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House Passes Child Nutrition Bill, Sends Bill to President

On December 2, the House passed, 264-157, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (S. 3307). The Senate passed the measure on August 5 (see The Source, 8/6/10). The House Education and Labor Committee approved a similar bill, H.R. 5504, in July (see The Source, 7/16/10). The president is expected to sign the measure into law.

The House defeated, 200-221, a motion to recommit by Rep. John Kline (R-MN) to bar institutions that employ convicted sex offenders or fail to perform background checks on child care staff from receiving funding under the bill’s programs. However, the House approved a separate bill (H.R. 6469) that contained these provisions by a vote of 416-3.

The bill would authorize $4.5 billion in new spending over ten years to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Program, as well as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs, among other programs.

Efforts to bring S. 3307 to the House floor for a vote on final passage before the election stalled because it includes a provision to partially offset the bill’s additional spending by reducing funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp program. However, the bill passed with the SNAP offset intact after the administration vowed to find ways to restore the SNAP funding. The House version, H.R. 5504, did not contain such an offset.

The bill would emphasize the role of breastfeeding as part of the WIC program and would require nationwide usage of electronic benefit transfers, shifting from the paper vouchers currently provided to participants.