In anticipation of the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, a number of 'marker' bills have been introduced. Marker bills introduce certain issues into the larger debate and serve as placeholders for the larger bill. The more sponsors and cosponsors for a marker bill, the greater the legislative support for the specific measures the bill represents, which gives some indication whether those measures will be included in the final bill.
In the case of the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, these bills can be roughly divided into three groups: bills that address the nutritional value of food served in school, bills that reduce the administrative burden of the school food programs, and bills that increase the number of children that are eligible to receive school meals.
More Nutritious School Food
Healthy Schools Campaign's primary goal for the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act is to see increased funding directed towards the quality of meals served at schools. Below, we’ve listed the current bills that address the nutritional value of food served in schools.
| Bill Number and Title |
Information |
Committee Assignment |
S.934 - Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act: 4/30/2009 |
Senate version of H.R.1324. Amends the CNA by updating the national school nutrition standards for foods and beverages sold outside of meals. |
Agriculture Committee |
H.R.1324 - Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act: 3/5/2009 |
House version of S. 934. Amends the CNA by updating the national school nutrition standards for foods and beverages sold outside of meals. |
Education Committee |
H.R.2322 - Healthy Food Choices for Kids Act: 5/7/2009 |
Establishes a pilot program to post nutritional content information regarding foods served at schools and to teach students how to make healthy food selections. |
Education Committee |
S.1500 - A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to prohibit schools that participate in the Federal school meal programs from serving foods that contain trans fats derived from partially hydrogenated oils: 7/22/2009 |
Prohibits schools that participate in the Federal School Meal program from serving foods that contain trans fats, and calls for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be given authority to regulate all food in public schools. |
Agriculture Committee |
S.1650 - A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve the purchase and processing of healthful commodities for use in school meal programs: 9/8/2009 |
The Department of Agriculture will develop and provide state departments of education and agriculture with model product specifications and practices for foods offered in school nutrition programs to ensure that the foods reflect the most recent Dietary Guidelines. Also, the department will study and make recommendations on the nutritional information available to school food authorities. |
Agriculture Committee |
Increasing Efficiency and Reducing Administration
Currently, 10 percent of the federal reimbursement for school lunches goes toward administration and oversight of the program. Healthy Schools Campaign supports bills that aim to reduce this cost by increasing efficiency and reducing administration. If the school food programs create less administrative burden, schools can use their funding to purchase higher quality food. Some current bills that address these concerns are listed below.
| Bill Number and Title |
Information |
Committee Assignment |
H.R.2803 -Paperless Enrollment for School Meals Act of 2009: 6/10/2009 |
House version of S.1226. Paperless enrollment for school food programs. Schools are reimbursed based on an estimate derived from data such as welfare or tax info. |
Education Committee |
H.R.2690 - School Meal Enhancement Act of 2009: 6/3/2009 |
School-wide paperless free meals at selected schools where at least 65 percent are estimated to be eligible under current guidelines |
Education Committee |
S.1226 - Paperless Enrollment for School Meals Act of 2009: 6/10/2009 |
Senate version of H.R. 2803. Paperless enrollment for school food programs - schools are reimbursed based on an estimate derived from data such as welfare or tax info. |
Agriculture Committee |
S.1293 - Enhancing Child Health with Automatic School Meal Enrollment Act of 2009: 6/18/2009 |
Improves the automatic enrollment procedures of school food programs, direct certification requiring states to automatically enroll eligible children.. |
Agriculture Committee |
| H.R. 4148 - Hunger Free Schools Act: 11/19/2009 |
House version of S. 1343. Improves and expands direct certification for school food programs, requiring schools to utilize Medicaid and SCHIP data to directly certify students. |
Education and Commerce Committees |
S.1343 - Hunger Free Schools Act: 6/24/2009 |
Senate version of H.R. Improves and expands direct certification for school food programs, requiring
schools to utilize Medicaid and SCHIP data to directly certify students. |
Agriculture Committee |
Expanding Eligibility
Healthy Schools Campaign supports the expansion of the School Meal program. We believe all children have the right to healthy school meals. Several bills have been introduced that expand the eligibility of children to receive free and reduced priced breakfast and lunch. Some current bills that increase eligibility are listed below.
| Bill Number and Title |
Information |
Committee Assignment |
S.1480 - Student Breakfast and Education Improvement Act of 2009: 7/21/2009 |
Amends the Child Nutrition Act through grants to expand school breakfast programs |
Agriculture Committee |
H.R.3277 - To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to establish a program to improve the health and education of children through grants to expand school breakfast programs, and for other purposes: 7/21/2009 |
Expands the school breakfast program. |
Education Committee |
S.1499 - A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to expand eligibility for free school meals to certain families in areas with greater than fair market rent: 7/22/2009 |
Expands eligibility for free school meals to families in areas with greater than fair market rent. |
Agriculture Committee |
| H.R. 4325 - To establish a grant program to assist schools in establishing a universal free classroom breakfast program: 12/15/2009 |
To establish a grant program through the USDA to assist schools to serve low-income students
breakfast in the classroom. The grants would be provided to assist with start-up costs, training, and equipment purchasing. |
Education Committee |
| S. 1737 - Expand School Meals Act of 2009: 10/1/2009 |
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to increase the number of children eligible for free school meals, with a phased-in transition period. |
Agriculture Committee |
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