Congress adjourns without passing school-meals bill

10-18-2010

By Christina A. Samuels/Education Week

Congress adjourned for the November elections without reauthorizing the federal law that controls the nation’s school meals program. But school nutrition and anti-hunger advocates say that delay could be a blessing in disguise. Two competing versions of the Child Nutrition Act were introduced in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, but the Senate version is further along: The proposed $4.5 billion Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, sponsored by Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., was passed by the Senate in August. The House bill passed out of committee but has not been taken up for a vote by the full chamber. ("Bill Aims to Expand the Reach of Federal School Lunch Programs," July 14, 2010.) Some advocates, however, don’t want to pass the Senate measure unchanged because the 10-year bill would offset its proposed spending increases in part by cutting $2.2 billion from food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. (more…)

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Congress adjourns without passing school-meals bill

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