After four years of effort, Representative Kadyn Wittman’s (D-15/Sioux Falls) effort to pay for more school meals for kids is finally law. At Aberdeen’s Holgate Middle School Friday, Governor Larry Rhoden signed House Bill 1082, which will spend less than $600,000 a year to cover the reduced price for school lunches and breakfasts currently charged to families making between 130% and 185 of poverty income.
Governor Rhoden didn’t spotlight this liberal, humanitarian policy in his press release on the six education-related bills he signed Friday or in his weekly propaganda column, but pressed by the press, he acknowledged that his good Democratic idea helps keep South Dakota strong: “Keeping our kids and grandkids strong and healthy is important, and this bill helps provide food for those who need it most.”
Flush with victory, Rep. Wittman is ready to fight to make South Dakota stronger:
Wittman said on Friday she hopes there will be expansions during future legislative session to cover more meals for students. She would like to see meals covered for families who are at 209% of the federal poverty line, which is the standard for childhood Medicaid.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 200% of the federal poverty level for a family of four is $66,000 annually.
When the bill was making its way through committee hearings, Wittman told lawmakers that school districts would be able to use money otherwise used to pay off lunch debt in other areas of the budget [Gracie Terrall, “School Lunch Bill Signed by Rhoden,” KELO-TV, 2026.03.27].
Note that last line: a little more help from the state on school meals means a little more local money available to support other budget needs. Good work, Rep. Wittman, on helping kids and the budgets of families and schools… and hats off* to Governor Rhoden, on approving this modest investment in kids’ health and education.
p.s.: Photos from the signing event at Holgate Middle School do not show kids mobbing the Governor the way Minnesota students smothered Governor Tim Walz with hugs when he signed that state’s free-school-lunch bill in 2023. But the Minnesota law covers school meals for all kids. Maybe hugs next year, Larry?
*pp.s. Literally, Larry: hats off in the school building—Holgate student handbook, dress code, p. 11.