Rep. Susie Lee Fights for Nevada Students' Access to School Lunches

Press Release

House Education and Labor Committee member Rep. Susie Lee (Nev.-03) pressed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials on the administration's proposed cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for millions of Americans, including severe cuts to free school meal eligibility.

According to USDA's own analysis, its proposed rule would result in nearly 1 million children losing automatic access to free school meals, including more than 500,000 children who will lose eligibility for free school meals altogether.

"On average, a family of four on SNAP benefits has an annual income of between $33,000 and $51,000," said Rep. Lee. "When every dollar counts, free school lunches for your kids can be the difference between making rent or not. There are no benefits to cutting access to school lunches for possibly over a million students--not for those kids, for working families, for our schools, or for our economy. This was an attempt to circumvent the will of Congress by changing a rule without the proper analysis and input from key stakeholders. Today, the House Education and Labor Committee showed that we will hold USDA and this Administration responsible for these dangerous cuts to SNAP benefits, and I will continue to fight for Nevada's working families, our students, and their access to nutritional school lunches."

BACKGROUND: On July 23, 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposed a new rule that restricts eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The proposed changes to SNAP would have a devastating domino effect on low-income children and families. SNAP participation is used to determine whether a child is automatically eligible for free school meals without providing additional income information -- this is called categorical eligibility.

According to USDA's own analysis, its proposed rule would result in nearly 1 million children losing access to automatic free school meals, including more than 500,000 children who will lose eligibility for free school meals altogether.

The impact could end up being far worse because the administration's analysis did not account for the potential consequences for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). Under CEP, when more than 40 percent of a school's students participate in programs like SNAP, the entire school is eligible for free school meals. The rule could drop some schools below the 40 percent threshold.

After months of asking the Department to publish its analysis, USDA finally made its projections public on October 15, 2019--less than 24 hours prior to the hearing--and committed to reopen the comment period for 14 days.

The effect on school meal eligibility represents an important societal cost that adversely affects the health and well-being of nearly 1 million children and must be made public so that stakeholders have the opportunity to comment on all aspects of the rule's impact.

There is clear evidence that nutrition is critical to a child's health and development. Studies show healthier students are likely to have fewer absences, fewer disciplinary issues, and higher test scores.

Today, one in seven children in the United States is food insecure.

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