NORFOLK, Va. — A bill extending school meal waivers is headed to President Biden's desk. It hopes to continue free or reduced-cost meals for public education students.
“We have found that for a lot of children, the school lunch is the most nutritious meal of the day," Representative Bobby Scott said.
Without it this summer, millions of kids across the nation could go hungry. That alone is why Congressman Bobby Scott, the chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, sponsored a bill to extend pandemic school meal waivers that were set to expire June 30.
“Children were not in school and we needed waivers to make sure that the school systems could feed children whether they’re in school or not and during the summer, flexibility so that everyone could be fed,” he said.
The Keep Kids Fed Act will continue to provide meals for students amid rising food costs and supply chain issues.
Scott said if they didn’t pass the bill, about 1,000 feeding centers in Virginia wouldn’t be able to operate.
“We’re talking sites like Boys and Girls Clubs and others where children come and participate in activities," he said. "Some can grab-and-go.”
Scotts said child hunger dropped significantly, and he doesn’t want those figures to change.
“It won’t end child hunger, obviously, but it will prevent a lot of children from going hungry this summer.”
A spokesperson for Newport News Public Schools said in a statement,
Newport News Public Schools is reviewing the bill. The school division is supportive of any and all efforts to ensure that our students have access to nutritious meals during out-of-school time.
Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine both applaud the Senate for passing the legislation.
“Parents across Virginia are facing higher costs across the board – the last thing they need right now is to lose the commonsense flexibilities that have made it easier for them to keep their kids fed," they said in a joint statement.
"We’re very proud to have voted to pass bipartisan legislation that will extend these flexibilities and help keep food insecurity at bay. We hope that the House will pass this bill expeditiously and send it to the President’s desk for approval."
The Keep Kids Fed Act will:
- Extend flexibilities for summer meals in 2022 by waiving area eligibility so summer providers can serve all children for free and continuing options like meal delivery and grab-and-go.
- Extend some of the administrative and paperwork flexibilities for schools through the 2022-23 school year.
- Allow students with a family income at or below 185% of poverty level to qualify for free or reduced-cost meals for the 2022-23 school year.
- Increase the reimbursement rate for school lunch and school breakfast to help offset the increased cost of food and operating expenses. Schools will receive an additional 40 cents for each lunch and 15 cents for each breakfast served.
- Provide an additional 10 cents per meal or snack for Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) daycares and home providers, and expand eligibility to more providers. When combined, these actions will help offset increase costs for providers.