come into my classroom.

01:00They're looking for food and not just for themselves, but for their siblings as well.

01:04There is not a literacy program or a math strategy that's going to improve scores if

01:08a student doesn't know where their next meal is coming from.

01:11She also spoke on her own personal experiences as a mother.

01:14I have four kids.

01:15There are a lot of years that we couldn't afford much.

01:19I would have appreciated a policy like that.

01:21The bill ultimately passed by a vote of 38 to 26.

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