U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) on June 10 joined a bipartisan contingent to introduce a bill that would require alternative options for Summer Food Service Program delivery to needy children across America.
“This is about removing a one-size-fits all approach to how we get meals to students in rural communities,” Sen. Hoeven said. “This legislation grants flexibility to these programs by taking what we learned through the COVID-19 pandemic and applying it to ensure students, even in the summer, have access to healthy and nutritious meals.”
Sen. Hoeven cosponsored the Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act, S. 2005, with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) and fellow cosponsors including U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer (R-NE), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Roy Blunt (R-MO), John Thune (R-SD), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
Specifically, the legislation proposes two alternative options that states would be able to utilize through the federal Summer Food Service Program. The first would allow meals to be consumed off-site through grab-and-go options like mobile feeding and backpack meal programs, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Hoeven’s office. The second option would authorize the summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) program, which would provide eligible families with $30 per summer month per child to purchase eligible food items from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) approved retailers, the summary says.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture first implemented these options at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and has since extended them through the 2021-2022 school year.
The bill has been referred for consideration to the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee.