Minnesota Republican votes against free school meals bill because ‘I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry’

• A Republican state senator voted against a invoice to provide free college meals to Minnesota college students.
• Steve Drazkowski said it wasn’t wanted as he was “yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry.”
• According to the nonprofit Feeding America, more than 300,000 Minnesotans are dealing with starvation.

A Republican state senator voted against a invoice to feed schoolchildren, arguing that starvation wasn’t an issue there as a result of he hadn’t met anybody with out sufficient meals.

Sen. Steve Drazkowski made the remarks on the ground of the Minnesota State Capitol on Tuesday before voting on HF 5, which might provide free college lunch and breakfast for college kids in the state.

“I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry,” said Drazkowski. “I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that says they don’t have access to enough food to eat.”

The invoice handed regardless of his opposition, and is now headed to the state’s governor to be signed into legislation.

—Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 14, 2023

According to Feeding America, a nationwide starvation aid nonprofit, round 340,000 Minnesotans are dealing with starvation, simply under a 3rd of them kids. 

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More than 13% of kids in Minnesota live in “food insecure” properties, per the anti-childhood-hunger campaign No Kid Hungry.

Drazkowsksi said in his flooring speech that starvation is “relative,” complaining that it was not well-defined in the invoice.

“I had a cereal bar for breakfast,” he said. “I guess I’m hungry now.”

Drazkowski also described the invoice as “pure socialism,” arguing that state cash ought to as an alternative be going towards studying, writing, and arithmetic in Minnesota.

Though Drazkowski voted against the invoice, it handed 38-26 in the Senate. Four Republicans joined the Democratic majority in voting for it.

A video of Drazkowski’s remarks was shared extensively on social media, with the Democrat creator of the invoice highlighting that there’s certainly starvation in Drazkowski’s district.

Drazkowski represents District 20 in the southeast of the state.

“1 in 5 students in Sen. Drazkowski’s district qualifies for free and reduced lunch,” said Sen. Heather Gustafson in a tweet.

Colleen Moriarty, the executive director of nonprofit Hunger Solutions Minnesota, told The Washington Post that Drazkowski’s “eyes may not be open” if he isn’t met anyone in the state who’s hungry. 

There had been 5.5 million visits to Minnesotan meals pantries in 2022, a file high, based on the nonprofit. Visits elevated in 2022 on the year before throughout all age teams, with the overall variety of visits by under-18s growing by more than 50%, per the nonprofit’s knowledge.