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HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Regular access to healthy and affordable meals
3has been proven to be one of the strongest means of improved
4school performance, improved health, and sound childhood
5development; and
 
6    WHEREAS, According to 2020 census data, Black households
7reported food insecurity rates that were more than twice as
8high as white households; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Research shows that childhood hunger and food
10insecurity have a range of negative impacts on the health,
11academic performance, and overall well-being of children; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Research suggests that older Black students may
13be more likely to skip meals during the week than white
14students; and
 
15    WHEREAS, School nutrition programs offer the opportunity
16to provide healthy food and improve dietary quality for
17students who may otherwise not eat; and
 
18    WHEREAS, School meals can also have a positive impact on
19grades, absences, and tardiness among students; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Students from Black families are more likely to
2receive free or reduced-price lunches during the school year,
3and research shows students who receive these meals during the
4school year are more likely to face food insufficiency in the
5summer; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The COVID-19 pandemic led to a dramatic spike in
7the rate of children experiencing hunger and food insecurity,
8peaking at 18% of families with children reporting their
9household did not have enough to eat in December 2020
10according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and
11also created challenges to safely accessing child nutrition
12programs; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Substantial racial and ethnic disparities in food
14insecurity exist among parents of school-age children, and
15Black families experienced significant hardship as a result of
16the pandemic; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Approximately four in 10 families with parents
18who are Black (40.8%) reported food insecurity in the prior 30
19days, almost triple the rate of families with white parents
20(15.1%); and
 
21    WHEREAS, The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an ongoing
22increase in the scope and scale of children experiencing

 

 

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1hunger and food insecurity, with the most recent estimates
2from Feeding America showing that 13 million may face hunger
3in 2021 compared with the all-time low of 11 million in 2019,
4according to USDA; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Non-congregate meal delivery options were
6especially critical in distributing meals to children in rural
7and hard to reach communities or where transportation
8challenges make it difficult for programs to distribute meals
9at a localized site; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Child nutrition programs are the front line of
11defense against childhood hunger and food insecurity,
12promoting healthy eating and providing healthy, nutritious
13food for the nation's children through the National School
14Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Summer
15EBT for Children (SEBTC), Pandemic-EBT, the Community
16Eligibility Provision (CEP), and Special Supplemental
17Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and
 
18    WHEREAS, The SEBTC Program reaches children who most need
19additional food support over summer and school breaks and is
20proven to reduce food insecurity among children; and
 
21    WHEREAS, P-EBT, a temporary program providing a grocery
22benefit to children who have lost access to free and reduced

 

 

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1priced meals at school due to COVID-19, has been highly
2effective at reducing food insecurity; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The CEP program promotes equity and reduces
4stigma for families and has been proven to reduce hunger and
5improve student outcomes; and
 
6    WHEREAS, A proven barrier to continued participation in
7the WIC Program is unavailability of remote appointments,
8short certification periods, and lack of flexibility in food
9purchasing, ordering, and delivery; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Millions of children benefit from these programs,
11including the 21.5 million low-income children who
12participated in the school lunch program and the 12.4 million
13who participated in the school breakfast program in the
142018-2019 school year, as well as the 6.3 million mothers and
15children who received food and nutrition education through WIC
16and 2.8 million children who ate summer meals in 2019; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 has
18improved the nutritional standards for school nutrition
19programs, and as a result, kids have access to increased
20fruits, vegetables, and whole grains but less sugars, fats,
21and sodium; Congress has the opportunity to ensure that
22children continue to have access to nutritious and quality

 

 

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1meals to help prevent childhood hunger and obesity; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Congress has an opportunity to improve and
3strengthen access to nutrition through the 2021 Child
4Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) bill by making permanent the
5COVID-19 waiver flexibilities that help to better reach
6children and by including provisions that would increase
7access and reach more kids through streamlining, reducing
8administrative burdens, and providing program flexibility,
9giving them the access to quality meals that they have during
10the school year; and
 
11    WHEREAS, An adequately funded and evidence-based
12reauthorization bill can reduce childhood hunger and food
13insecurity in America, help reduce childhood obesity, improve
14child nutrition and health, and enhance healthy child
15development and school readiness, allowing children to reach
16their full potential; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Congress has a unique opportunity in the upcoming
18reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act to improve and
19promote equitable access and nutrition for millions of
20children, particularly low-income children; therefore, be it
 
21    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
22HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that

 

 

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1we urge Congress to protect, strengthen, and improve the child
2nutrition programs through a Child Nutrition and WIC
3Reauthorization Act that builds on the Healthy, Hunger Free
4Kids Act of 2010 to ensure that low-income children continue
5to have access to nutritious meals throughout the year; and be
6it further
 
7    RESOLVED, That we urge Congress to streamline and simplify
8provisions governing the summer meals program in order to
9reduce administrative burdens, bureaucracies, and duplications
10in program administration and operation during the
11reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act; and be it further
 
12    RESOLVED, That we urge Congress to allow for more
13flexibility around where children are able to access and eat
14summer meals, by allowing for non-congregate models in
15communities where summer meals sites are not available and by
16lowering the threshold required to operate sites open to all
17children; and be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That we urge Congress to permanently authorize
19the operation of the SEBTC program, make program funding
20mandatory, and expand the reach of the program to kids
21eligible for free or reduced-price school meals in all states,
22tribal nations, and localities in order to close the summer
23meals gap; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That we urge Congress to permanently authorize
2the PEBT system beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing
3authorities to quickly deliver increased nutritional aid
4during times of crisis; and be it further
 
5    RESOLVED, That we urge Congress to expand the
6well-documented benefits of CEP, which allows schools to serve
7meals at no charge to all students if enough are identified as
8qualifying for other assistance programs, by lowering the
9minimum identified student percentage (ISP), by increasing the
10ISP multiplier, by expanding direct certification with
11Medicaid data nationwide, and by supporting the improvement of
12direct certification systems; and be it further
 
13    RESOLVED, That we urge Congress to increase the
14flexibility of WIC appointments through increased access to
15remote appointments and extended certification periods as well
16as to support equitable access to the WIC food package through
17modernization efforts that increase access to online ordering,
18online purchasing, and delivery; and be it further
 
19    RESOLVED, That we support the enactment of a Child
20Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act that ensures low-income
21children's improved and equitable access to and participation
22in the child nutrition programs and includes the policy goals

 

 

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1stated above; and be it further
 
2    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
3delivered to the President of the United States, the Vice
4President of the United States, and other federal and state
5government officials and agencies as appropriate.