Legislature(2025 - 2026)DAVIS 106
02/24/2025 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB28 | |
| HB12 | |
| HB57 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 28 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 12 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 57 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 12-FREE BREAKFAST & LUNCH IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
8:23:40 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY announced that the next order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 12, "An Act relating to free breakfast and
lunch in public schools."
8:24:10 AM
SARAH SNOWBERGER, Staff, Representative Maxine Dibert, Alaska
State Legislature, on behalf of Representative Maxine Dibert,
Prime sponsor, presented HB 12 to the committee. She forwarded
Representative Dibert's message that she was listening in on the
current committee hearing and "working hard to recover every
single day" so she could return to work on the House Education
Standing Committee.
8:24:56 AM
MATTIE HULL, Staff, Representative Maxine Dibert, Alaska State
Legislature, on behalf of Representative Maxine Dibert, Prime
sponsor, presented HB 12 to the committee. He began by reading
the sponsor statement [included in the committee packet] which
read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
House Bill 12 directs the Department of Education
(DEED) to provide funding to school districts allowing
them to provide breakfast and lunch to any student
requesting one at no cost to the student. The
proposed legislation requires that DEED maximize the
state's receipt of federal funds available for
providing breakfast and lunch to students, thus
helping minimize state expenditure.
During much of the pandemic, the US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) provided funding to all public
schools allowing them to offer free meals to all
students regardless of income. Universal school meals
were found to be associated with positive outcomes for
all economic backgrounds for a relatively low cost
considering the associated improvement to student
academic outcomes and health.
Currently 46% of students who eat school meals in
Alaska, receive them for free. Since September 2024,
ten states have passed legislation providing for
universal school meals and 23 more have introduced
such legislation. Many states are instituting
universal meal programs because it has been clearly
demonstrated in numerous studies that investing in
school meals improves academic performance, student
attendance, and physical and mental health. These
programs have also been shown to greatly reduce
student, parent, and staff stress.
Universal free school meals are associated with:
• Improved diet quality, food security, and reduced
hunger.
• Improvement in English language art scores and math
scores.
• Reduced stigma and an increase in student
participation.
The Food Bank of Alaska, along with several other
food, health, and education organizations
enthusiastically endorse this legislation. Several
Alaska School Districts have informed us that they are
full-throated supporters of HB 12.
By implementing universal breakfast and lunch we can
help Alaska's families, and we can truly make a
difference for Alaska's students. HB 12 will help our
state make strides ensuring students are at school and
prepared to learn. This initiative will move the
academic needle.
I respectfully urge your support for the passage of HB
12 thereby improving student performance and combating
food insecurity. Please reach out to my office with
any questions or concerns.
8:27:08 AM
MR. HULL read the sectional analysis for HB 12[included in the
committee packet] which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
Section 1 AS 14.17.495 amended by adding a new section
to article 1: Free breakfast and lunch in public
schools. Subject to appropriation, and in addition to
the state aid received under this chapter, the
department shall provide to a district sufficient
funding to allow the district to provide breakfast and
lunch to any student in the district who requests the
meal, at no cost to the student. The department shall
maximize the state's receipt of federal financial
assistance that may be available for providing
breakfast and lunch to students.
8:28:39 AM
CLARISSA HAYES, Food Research and Action Center, gave invited
testimony on HB 12. She said that the Food Research and Action
Center has been working with state legislatures across the
country to address the problem of childhood hunger and
emphasized that "offering meals to students free of charge,
regardless of their household income is the future of nutrition
departments" within schools. She pointed to eight other states
in the country that have passed legislation concerning universal
free school lunches and highlighted a series of positive
outcomes that result from universal free school lunches. She
explained that hungry children do not have the energy they need
to learn and thrive at school and said that providing free
school meals to all students would be an investment in all
students.
8:31:36 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM asked how many students are anticipated to
be helped by HB 12's proposed free lunches.
MR. HULL said "46 percent is just under half a million, about
460,000, however again, I don't have the exact number right here
in front of me, but based off of that, I would assume that it
would be another half million children that would be
participating through this program.
CO-CHAIR STORY commented that "Alaska does not have half a
million children".
MR. HULL said that he "must be mixing up his numbers".
8:34:57 AM
MS.SNOWBERGER answered that the fiscal note associated with HB
12 was received very recently and directed any questions
regarding it to Heather Heineken of the Department of Education
and Early Development.
8:35:51 AM
TREVOR STORRS, President, and CEO, of Alaska Children's Trust,
gave invited testimony on HB 12. He said that providing free
school lunches would improve family relationships and
environments in children's health, family economic wellbeing,
and stronger communities. He said that students learn better
and have the energy to participate in physical activities when
they are well fed. He explained that free school meals would
drastically alleviate financial pressures placed on families
that are living in financial hardship.
8:40:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM asked if the cost of universal lunches would
be greater in rural school districts. He asked how much the
state currently pays for student school lunches.
8:40:52 AM
MS. HEINEKEN answered that the financial statistics that were
used to calculate the cost of HB 12 were from 2022-2023. She
answered that the state currently does not pay anything for
student meals.
8:42:41 AM
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT confirmed that the National Student Lunch
Program (NSLP)'s funding is the same for all meals served at a
school. She asked if the fiscal note associated with HB 12
includes the cost of including school districts who do not
already participate in the NSLP and asked how many school
districts in Alaska do not currently participate in the NSLP.
MS. HEINEKEN, in response to multiple questions from Co-Chair-
Himschoot, said that the current fiscal note does not reflect
the cost of school districts who do not already participate in
the NSLP. She said about nine school districts currently do not
participate in the NSLP.
8:48:21 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY asked what the eligibility and income
requirements are for students and families that currently
receive free school lunches under the NSLP and asked how much
school meals currently cost.
MS. HENEKEN answered that she does not have that information
currently and answered that she would follow up later.
8:50:04 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM opined that it might be useful to understand
the cost difference for a school meal in rural, remote, and
urban school districts.
8:51:30 AM
MS. SNOWBERGER replied that her office would work to gather data
on the difference in meal prices between urban, remote, and
rural school districts.
8:52:10 AM
REPRESENTATIBE EISCHEID asked the bill sponsor's office to
provide more clear numbers regarding the statistics surrounding
free school lunches in Alaska.
8:53:02 AM
REPRESENTATIVE UNDERWOOD asked if there are ways that school
districts could mitigate food waste if HB 12 were to become law.
MR. HULL replied that he was unaware of specific numbers
regarding food waste.
8:54:36 AM
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT asked who would pay for a meal if a student
were to eat a meal and not fill out the associated paperwork.
MS. HEINEKEN answered that those meals would be paid for by the
local school district.
8:57:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SCHWANKE asked if there are other federal grants
like the NSLP that school districts could utilize to provide
free school lunches to its students. She asked how a school
with no kitchen or kitchen staff might be able to provide meals
to students.
MS. SNOWBERGER answered that HB 12 is in no way meant to
interfere with local and traditional practices and said that she
does not currently have a full list of federal grants that are
available to school districts in Alaska.
9:02:42 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SCHWANKE said that she was afraid of creating a
program that was "too broad, to put the onus on the state to
provide food that is not necessarily needed, and a free program
that is available for every single student seems to do that".
9:04:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM asked if the state would still be obligated
to send a meal to school districts that opted out of the free
school lunch program proposed by HB 28.
MR. HULL answered that HB 28 would only apply to public school
students, not correspondence students.
CO-CHAIR STORY corrected Mr. Hull that correspondence students
are public school students.
9:07:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID requested the bill sponsor's office to
create a meta-analysis study on the academic benefits of
students who are fed.
9:08:41 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY announced that HB 12 would be held over.