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Wisconsin Assembly Rep. Francesca Hong on free school meals for all
Democratic Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. Francesca Hong joins the Democratic Voice podcast to talk about her bill Healthy School Meals for All, hoping there’s a way to work it into the budget.
The Democratic Voice podcasts is hosted by La Crosse County and 3rd Congressional District Democratic Party chair William Garcia and WIZM’s Rick Solem. It comes out once a week. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or on WIZM here.
The bill (read more) would provide breakfast and lunch to all students in all schools — public or private. We discuss the benefits of the bill but also how Republicans will likely withhold it from even getting a public hearing.
While a bill to advance postpartum Medicaid coverage in the state passed the Senate 32-1 in back-to-back sessions now, Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos won’t even let that bill get a vote — let alone let one to feed children sniff a committee hearing.
Hong, though, tells us that it’s not because Republicans are afraid to speak out against the bill.
Minnesota just passed a free-school-meals bill last year and the federal government did this for a time during COVID but let it expire.
In La Crosse, 52% of students are on free or reduced school meals. But, what this bill would do, is end the red tape that parents have to jump through to get enrolled. Instead, with Hong’s bill, if parents didn’t want to partake in the free school meals, they could simply opt out.
Mike Hochertz
May 2, 2025 at 6:29 am
I do not have children. Therefore I do not get government tax deduction for children nor do I get the other government subsidized programs associated. We already fund the schools, there are government subsidized programs for people that need food (SNAP, WIC, etc) and WAFER. There is no need for funding for school food.
Next we will be talking about Funding every company’s cafeteria with taxpayers money (see how ridiculous that sounds).
Take care of your family
Bob N.
May 2, 2025 at 9:24 am
Solem and Garcia and the daily parade of Socialism doctrine. Why would any responsible taxpayer follow Minnesota’s lead in anything? Take a look at the sales tax in Minneapolis.
One of the oldest axioms of wisdom is “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
Someone, meaning the working people taxpayers, pays for it.
Mike Hochertz
May 2, 2025 at 2:04 pm
Bob N.
I totally agree. If Solemn and Garcia put in a free cook out everyday because they wanted to help out the needy, but then half of Lacrosse started to show up because it’s “free”, it would not take long to bankrupt the two of them and then they couldn’t help anyone.
walden
May 2, 2025 at 1:25 pm
“free lunch”
Stupidity or gaslighting?
Howard
May 2, 2025 at 8:16 pm
Ok if you can’t afford you get free meals . It should be easy to figure out how to do it without stigmatizing kids. If your parents can afford have them pay for it. This lazy plan of giving money to everyone is a problem. To many people and businesses got government aid in 2008 and COVID and any time money is handed out. The government was too lazy to see who needed aid and the Greedy were too willing to take it.