WASHINGTON (JTA) — Jewish groups praised the renewal of a law funding school meals, but expressed concern that it was financed in part by money designated for food stamps.
The Dec. 1 approval in the U.S. House of Representatives of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act means the bill, which had been subject to some last-minute wrangling, is ready for enactment by President Obama.
The bill extends for another 10 years funding for school lunches and breakfasts for children from families that depend on the meals, estimated at 4.2 million households.
The passage "is an important achievement that will improve the lives of millions of children,” said Rabbi Steve Gutow, the president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the public policy umbrella for the Jewish community. “This bill is an acknowledgement that in a nation as bountiful as ours, no child should worry about when their next meal will be."
The JCPA was at the forefront of an interfaith coalition lobbying for passage.
Other groups that had sought the bill’s passage included the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center and the National Council for Jewish Women.
All three groups in their statements praising passage expressed regret that some of the $4.5 billion in funding was drawn from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamp benefits.
"By imposing what amounts to a $60 per month cut in SNAP benefits for a family of four, Congress hurts the very families that this legislation is designed to help," the Religious Action Center said. "Cutting SNAP benefits during the third consecutive year of rising poverty rates negates the positive impact of a strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization. We call on Congress to act immediately to restore SNAP benefits to the level of funding that recipients were told they could rely upon until 2018."
