rssHouse Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill
Friday, September 24, 2010 at 9:36 am
- 33 Comments
Soon, the House plans to vote on a sweeping child-nutrition bill. The Senate passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, a deficit-neutral bill providing $4.5 billion to school lunch and other federal child-nutrition programs, in early August. If passed by the House and signed by President Obama, it will be the first time since 1973 that Congress has increased funding for the school lunch programs, beyond corrections for inflation.
The First Lady–supported legislation does a lot of good. It gives the Agriculture Department the ability to regulate the food schools sell in cafeterias and vending machines. It requires schools to offer more fresh fruit and vegetables. And, it automatically qualifies children on Medicaid for free school meals.
But the House and Senate are at a standoff on the legislation, and there are reports of internal White House dissent as well. Why? To pay for the bill, Senate Democrats cut from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, already cut to help pay for the state aid bill. Congress made SNAP benefits more generous in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $787 billion Feb. 2009 stimulus. To pay for the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, the bill cuts those additional benefits.
This has many House members enraged. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), for instance, told the New York Times: “I want to pass a child nutrition bill. I am committed to the first lady’s campaign. I want to be helpful. But I won’t vote for a bill that robs Peter to pay Paul. The White House needs to work with us to find a better way to offset the cost.” More than 100 House Democrats have signed a letter opposing the cuts. Unions and hunger groups, such as the Food Research and Action Center, oppose it as well.
Nevertheless, Congress needs to act soon, as the bill contains funding for several federal programs — including school lunch and breakfast, SNAP, and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) benefits — due to expire on Sept. 30.
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33 Comments
Pingback posted September 24, 2010 @ 10:54 am
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
Pingback posted September 24, 2010 @ 11:04 am
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
Pingback posted September 24, 2010 @ 11:45 am
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill « The Washington Independent [...]
Pingback posted September 24, 2010 @ 12:10 pm
[...] the original post here: House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … Tags: bill-providing, federal, federal-child-nutrition, healthy, hunger-, school-lunch, senate, [...]
Pingback posted September 24, 2010 @ 1:25 pm
[...] child nutrition reauthorization legislation is at hand. The House is expected to vote on the …House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition BillThe Washington IndependentCritics Call Child Nutrition Bill CounterproductiveNPRWhich School Lunch [...]
Pingback posted September 24, 2010 @ 1:42 pm
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
Pingback posted September 24, 2010 @ 2:20 pm
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
Pingback posted September 24, 2010 @ 7:56 pm
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
Pingback posted September 24, 2010 @ 8:21 pm
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
Comment posted September 24, 2010 @ 8:21 pm
It is important for families and communities to come together to promote healthy behaviors in children by improved food choices, increased physical activity.
What people don’t realize is that unhealthy children become unhealthy adults, who are at greater risk of life-long, potentially debilitating illnesses including diabetes and heart disease. Not only can these illnesses lead to a shorter life expectancy, they can lead to increased health-care costs for all of us. That’s why we need to act now to improve the health and well-being of our entire nation.
Every Child Matters: http://www.everychildmatters.org/index.php
Pingback posted September 24, 2010 @ 11:47 pm
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill « The Washington Independent [...]
Pingback posted September 25, 2010 @ 12:33 am
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill « The Washington Independent [...]
Pingback posted September 25, 2010 @ 1:40 am
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition BillThe Washington IndependentSoon, the House plans to vote on a sweeping child-nutrition bill. The Senate passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, …House urged to act on child nutrition billThe PackerWhich School Lunch Bill is Best?TIMESome Obama Allies Fear School Lunch Bill Could Rob Food Stamp ProgramNew York TimesVineland Daily Journal -CQPolitics.com -The Hill (blog)all 21 news articles » [...]
Pingback posted September 25, 2010 @ 1:44 am
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill « The Washington Independent [...]
Pingback posted September 25, 2010 @ 2:34 am
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
Comment posted September 25, 2010 @ 1:47 am
I would rather see healthy food for kids than fat welfare cows loading up on free soda and chips and candy bars. And YES – that is what I see in the grocery stores and convenient stores.
Pingback posted September 25, 2010 @ 5:32 am
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill – The Washington Independent September 24th, 2010 | Author: admin [...]
Pingback posted September 25, 2010 @ 10:35 am
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
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[...] View full post on The Washington Independent [...]
Pingback posted September 26, 2010 @ 3:16 pm
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
Pingback posted September 26, 2010 @ 4:28 pm
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
Pingback posted September 26, 2010 @ 5:11 pm
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
Pingback posted September 26, 2010 @ 5:18 pm
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
Pingback posted September 26, 2010 @ 8:13 pm
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
Pingback posted September 27, 2010 @ 8:55 am
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
Pingback posted September 27, 2010 @ 11:03 am
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
Comment posted September 29, 2010 @ 12:17 am
Fuck you. I have friends with children who are on welfare, and this is going to severely hurt them. I know adults who already skip meals and go hungry in order to make sure their children are fed. Fuck you, and your fucking stereotype bullshit.
Pingback posted September 29, 2010 @ 1:20 pm
[...] House Faced With Cutting Food Stamps for Child Nutrition Bill … [...]
Comment posted October 1, 2010 @ 3:09 am
I would rather see healthy food for kids than fat welfare cows loading up on free soda and chips and candy bars. And YES – that is what I see in the grocery stores and convenient stores.
Comment posted October 1, 2010 @ 6:46 am
For the illegal aliens, it was personified by the young lady who was held up at a massive Mexican Flag waving protest of the immigration law. She was holding a sign saying f….. the immigration law.
Pingback posted October 4, 2010 @ 4:13 pm
[...] Hunger, called "cutting the budget from kids at home to pay for kids in school." In an interview with The Washington Independent earlier this week, Berg described how hard the cuts are going to [...]
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