07/27/2022
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๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ & ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ซ๐ ๐พ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ช๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ง๐ค๐๐ง๐๐ข๐จ
๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ: ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐๐ธ๐ช๐ง๐ต ๐๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ธ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐๐ถ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ด, ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ด, ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐๐
Hunger Solutions New York applauds the newly introduced Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act, a comprehensive Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) bill encompassing many of our top priorities for strengthening child nutrition programs, including key flexibilities and investments that proved successful during the pandemic. CNR is the primary opportunity for legislative improvements to the federal child nutrition programs, including school meals, summer meals, CACFP, and WIC. The CNR package introduced in the House Education and Labor Committee last week would be the first reauthorization since the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act in 2010. It comes at a pivotal time, following two years of unprecedented demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, and as many families face a looming hunger cliff in the months ahead.
This bill would dramatically expand access to healthy meals for New Yorkโs children. Among many other impactful provisions, the bill would:
โข ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), including by establishing a statewide CEP option that could allow New York to provide healthy school meals for all students at little or no additional cost to the state, extending access to free school meals to approximately 800,000 additional students. Other provisions expanding eligibility for CEP and increasing the provisionโs reimbursement multiplier would expand CEP participation to approximately 590 new schools across the state, and bring additional funds to more than 670 currently participating schools.
โข ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ช๐๐ ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ to a childโs sixth birthday or their first day of full-day kindergarten, and extend WIC certification periods to two years to enhance maternal nutrition and support for new parents. Every dollar spent on WIC returns more than double its investment, demonstrating the power of early nutrition intervention and tailored support.
โข ๐ ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ช๐๐ by permanently relaxing physical presence regulations, allowing clinics to offer remote services, certification options, and benefit issuance. The bill also modernizes the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program and eases regulatory barriers to online shopping options. These changes will bridge nutrition gaps during critical years of growth and development and help WIC reach more eligible New Yorkers, only about half of whom currently participate.
โข ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ง ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ that would provide $75/month in food benefits to approximately 2.5 million eligible children in New York during the summer break from school, when kids lose access to healthy school breakfast and lunch.
โข ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ by adjusting the area eligibility threshold from 50% to 40% of children qualifying for free or reduced-price school meals, allowing more communities to operate sites, especially in rural areas. Pre-pandemic, only 1 in 4 of New Yorkโs low-income children had access to traditional summer meal programs; expanding site eligibility and providing summer EBT benefits will help close the summer nutrition gap and ensure kids are ready to learn when they return to school in the fall.
โข ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐โ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ through CACFP for children in full-day care, so our youngest children have the complete nutrition they need to grow and thrive.
We commend advocates in our state and across the country for their tireless work to advance these provisions. We also extend our deepest gratitude to New Yorkโs legislative champions, including Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, whose Summer Meals Act and MODERN WIC Act informed important provisions in the bill, and New Yorkโs House Education and Labor Committee members who cosponsored key marker bills, including Committee Vice Chair Jamaal Bowman, Representative Joseph Morelle, Representative Mondaire Jones, and Representative Adriano Espaillat.
๐๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ค๐ก๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ค๐ง๐ ๐ช๐ง๐๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ช๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ง ๐พ๐ค๐ข๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฆ๐ช๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐๐จ๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ก๐ก ๐จ๐ค ๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ข๐ค๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐จ๐ ๐๐ก๐ค๐ค๐ง.
Urge your House Representative to support the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act.
Take Action Now
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ก๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Ongoing budget reconciliation negotiations provide another opportunity for much-needed investments in child nutrition programs, including actions to avert a fast-approaching hunger cliff at the start of the school year, when waivers allowing school meals for all students at no charge are set to expire. While we commend the recently-passed Keep Kids Fed Act which extended key waivers through the summer and provided more limited support for the upcoming school year, we need Congress to finish the job to ensure children have continued access to healthy meals in the year ahead. The budget reconciliation must:
โข Extend USDAโs authority to issue waivers allowing schools to offer meals to all students at no charge during the 2022-2023 school year.
โข Expand eligibility for the Community Eligibility Provision, increase its reimbursement multiplier to make participation financially viable for more schools, and establish a statewide CEP option.
โข Establish a nationwide Summer EBT program to support childrenโs access to healthy food over the summer break from school.
๐๐ ๐ช๐ง๐๐ ๐พ๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ค๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ฃโ๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐จ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ๐ ๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ค๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฆ๐ช๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ช๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ช๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ฉ๐๐ฎ ๐ข๐๐๐ก๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐๐๐ค๐ค๐ก ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ก.
Urge our Senators to prioritize child nutrition in budget reconciliation.
Take Action Now
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The Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act would be a gamechanger for NYโs children, expanding access to #SchoolMeals, #SummerMeals, #WIC, and #CACFP, critical programs that reduce hunger, improve health & support learning. Urge Congress to quickly pass the bill: https://ctt.ec/yLTei+
NY kids face a hunger cliff at the start of the school year, when #HealthySchoolMealsForAll waivers are set to expire. Congress must extend #FreeSchoolMeals for the 22-23SY and expand #CEP & #SummerEBT in budget reconciliation. Contact your Senators: https://ctt.ec/F7e40+
