Child Nutrition Act Down to the Wire

From the NY Coalition for Healthy School Food:

CNR - Update & PLEASE make one more call!

Thanks to Kristen Mancinelli, MS, RD from NYC FOR CNR, of which New York Coalition for Healthy School Food is a member, for this update: 

I wanted to share the latest update on CNR. There was an hour debate in the House on 3307 (the Child Nutrition Reauthorization) this afternoon. Republicans generally criticized the bill for increasing government spending, and Democrats generally supported it for improving nutrition and programs for kids. There were mentions of the SNAP (food stamp program) offset from both sides: Representative McGovern said he'd work with the Administration to replace the funds, and there was criticism from the Republican side that the SNAP extension itself, and thus the portion of it used in 3307, was "borrowed money". A number of members spoke of specific provisions in the bill. You can watch the debate in archive video at this link http://houselive.gov/.

Republicans were allowed one amendment, and Representative Kline proposed a change to the section on the Child and Adult Care Food Program requiring background checks for child care workers providing meals. Because any change to the bill would require it go back to the Senate, this move was intended to prevent the bill from passage. (This is technically called a "Motion to Recommit", or MTR, meaning 'recommit' the bill to committee.)

As a result of the MTR, Leadership postponed the vote on 3307 until tomorrow (Thursday), with a plan described in House Majority Leader Hoyer's statement: "We will complete action on the Child Nutrition bill tomorrow. We will bring up the Republican motion to recommit as a stand alone suspension bill. After that vote, we will return to the Child Nutrition bill where we left off, voting on the motion to recommit and final passage. This will allow a good, bipartisan bill to reach the President's desk without delay."

There remains no "plan" to restore SNAP funds in the lame duck session, as many groups are calling for. The SNAP offset is the major reason that, as of voting time, Representative Clarke and many members of the NY delegation were undecided. (Note from NYCHSF - please let your Representative know that we want the bill to pass, but also want the funding restored to SNAP). You can find their contact info here. 

I left off Kristen's closing which was directed to the member groups of NYC for CNR. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Thanks for making the very important last minute calls!

Amie Hamlin

Executive Director