The Almost-Reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act

It is imperative for students to have access to nourishing meals in order to succeed in the classroom. It is more difficult for a student to focus on their schoolwork if they are hungry, or if they are being fed unhealthy food. The US legislature is trying to put an end to this with the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act. This reauthorization is also known as the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The act is updated every five years and this year major updates to the act include: increasing funding to allow more low-income students eligibility for free or reduced lunch; requiring school food to be more nutritious; limiting the options for junk food in school cafeterias; and supporting farmers and communities through farm to school programs.

The act passed through the Senate by unanimous consent in August and today was supposed to be voted on in the House. The vote has been delayed due to a motion by Republicans that could derail the legislation all together. House Republicans are trying to amend the bill to require background checks for employees of the school receiving the funding. If the House amends the act, the Senate will not approve the amended act and the legislation will not pass. According to Lorelei DiSogra, “Any amendment to the bill would kill it, since the Senate won’t consider an amended bill….Any change — even one word — kills the bill. Even if they are good amendments, there can’t be any changes to the bill or otherwise the bill dies.” It appears that Republicans are attempting this amendment not for the sake of the amendment, but for the sake of derailing the bill. According to Republican John Kline, he and his Republican colleagues are against the bill because of “its higher costs for local districts and its rigid mandates”. This bill, to many Republicans speaks to the growth of government and an increase in taxes. Kline says that “everyone recognizes the importance of extending child nutrition programs but extending these programs does not mean expanding them”. Extending nutrition programs for every American school is a large project that requires immense funding, yet the Republicans want to implement the extension of the program without extending the cost to the government or the people.

This roadblock that congress has hit in trying to pass the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act is one example of the complexity involved in passing legislation in the American system. The bicameralism in congress has led to the act’s delay. If there were just one house in congress, perhaps the act would have passed in August and gone onto be signed by the president and made law. But, the Madisonian system has gotten in the way and we will have to wait for the house’s decision to see the fate of the Child Nutrition Act.