2014 MN Senate debate: on Welfare & Poverty

Heather Johnson: Regulate but advocate for independent charity

I advocate for independent charity and small business and recognize that government's only role within business and charity is to mediate and dispense justice in the event that a crime of fraud, force, or coercion occurs.

Al Franken: Pay in full for school lunches instead of partly subsidizing

Franken on Monday ate lunch with the kindergartners at Meadow Lake Elementary School in Brooklyn Park, to bring attention to the significance of subsidized lunches. Nearly 8 in 10 students at Meadow Lake come from lower-income families who qualify for free or reduced lunches. "Kids who haven't eaten at lunch don't do as well in school. This is wrong," Franken said.

Under the current rules, children from families with incomes below $30,615 for a family of 4 are eligible for free meals; those with incomes below $43,568 for a family of 4 are eligible for reduced-price meals.

Franken is re-introducing legislation, the Expand School Meals Act, to pay the rest of the cost for those students who only qualify for the reduced-price meals. The senator introduced the legislation in 2009 and 2010, but it went nowhere.

Mike McFadden: Let states decide school lunch payments, not feds

Under the current rules, children from families with incomes below $30,615 for a family of 4 are eligible for free meals; those with incomes below $43,568 for a family of 4 are eligible for reduced-price meals. Franken is re-introducing legislation, the Expand School Meals Act, to pay the rest of the cost for those students who only qualify for the reduced-price meals.

Businessman Mike McFadden said the matter of paying for school lunches should be left to the states to handle. The Minnesota House did, in fact, vote last week to set aside $3.5 million a year to cover the cost of reduced-price lunches.