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.