Bill Text: HI SCR62 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Federal Meal Subsidies for Public Schools

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-06-16 - Certified copies of resolutions sent, 06-16-15. [SCR62 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-SCR62-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	62
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE TO INCREASE THE FEDERAL BREAKFAST, LUNCH, AND AFTERSCHOOL SNACK REIMBURSEMENT RATES FOR HAWAII.

 

 

     WHEREAS, it is essential that all children receive affordable and nutritional meals to encourage proper health and nutrition; and

 

     WHEREAS, children who do receive nutritional meals have higher academic performance in the classroom including improved standardized test scores, attendance, and classroom behavior; and

 

     WHEREAS, Child Nutrition Programs in Hawaii provide our children with a model of what constitutes a balanced diet and introduces them to new and nutritious foods that contribute to a healthy diet; and

 

     WHEREAS, a hungry child is distracted in the classroom, which is an impediment to learning; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Child Nutrition Programs of the United States Department of Agriculture provide a subsidy for breakfast and lunch meals and afterschool snacks to the children in Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, the federal subsidy provides free or reduced-price lunches to school children; and

 

     WHEREAS, the cost of food for meals is higher in Hawaii than on the mainland United States and in Alaska; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States Department of Agriculture determined in February 2014 that the cost of food prepared at home for a family of four in Hawaii is 70 percent higher in Hawaii at $1,066.20 monthly compared to Alaska at $741.90; and

 

     WHEREAS, the maximum federal reimbursement rates for Hawaii and Alaska for every lunch, breakfast, and afterschool snack are as follows:

 

     Breakfast:  free breakfast at $2.25 compared to Alaska at $3.10, reduced rate breakfast at $1.95 compared to Alaska at $2.80, and paid breakfast at 32 cents compared to Alaska at 42 cents;

 

     Lunch:  free lunch at $3.74 compared to Alaska at $5.15, reduced rate lunches at $3.34 compared to Alaska at $4.75, and paid lunches at 47 cents compared to Alaska at 63 cents;

 

     Afterschool Snacks:  free snack at 96 cents compared to Alaska at $1.33, reduced rate snack at 48 cents compared to Alaska at 66 cents, and paid snack at 8 cents compared to Alaska at 12 cents; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Legislature appropriates funds each year to offset the cost remaining after federal reimbursement for breakfast, lunch, and afterschool snacks, which is intended to make meals and afterschool snacks prices affordable; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture is authorized to establish appropriate adjustments for each state's rate to the national average rate, to reflect the differences between the costs of providing meals and supplements in that state and the costs of providing meals and supplements in all other states; and

 

     WHEREAS, an increase in the federal reimbursement rate to coincide with the higher cost of food in Hawaii would allow the expansion of Child Nutrition Programs to reach more school children in Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, an increase in the reimbursement rate will allow the expansion of other United States Department of Education Child Nutrition Programs such as the Farm to School Program, which encourages schools to purchase foods locally; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Secretary of Agriculture is requested to increase the breakfast, lunch, and afterschool snack reimbursement rate for Hawaii to 15 percent over the Alaskan reimbursement rates for breakfast, lunch, and afterschool snack, respectively; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the United States Secretary of Agriculture, Hawaii's congressional delegation, Governor, Superintendent of Education, and Chairperson of the Board of Education.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Federal Meal Subsidies for Public Schools