Roberts schedules child nutrition markup in September, but conflict looms
July 28, 2015 |05:57 PM
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., announced late Tuesday that the committee will mark up the child nutrition reauthorization bill on September 17.
But the scheduling of the markup to be held only 13 days before the current reauthorization expires signals that reauthorization before expiration is almost impossible.
In addition, Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issued separate statements on their views on reauthorization, particularly of the school meals program.
And the House Education and the Workforce Committee, which has jurisdiction over child nutrition in that chamber, has not announced its plans for a markup.
The bill includes the school meals program, which is controversial because the last reauthorization, the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act dramatically changed school meal rules. The bill also cover the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, and smaller commodity distribution programs.
Roberts said he is working with Stabenow and other committee members “to craft a reauthorization package that increases efficiency, effectiveness, flexibility and integrity.”
“We must reauthorize these programs so children across America can and will have healthy meals available at school. Unfortunately, there are significant error rates and improper payment levels in school meal programs,” Roberts said.
“We need to improve the administration of these programs to reduce errors but do so in a way that does not layer additional federal bureaucracy and overreach on those feeding hungry schoolchildren.”
“I have traveled across Kansas, eating school lunches with students and meeting with nutrition directors. I keep hearing one word over and over again: flexibility. To me, that means we protect the gains already achieved by many school districts and provide assistance to other districts so all students will have healthy, filling meals," he added.
Stabenow said in a statement, "Our children’s health and well-being are at a crossroads that demands our full attention. We must continue moving forward with the nutrition and hunger improvements from the last reauthorization.”
“This year’s bill gives us an opportunity to build on those standards in addition to strengthening after school and summer meals, expanding opportunities for kids to have healthy, local foods, and protecting critical assistance to pregnant mothers and babies through WIC,” Stabenow said.
“Chairman Roberts and I remain committed to getting a responsible reauthorization that prioritizes the needs of our children and families finished before the end of September.”
Vilsack said in an email to The Hagstrom Report, "I'm pleased to see that Congress is moving forward with reauthorizing the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, the nutrition standards from which are being successfully implemented by more than 95 percent of schools.”
“USDA has listened carefully and provided time, flexibility, guidance, and hundreds of millions of dollars in financial support to schools,” Vilsack said. “Kids are eating healthier because of it, and childhood obesity rates are beginning to level off after years of dramatic growth.”
“Kids themselves overwhelmingly approve of the healthier options now available at school, with a recent study from the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Public Health finding that nearly 90 percent of surveyed students like the new menu offerings,” he said.
“With so much at stake for our children's future, It is imperative that we maintain this progress, and not go backward."
But the scheduling of the markup to be held only 13 days before the current reauthorization expires signals that reauthorization before expiration is almost impossible.
In addition, Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issued separate statements on their views on reauthorization, particularly of the school meals program.
And the House Education and the Workforce Committee, which has jurisdiction over child nutrition in that chamber, has not announced its plans for a markup.
The bill includes the school meals program, which is controversial because the last reauthorization, the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act dramatically changed school meal rules. The bill also cover the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, and smaller commodity distribution programs.
Roberts said he is working with Stabenow and other committee members “to craft a reauthorization package that increases efficiency, effectiveness, flexibility and integrity.”
“We must reauthorize these programs so children across America can and will have healthy meals available at school. Unfortunately, there are significant error rates and improper payment levels in school meal programs,” Roberts said.
“We need to improve the administration of these programs to reduce errors but do so in a way that does not layer additional federal bureaucracy and overreach on those feeding hungry schoolchildren.”
“I have traveled across Kansas, eating school lunches with students and meeting with nutrition directors. I keep hearing one word over and over again: flexibility. To me, that means we protect the gains already achieved by many school districts and provide assistance to other districts so all students will have healthy, filling meals," he added.
Stabenow said in a statement, "Our children’s health and well-being are at a crossroads that demands our full attention. We must continue moving forward with the nutrition and hunger improvements from the last reauthorization.”
“This year’s bill gives us an opportunity to build on those standards in addition to strengthening after school and summer meals, expanding opportunities for kids to have healthy, local foods, and protecting critical assistance to pregnant mothers and babies through WIC,” Stabenow said.
“Chairman Roberts and I remain committed to getting a responsible reauthorization that prioritizes the needs of our children and families finished before the end of September.”
Vilsack said in an email to The Hagstrom Report, "I'm pleased to see that Congress is moving forward with reauthorizing the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, the nutrition standards from which are being successfully implemented by more than 95 percent of schools.”
“USDA has listened carefully and provided time, flexibility, guidance, and hundreds of millions of dollars in financial support to schools,” Vilsack said. “Kids are eating healthier because of it, and childhood obesity rates are beginning to level off after years of dramatic growth.”
“Kids themselves overwhelmingly approve of the healthier options now available at school, with a recent study from the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Public Health finding that nearly 90 percent of surveyed students like the new menu offerings,” he said.
“With so much at stake for our children's future, It is imperative that we maintain this progress, and not go backward."
