The new bill, dubbed the Support Kids Not Red Tape Act, is a reflection of the mounting outrage that the failure to pass it was.
Following the widespread disruptions caused by COVID, life is beginning to feel normal for some. Many Alaskans are still working to overcome the effects of the Pandemic and many schools are still struggling with supply shortages and higher prices.
McConnell's office declined to comment on the record, but a GOP leadership aide has said that it is no longer necessary to expand access to free school meals or provide more flexibility to administer nutrition programs. The aide blamed the Biden administration for failing to include an extension of the waivers in its formal Covid spending bill request.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he asked House and Senate leaders for the extension of the waivers months earlier and was told schools would get the flexibility for one more year. The waivers were previously extended multiple times.
An OMB official said in a statement that the Administration repeatedly urged lawmakers to extend the program for millions of children. We want Congress to send legislation to the President that will reauthorize this program.
The extension to the Covid spending package is an extremely tall order considering the policy's $11 billion price tag, which would roughly double the size of the Covid, according to leading Democrats in the House and Senate. If that doesn't work, Stabenow will bring the measure up as an amendment when the Senate considers the Covid bill.
The waivers that allowed schools to feed 10 million more children and protect schools from falling out of compliance with the federal meals program were first issued at the start of the Pandemic. Democrats want to force Republicans to vote on the issue and risk political blowback for opposing easier access to meals for vulnerable children.
Stabenow said she welcomed the chance for rank and file Republicans to share their views on school meals, a service both parties typically support.
Stabenow said they are looking at up to 30 million children who will see this.
The first time meals were free for all students, regardless of income, was during the Pandemic. Universal free access will be maintained at least for another year because it requires less paperwork. They get more federal money when they eat.
It is not clear how much of a priority the extension is for Democratic leadership. The leaders of the two chambers agreed earlier this month to advance the spending package without the extension. The issue has not been included in Democratic talking points. Stabenow, the number four Democrat in the Senate, has won support for her proposed fix from every single Democrat in the Senate. The chair of the Senate HELP Committee is a co-sponsor of the Covid aid bill.
The lack of extension is going to be disastrous for students according to local leaders and school nutrition directors.
There is going to be a dramatic loss in summer meals access, starting as early as May, according to the School Nutrition Association.
The Umatilla School District in northeast Oregon is worried about how they will manage without a waiver that allows them to get reimbursed for meals that don't include all the required nutrition components. The flexibility is needed because she frequently orders food that doesn't show up due to supply chain constraints.
They will have a milk truck that arrives without the full order.
If the waivers are not renewed on June 30, Sipe will have to choose between serving a meal that doesn't fulfill the requirements or not serving the meal at all.
We can't afford that loss, but we wouldn't leave a child hungry.
School officials and nutrition directors are not the only ones trying to convince Congress to restore flexibility. The Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger is pushing for the waivers to be extended. The bipartisan group represents nearly 100 mayors from large and small cities in 34 states and the District of Columbia.
John Giles, the Republican mayor of Mesa, Arizona, and the alliance's vice chair, said that the epidemic is not over for America's cities and towns, and any member of Congress who insists otherwise is being arrogant.
Giles said that mayors are in the business of getting things done.
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