Feeding children shouldn’t be a partisan issue

I am not certain when assuring children have easy access to healthy school meals became a partisan issue. Senate Bill S. 3979 — Support Kids Not Red Tape Act of 2022 has only two Republican co-sponsors, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins. This bill would allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture to extend COVID-19-related waivers through June 30, 2023.

These waivers allowed school nutrition programs and others to keep feeding children in spite of numerous challenges. Passage of this bill is critical to give schools and families the additional time needed to recover from ongoing economic pandemic impacts while transitioning back to normal meal operations and dealing with severe supply chain and staffing challenges. Nearly 2,000 national, state, and local organizations are urging Congress to act so these waivers can be extended.

The House has a similar bill, H. R. 6613: Keeping School Meals Flexible Act which also extends USDA’s waiver authority. Iowa Rep. Cindy Axne is a co-sponsor of this legislation. Without Congressional action, these waivers expire June 30. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, without these waivers “school nutrition professionals will be forced to make difficult decisions about providing healthy food for their students as costs skyrocket and reimbursement rates will decrease by 40 percent in the absence of waivers.”

I urge Iowa’s Republican members of Congress to support these pieces of legislation in order to help assure all Iowa’s children continue having easy access to healthy school meals. Feeding children should not a partisan issue.

Diane Duncan-Goldsmith

Iowa City