Bill requiring proof of income for free lunches passes key hurdle

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Update Feb. 3: The bill moved to the next step on Tuesday -- it’s headed for a vote in the Kansas Senate.

“Even among the opponents to this bill, they recognize that we have a challenge and an issue around the funding overpayments,” senator Doug Shane said. “So there’s a general acknowledgement that that is an issue.”

The bill passed out of committee voting, but not without some changes. Shane said schools would not have to verify all applications, because there are some direct qualifiers.

Only parents who don’t automatically qualify would need to have their incomes verified.

Lawmakers said their intention is not to take lunches away from students but to clean up the program to make sure it works efficiently.

Another change the bill received is that all students who currently qualify for reduced lunch will have access to reduced breakfast as well.

The bill now goes to the Senate floor for a final vote at the Statehouse.

Kansas lawmakers introduced a bill in the senate that would require parents to provide proof of income for their child to qualify for free or reduced school lunches.

Local public school leaders in Wichita say it would be impossible for them to comply with the bill’s requirements.

“It’s not possible for a district our size,” said Vicki Schumacher with Nutrition Services at Wichita Public Schools. “We cannot, according to USDA guidelines, verify more than 3,000 applications.”

Schumacher says the USDA requires them to verify applications within the first 10 days of the school year, making the proof of income requirements impossible.

She said these applications would only increase following cuts to SNAP in the 2025 federal spending bill. She says the number of free and reduced applications they receive will go up.

“The daily work would increase exponentially, my office would turn into an auditing firm, we would have to hire more staff, train more staff,” Schumacher said.

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Some Wichita students shared that their families rely on free or reduced school lunches.

“My parents don’t have to pay for lunch,” one student said.

“It feels like they’re doing this to force us to pay money to eat,” another student said.

Schumacher explained that legislators believe there is fraud involved with free lunch applications. She says there are other ways to solve the problem other than verifying every application.

“Fraud is not the intent when people don’t fill out the applications exactly correctly,” she said. “There is no reason to look at doing 100%. Maybe increase the percentage a small amount.”

Schumacher says even if they can’t verify all of the applications, Wichita children will not go without food. This means the end result is that the school district will take a financial hit.

“Hungry kids cannot excel in school. Kids need to eat. Meal payment is an adult problem, not a kid problem, and we’re going to feed children regardless,” she said.

Public testimony was heard last week by the Committee on Government Efficiency. Now, legislators will decide whether to pass the bill out of committee.