Indefinitely postponed
Adopt the Hunger-Free Schools Act ↗
| Sponsor | Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh (District 6) (Introduced 01/09/2025) |
|---|---|
| Sponsor Ranking | The Nebraska Legislature is officially nonpartisan, and no published ideology measurement of its members is in our database - so none is shown. This page shows how members voted, never where anyone places them. |
| KJV verdict | PASS · 2 grounds ↓ |
| Committees | Education |
| Latest Action | 04/17/2026 Indefinitely postponed |
| Roll Call Votes | There have been no roll call votes |
| Source | view on nebraskalegislature.gov (new tab) → |
Brief (4)
If it passes, what changes
This bill creates a new state program requiring public and nonprofit private schools to serve free breakfast and lunch to all students.
- §1 names §§1-7 the "Hunger-Free Schools Act."
- §3 defines terms like "qualified school," "eligible breakfast/lunch," and "federal reimbursement rate."
- §4 creates the Hunger-Free Schools Program, requiring qualified schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students.
- §4 requires schools with an identified student percentage of 62.5% or more to adopt the community eligibility provision.
- §5 requires the Department of Education to reimburse schools annually for costs, including 30 cents per reduced-price breakfast and 40 cents per reduced-price lunch.
- §7 repeals the original §79-10,137, and §8 outright repeals §§79-10,138 and 79-10,139.
Does it do what it claims
The title and operative sections match: the bill does what its title says, creating a hunger-free schools program and eliminating the old breakfast reimbursement scheme.
- The title says it will "eliminate provisions relating to reimbursement for school breakfast programs" -- §7 and §8 repeal the prior statutes.
- The title says it will "restate legislative findings and state legislative intent" -- §2 amends §79-10,137 with new findings and intent language.
- The title says it gives powers and duties to the Department and State Board -- §5 assigns reimbursement duties to the Department, §6 gives rulemaking power to the Board.
- The bill does not itself appropriate money; §6 only states legislative "intent" to appropriate from the General Fund.
The case each way
The disagreement centers on whether promising free meals for all students without a funded appropriation is a real commitment or an unfunded mandate.
- For: §4 gives every student a concrete entitlement to free breakfast and lunch, addressing hunger directly.
- For: §5 sets specific reimbursement amounts (30 and 40 cents, plus rate differentials) so schools are not simply told to absorb costs.
- Against: §6(3) only states "intent" to appropriate money -- the act itself contains no appropriation.
- Against: §4 requires schools to adopt the community eligibility provision above a threshold, which is a mandate on local decision-making.
What the text cannot settle
The text describes the mechanism but leaves the actual money and enforcement to later action.
- No dollar total or appropriation amount appears anywhere in §§1-8.
- §5's reimbursement is paid for costs from "the second preceding school fiscal year," leaving the first two years' funding source unclear from the text.
- §6(2) leaves rulemaking largely to the State Board of Education's discretion, with no limits stated.
- The bill does not state what happens if the Legislature does not appropriate money as intended in §6(3).
Written by claude-sonnet-5 from the Introduced of this bill on 2026-09-13, and from nothing else. It is a reading, not a source: bullets naming a section this bill does not contain are dropped before the page is built, but the prose is not otherwise checked. The verdict above does not come from it.
KJV verdict (2)
PASS — Aligns with the KJV
The bill's operative sections require schools to feed every student breakfast and lunch at no cost and pay the schools back for doing it. Scripture commands opening the hand to the poor and giving the needy food, and nothing this bill enacts does what the standard forbids.
2 grounds: 0 FAIL, 2 PASS. Any FAIL fails the bill.
PASS Sec. 4(1)
“Offer eligible breakfasts and eligible lunches at no cost to all students”
“If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.”Deuteronomy 15:7-11
“He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.”Proverbs 14:31
“He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.”Deuteronomy 10:18-19
The standard commands opening the hand wide to the poor and giving food to those in need; feeding every child during the school day does this and shuts the hand from no one.
PASS Sec. 5
“reimburse each qualified school a portion of the cost of each eligible breakfast and each eligible lunch served”
“Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.”Proverbs 31:8-9
“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”Micah 6:8
The state pays for the meals it requires rather than leaving the burden on the schools, which is doing justly and pleading the cause of the needy in deed rather than in words only.
Read against the KJV standard from the Introduced text on 2026-09-13. Every quotation of the bill is checked against the bill's text and every verse is quoted from the 1769 text, not from the model.
Text (1)
- Introduced (new tab) (application/pdf)
Each link opens the legislature's own document.
All Actions (11)
| Date | Actor | All Actions |
|---|---|---|
| 04/17/2026 | Indefinitely postponed | |
| 02/18/2026 | Spivey name added | |
| 01/07/2026 | Title printed. Carryover bill | |
| 03/11/2025 | Cavanaugh, M. AM483 filed | |
| 02/24/2025 | Cavanaugh, M. AM321 filed | |
| 02/18/2025 | Notice of hearing for February 25, 2025 | |
| 01/14/2025 | Raybould name added | |
| 01/14/2025 | Conrad name added | |
| 01/13/2025 | Referred to Education Committee | |
| 01/10/2025 | Hunt name added | |
| 01/09/2025 | Date of introduction |
Votes (0)
There have been no roll call votes on this bill.
Sponsors (5)
- Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh [District 6] — primary sponsor
- Sen. Ashlei Spivey [District 13] — cosponsor (02/18/2026)
- Sen. Jane Raybould [District 28] — cosponsor (01/14/2025)
- Sen. Danielle Conrad [District 46] — cosponsor (01/14/2025)
- Sen. Megan Hunt [District 8] — cosponsor (01/10/2025)
Committees (1)
| Committee | Activity | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Education | Referred | 01/13/2025 |
Amendments (2)
Fiscal Notes & Statements (2)
The legislature's own companion documents; each link opens the official copy.
Related Bills (0)
No related bill information was received.
How this was worked out (1)
1. What was read
| version | Introduced |
| file | 01-introduced.pdf |
| sha256 | 10e1627c3a3be0f84011ff580a5af751 |
| characters | 8,626 |
2. What it was read against
| the standard | bills/kjv_prompt.txt, sha256 79671b42553a40fe28a8ac9c8ce9e60a |
| model | claude-fable-5-1 |
| read on | 2026-09-13 |
| the model was shown | the standard -- the verses of the 1769 text, quoted in full -- and the bill's words, and nothing else |
3. The grounds (2)
| PASS | |
|---|---|
| PASS | Sec. 4(1)
“If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.” Deuteronomy 15:7-11 “He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.” Proverbs 14:31 “He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Deuteronomy 10:18-19 The standard commands opening the hand wide to the poor and giving food to those in need; feeding every child during the school day does this and shuts the hand from no one. |
| PASS | Sec. 5
“Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 31:8-9 “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:8 The state pays for the meals it requires rather than leaving the burden on the schools, which is doing justly and pleading the cause of the needy in deed rather than in words only. |
4. How the verdict follows
| FAIL grounds | 0 |
| PASS grounds | 2 |
| the rule | any FAIL ground fails the bill -- even one, even beside good provisions (1 Corinthians 5:6), even for a good end (Romans 3:8); PASS grounds alone pass it; no grounds, no verdict. No counting, no weighing, nothing added up. |
| verdict | PASS — Aligns with the KJV |
5. What this cannot tell you
Every ground above quotes the bill and quotes the verse, so each can be checked. What the model did not raise cannot be checked the same way: a provision it passed over looks exactly like one that is not there. How often a ground is wrong, and how often one is missing, are not known.
Bill data comes from the Nebraska Legislature's own website, scraped and stored by our own pipeline; titles, sponsors, actions and vote tallies are shown as the Legislature published them. Nothing is generated. Nebraska's Legislature is unicameral and officially nonpartisan; its members carry no party label here because they carry none there. No published ideology measurement is in our database, so no bill or member on this site is placed on a left-right axis: every meter is a roll-call tally, labeled (Vote Record).