The Arkansas House committee advanced a bill passed by the Senate that will set aside money from taxes on medical marijuana to provide free breakfast to students.
SB 59 would add to federal funds for free or reduced-price meals money collected from cannabis taxes, private donations, and the general fund of the state.
Zack Gramlich’s (R), co-sponsor and a former teacher, told a House Education Committee hearing that Tuesday, “One out of four Arkansan Children struggle with Hunger.” The measure was advanced on voice vote following the adoption of a technical modification.
Gramlich said that 64 percent of the students in the state are eligible for reduced or free meals. Gramlich noted that the figure at the school where his work is located “is in the upper 80s and used to be higher than 90 percent.”
I see food insecurity every day in my school. “I don’t think I know any teacher that doesn’t have crackers, fruits, or other snacks on hand for the children.” he added. He continued: “Because, if the child is not hungry, he will be unable to concentrate.”
Rep. Hope Duke, a Republican lawmaker from Virginia, was one of the legislators who voiced reservations regarding this bill.
“Obviously feeding children is a really important thing,” she said, “but we also come down here with beliefs, with things that our voters have kind of elected us—values [they] We have chosen to stand with.”
Duke stated that the bill causes her concern not for feeding children, but rather because it is a concern about the Cost Feeding children is important.
She told her colleagues, “It is a bit difficult for me to request that some other members of this constituency pay for these particular students.”
This legislation will provide free meals for students, regardless of whether they are eligible to receive food at a reduced price or for free under federal law. Some advocates have stated that stigma prevents some families from taking part in these programs, which leaves children hungry.
Last week the state Senate passed the bill on a 26–2 vote, days after the Senate Education Committee approved it unanimously.
Governor Brown’s endorsement of SB 59 last month was the catalyst for its advancement. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican who spoke at the State of the State Address in January 2017, previewed the proposed bill. Sanders is a former Trump press secretary who has always opposed cannabis reform.
In her speech, she stated that using medical marijuana funds will make the program sustainable for several years.
Ahead of November’s election, Sanders opposed a ballot initiative that would have expanded Arkansas’s medical marijuana program that was ultimately shuttered by the state Supreme Court.
A survey found that a majority of likely voters in Arkansas were in favor of the initiative.
Sanders, despite her objection to the proposed reform, appears to be open to modest changes and the continuation of the current medical cannabis program. For example, in 2023 she signed a bill into law clarifying that medical marijuana patients can obtain concealed carry licenses for firearms despite federal law still prohibiting cannabis users from possessing guns.
The state’s medical marijuana has proved popular since its implementation in 2019, with officials announcing last May that at least 102,000 residents have registered for patient cards, exceeding expectations.
However, Arkansas voters defeated a ballot initiative to more broadly legalize marijuana for adults in 2022.
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Philip Steffan is the photographer.