MAZPEPPA, Minn. – In the Minnesota Senate debate over state-funded free school meals, Steve Drazkowski was adamantly opposed: “I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry.” Freelance news reporter Aaron Rupor posted Drakowski’s line on Twitter. It went viral – 6.5 million hits in the next three days. Suddenly Drazkowski was a national poster child for uninformed callous money-pinching Republican conservatism. Responded one wag: “Nobody’s hungry in Minnesota? Draz should get out more.” Regardless, the legislation, providing $164 million a year for school breakfasts and lunches, passed the Senate 38-26. Within a week it was signed into law by Democratic Governor Tim Walz. In the meantime, Drazkowski was a lightning rod for criticism. In his hometown, Mazeppa, population 890 in southeast Minnesota, school Superintendent Michael Harvey was incredulous: “I would challenge the senator to look into the eye of a first- or second-grader and explain to them why they feel hungry and why he thinks that’s OK.” Harvey elaborated: “We know that if kids are hungry, they can’t learn. We know if we can’t feed these kids, how are we going to educate them?” Other reaction:
> Senator Heather Gustafson, D-Vadnais Heights, sponsor of the meals legislation, said that in fact nearly 275,000 Minnesota K-12 students are on free or discounted meals under an existing federal program. Roughly one in six are “food insecure,” she said. “They don’t know when their next meal will be available. I’m a mom. I have four kids. There are a lot of years that we couldn’t afford much. Feeding kids at school is the right thing to do. Being hungry makes learning almost impossible. There is no worksheet or assignment, test or project that will matter to a student who hasn’t had anything to eat.” Gustafson said that parents with two children would save more than $1,800 a year through the proposed state meals plan.
> Senator Zach Duckworth, a Lakeville Republican who supported the free-meals legislation, allowed Drazkowski some space and put the issue his way: “What we don’t have here is a disagreement that there is a need that should be served. What we do potentially have a disagreement about is how to go about doing that,” he said.
As backlash swelled, Drazkowski’s receptionist shielded him from inquiries from Capitol reporters. He did issue a couple of written statements in attempts to explain his his position on school meals.
Drazkowski. Sees government funding of meals for school children as creeping socialism in. And who’s hungry anyway.
Drazkowski profile
Grew up on a family beef and crop farm at Bluff Siding, Wisconsin, across the Mississippi River from Winona. He graduated from Cochrane-Fountain City High School in 1983. Earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture, from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 1989. Has been a regional extension agriculture educator for Wabasha County. First elected to Minnesota House in 2006 and to the Senate in 2022. His Senate District 20 lapses into Goodhue. Wabasha and Winona counties. He consistently has been elected and reelected by large margins. For the state Senate in 2022, he defeated Democrat Bradley Drenckhahn 61% to 38%. In the Senate district, 10.1% of children fall below the federal poverty line in Winona County, 8.5% in Wabasha County, and 13.3% in Goodhue County.
Winona connection
Drazkowski operates a gift shop in Mazeppa. He also owns Baker Shoes in downtown Winona, a business he inherited. He commutes 45 miles from Mazeppa to Winona to staff the shoe shop most Saturdays.
Verbatim
Drazkowski in Senate floor debate: “I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry. I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that says they don’t have access to enough food to eat. I should say that hunger is a relative term. I had a cereal bar for breakfast. I guess I’m hungry now.”
Verbatim
Drazkowski, in amfurther explanation of his opposition: “This is nothing more than A socialist effort to make Minnesotans dependent upon government. Minnesota’s socialist party doesn’t want our citizens to aspire to personal responsibility for themselves or their families. They want them all enrolled in government.”
Verbatim
Drazkowski, in further walking back his original comments: “Minnesota already has numerous resources to help kids and families get food on their tables and in their lunch boxes. Volunteers and non-profits are already stepping up at hundreds of food shelves around our state to meet the needs of their own communities. We live in a time in history where we have the safest, cheapest and most abundant food supply in the history of the world. The number of government programs already in place to make certain that kids and adults have food in our state is many. Every kid in school that wants breakfast or lunch gets it. Currently that means that 40% of the population of kids who qualify for Medicaid, and whose families are up to 200% of federal poverty guidelines, gets school breakfast and lunch. Every family that qualifies for the generous taxpayer-funded food-bearing EBT cards gets them. These are just some of the reasons that kids are not going hungry.”
Earlier: Soon the law: Free school meals for kids
Earlier: Free school meals bill now to Walz