A Congressional overhaul of child nutrition programs that cost $22 billion a year is now dead, said Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts, who blamed Senate Democrats and objections from the House. House and Senate committees took sharply different directions with their bills, but neither chamber voted on a bill during the congressional session that is in its final days.
“Though our committee passed a good, bipartisan bill,” said Roberts in a statement, “it wasn’t enough for some … It is unfortunate that certain parochial interests and the desire for issues rather than solutions were put ahead of the well-being of vulnerable and at-risk populations and the need for reform.”
The nutrition programs will continue in operation although the 2010 law expired in the fall. One farm lobbyist speculated there might be little action on reauthorization for months because of the wide disagreement over the direction of nutrition programs and the price-tag of legislation. There is no new funding for child nutrition.
The Senate Agriculture Committee bill would expand the summer food program and slow down rules on salt levels and whole grains in meals. The expansion of the summer food program would be offset by more stringent enforcement of eligibility rules for free or reduced-price meals.
By contrast, the House Education Committee, in a starkly partisan bill-drafting session, voted for a three-state test of a block grant for nutrition funding, a higher reimbursement rate for school breakfasts, and a sharp reduction in the Community Eligibility Provision, which allows schools in poor neighborhoods to serve meals for free to all students.
The House bill was viewed as a partisan attack on broadly popular programs with little chance to become law. A group of Tea Party-influenced Republicans on the committee wanted to convert all of the child nutrition programs into a block grant.
“As chairman of the committee, I remain committed to continuing to look for ways to increase integrity within the program and to provide flexibility to local school and summer meal program operators,” said Roberts.
Some 30.5 million children eat a hot meal each day through the school lunch program, the largest of the child nutrition programs. Nearly three-quarters of the meals are provided for free or at a reduced price. The school breakfast program has an average 8.9 million participants while summer food feeds 2.3 million children a day at its peak.