(NAFB) – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, the Chairman of the Senate Ag Committee, has unveiled the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, a bipartisan fiscally responsible bill making the largest investment in federal child nutrition programs to date – 4.5 billion dollars over ten years. The legislation aims to ensure all children eligible for nutrition programs are actually participating, improve the quality of meal benefits, and modernize and improve the integrity of the programs. Lincoln points out – the legislation is fully paid for.
While he likes the general direction of the legislation, the Senate Ag Committee’s Ranking Member, Saxby Chambliss, says – I have concerns with some of the offsets used to fund the measure and look forward to addressing those concerns before the markup next week. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack called the bipartisan announcement – a very positive step forward.
Senator Lincoln says the bill – also invests heavily in new initiatives designed to automatically enroll more eligible low-income children with our National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs and includes a major expansion of afterschool feeding programs. In making the announcement, Lincoln said – this proposal is a monumental step forward as we work to end childhood hunger and address the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States
