From Local 3 News: A bill that would have provided free breakfast and lunch to public school students in Tennessee failed in the Subcommittee of E
From Local 3 News: A bill that would have provided free breakfast and lunch to public school students in Tennessee failed in the Subcommittee of Education Administration.
Representative Kevin Raper of Cleveland filed that bill.
Raper feels like priorities are not in order as those incarcerated are guaranteed free breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but those working to get an education are not.
Since the decision to move forward with the bill was not obvious, an individual count was taken from each subcommittee member.
The final vote was three I’s and five no’s.
“I was disappointed, of course. I don’t get involved in the whys because everybody has a different district, and they have different values and so on. I did think this was a bi-partisan bill that was statewide, and there were a lot of people on board, but I sort of found out differently the hard way,” Raper said.
Raper believes there are two reasons why the bill did not advance any further than it did.
“I would say the fiscal note is still really high. We reduced it from three-quarters of a billion dollars to a quarter of a billion dollars, and that was recurring money. I actually thought it was going to be lower than that, but it wasn’t,” Raper said.
He also believes the Tennessee school voucher bill is the top priority as it relates to education in the state.
Despite the subcommittee’s decision, Raper is going to continue to fight for free breakfast and lunch for all students.
“That doesn’t mean, if I am re-elected that I will not try to bring it right back again. It’s going to be a passion of mine until I am about to make it brighter in the state of Tennessee, but my ultimate goal is to get every public school student fed in the United States,” Raper said.
