Gillibrand wants to make free meal program permanent
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand wants to make free school food program permanent.
Posted: May 12, 2021 6:12 PM
Updated: May 12, 2021 6:27 PM
Posted By: Gary Liberatore
Utica, N.Y. - The USDA recently extended the free lunch program for all students through June 30, 2022, due to COVID, but Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand wants to make the program permanent.
Gillibrand is pushing her Universal School Meals Program Act of 2021 to be part of the the upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization currently being negotiated by the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Every five years, Child Nutrition Reauthorization provides Congress with an opportunity to improve and strengthen the child nutrition and school meal programs and Gillibrand is hoping to have her legislation included in that upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization later this year.
American Heart Association
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May 11, 2021 – Senators Bernie Sanders and Kirsten Gillibrand and Representatives Ilhan Omar and Gwen Moore yesterday introduced the Universal School Meals Program Act, legislation to provide universal meals for all children enrolled in school. This bill would provide free breakfast and lunch to students regardless of their family’s income level, negating the need to apply or verify eligibility for school food programs and making it easier for programs to continue to feed children throughout the year.
The American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary organization focused on heart and brain health, issued the following statement in support of the bill:
Getty/Tasos Katopodis
The bill would make permanent the expansion of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
3 million college students rely on SNAP benefits, which supplement food budgets of low-income families.
Last week, Democrats introduced a bill to make the pandemic-era policy of free school lunches for all kids grades K-12 permanent. Now they want to extend the pandemic-era food benefits that apply to college students, as well.
On Tuesday, a group of lawmakers, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, introduced the Student Food Security Act of 2021, which addresses food insecurity on college campuses by making the pandemic expansion of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) permanent, along with pushing the government and states to take a more proactive role in combatting food insecurity.
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren want to make pandemic-era food benefits for college students permanent asheffey@businessinsider.com (Ayelet Sheffey)
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren introduced a bill to fight food insecurity on college campuses.
The bill would make permanent the expansion of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
3 million college students rely on SNAP benefits, which supplement food budgets of low-income families.
Last week, Democrats introduced a bill to make the pandemic-era policy of free school lunches for all kids grades K-12 permanent. Now they want to extend the pandemic-era food benefits that apply to college students, as well.
On Tuesday, a group of lawmakers, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, introduced the Student Food Security Act of 2021, which addresses food insecurity on college campuses by making the pandemic expansion of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance P