Federal Policy & Advocacy

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) was the first permanent child nutrition program, authorized in 1946. The other child nutrition programs were piloted, made permanent, and refined throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and the NSLP also underwent key changes during this time period.  

Beginning in the 1980s, changes to the child nutrition programs were consolidated into one piece of legislation renewed on a regular five-year cycle: what we now know as Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR). This remained true for roughly 25 years and six CNRs. The last CNR was passed in 2010 and expired in 2015. 

Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) is a comprehensive process that updates the legislation authorizing the federal child nutrition programs, including the: 

• National School Lunch Program (NSLP), including afterschool snacks
• School Breakfast Program (SBP)
• Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), including afterschool snacks and meals
• Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and NSLP Seamless Summer Option (SSO)
• Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP)
• Special Milk Program (SMP)
• Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), including the WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Program

Most programs included in CNR are permanently authorized and considered mandatory spending, meaning that the programs do not lapse or lose funding, even if Congress lets CNR expire, though CNR does provide an opportunity to update the programs' funding formulas. Some programs, namely WIC, are permanently authorized but do not have permanent funding authorization, so they rely on an annual appropriation. 

The CNR process also typically includes grants and smaller programs or pilots that are not permanently authorized, such as equipment grants, Farm to School initiatives, and nutrition education. These require both authorization and appropriations once CNR expires.

CNR also dictates the administrative funding formulas for the state agencies that administer the child nutrition programs. 

Eventually, one or both committees of jurisdiction introduce, amend and then pass a comprehensive CNR bill. Once out of committee, the full Senate and House chambers must pass the bill. If each chamber has been considering and then passes its own legislation, then a conference committee must reconcile the Senate and House versions. The Senate and House must vote again on the final conference package. If one chamber begins the process, then the other chamber's committee of jurisdiction may take up the already-passed legislation and either amend it or pass it as-is. If the other chamber passes an amended bill, then the initial chamber must vote again to accept the amended version. 

Once passed by both the House and Sentate, the bill goes on to be signed by the President and become law. From there, the U.S. Department of Agriculture begins the process of regulation writing and implementation. 

Although CNR marker bills and other child nutrition-related legislation continue to be introduced in Congress, there is no effort currently underway to pass a comprehensive CNR package. 

During the 117th session of Congress, the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act was introduced in the House of Representatives on July 20, 2022. The House Education and Labor Committee, which has jurisdiction over the CNR process in the House of Representatives, passed it out of committee. This is comprehensive legislation that covers all of the child nutrition programs and incorporates ideas from numerous marker bills introduced over the past several years. For more details, review our summary and see our official statement. Unfortunately, this bill was never passed by the full House, and the Senate did not take up any CNR legislation of its own.

While a comprehensive CNR was not possible before the end of the 117th Congress, legislators did address some child nutrition program priorities through the appropriations process. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which was signed into law on December 29, 2022, authorized a permanent non-congregate summer meals option and a permanent, nationwide Summer EBT program. For more details on this and other provisions, see our summary and official statement. 

The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, part of The New Deal, was the first "Farm Bill."  Since the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973, the Farm Bill has also included nutrition assistance programs. The Farm Bill now also authorizes programs like incentives for healthy food purchasing and commodity food assistance.

The various programs and policies included in the Farm Bill are organized into sections called "titles." There were 12 titles in the most recent Farm Bill, including conservation, crop insurance, rural development and forestry. Nutrition assistance programs including SNAP are covered in Title IV. 

The Food Stamp Program (now known as SNAP) was established in 1939 and ran until 1943. It was piloted again in 1961 and made permanent by the Food Stamp Act of 1964. By 1974, it was required to be available nationwide in every jurisdiction.

The 2008 reauthorization of the Farm Bill rebranded the Food Stamp Program as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP.

Congress reauthorizes the Farm Bill about every five years. SNAP is a permanently authorized entitlement program, meaning that it continues without the need for future Congressional action and will automatically serve all eligible participants without Congress needing to authorize additional funding. However, many other programs authorized by the Farm Bill would lapse if it was not reauthorized in a timely manner. This also provides an opportunity to make policy changes to expand and improve SNAP.

The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and the House Agriculture Committee each oversee the drafting of the Farm Bill. Each committee starts the process with hearings to learn from stakeholders about the current challenges and needs that must be addressed by the Farm Bill. Members of Congress introduce individual "marker bills" addressing specific issues with the understanding that these marker bills will not be considered separately but instead get integrated into each committee's overall Farm Bill package. Once the committee drafts and passes the Farm Bill, the full Senate and House must vote to approve the package. After separate Senate and House versions are reconciled as needed and receive final approval, the President signs the Farm Bill into law.

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 is the name of the latest Farm Bill reauthorization, and it expired on September 30, 2023. There have been two short-term Continuing Resolutions to maintain the current Farm Bill, and it is now set to expire on September 30, 2025.

In May 2024, the House Agriculture Committee passed the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 (HR 8467) a Republican-authored Farm Bill, along party lines, 32-21.  This bill did not move in the Senate.

It is very possible that Congress may not pass the Farm Bill before September 30, 2025. If this occurs, Congress will likely pass another short-term extension so that no programs lapse while negotiations continue. Regardless of whether the Farm Bill lapses, SNAP would continue to operate since it is a permanently authorized entitlement program. 

We urge Congress to: 

Stop Benefit Cuts. SNAP funding was cut by $187 Billion dollars in the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Process. 

Limit and Reverse State Cost Shifts. Shifting a portion of SNAP benefit costs to states forces states to cut benefits, eligibility, or both.  In some cases, states might have to opt-out of the SNAP program itself.

Enhance SNAP Security. SNAP identity theft and card skimming resulted in the theft of more than $325 million in SNAP benefits since 2023.

Improve Program Efficiency. Updated technology helps states to more fully integrate eligibility systems across programs to meet Quality Control benchmarks.
 

Download the full list here. 

After Congress passes a law or updates the laws for an existing program, additional information is typically needed for organizations or other entities to comply with the new law. Sometimes a law may specifically direct a federal agency to provide more details.

The federal agency tasked with administering and overseeing implementation of a law goes about providing this additional information through the regulatory process. 

To issue regulations, the agency first drafts a proposed rule. The proposed rule is published in the Federal Register, and the public has the opportunity to submit comments on it. Sometimes the agency asks the public to answer specific questions about the proposal as part of the comment process, but comments can address any part of the proposed rule. 

Once the public comment period ends, the agency must review and consider all comments received. The agency may make changes to the final regulations based on the feedback. The agency must also respond to the comments received when posting the final regulations in the Federal Register and provide a rationale for its decision. Regulations are not finalized through a majority-rules voting process. Agencies give more consideration to commenters with experience or expertise in the topic who give concrete suggestions with reasoning. Form or template comment letters, while considered, carry less weight with regulators. For support in writing and submitting a comment, view our resource How to Comment on Federal Regulations.

The final rule published in the Federal Register will include an effective date. It may take effect immediately, or the agency may choose to set a later effective date to allow time for training or other changes necessary for compliance.

The agency may issue additional guidance through memoranda or other training materials to provide additional detail or clarificatoin on the regulations. 

1. In December 2022, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 authorized a permanent option for non-congregate summer meals in rural areas without congregate service and also authorized permanent, nationwide Summer EBT. As required by law, on December 29, 2023, USDA issued its Interim Final Rule (IFR): Establishing the Summer EBT Program and Rural Non-Congregate Option in the Summer Meal Programs. The IFR takes immediate effect and will guide implementation in Summer 2024, but the IFR is still open for public comment until April 29, 2024 to inform a future final rule.
2. On May 21, USDA issued a proposed rule, Serious Deficiency Process in the Child and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program. The proposed rule is open for public comment until May 21, 2024. No provisions of the rule will be implemented until a final rule is issued and takes effect. For more information on what the proposed rule would do, see the USDA explanation.

For a list of all recent rules published in the Federal Register by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, including final rules as well as proposed rules open for comment, see: https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/food-and-nutrition-service. 

On September 26, 2023, USDA issued a final rule to lower the eligibility threshold for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) from an Identified Student Percentage (ISP) of 40% to 25%, finalizing a proposal issued in March 2023. The new threshold (with corresponding changes to the notification/publication and grace year rules) takes effect on October 26, 2023, though the deadline to elect CEP for the 2023-2024 school year has already passed unless a state requests a waiver. 

On August 23, 2023, USDA issued the Child Nutrition Program Integrity Final Rule. This final rulemaking includes provisions related to three separate proposals and affects the school meal programs, CACFP, and SFSP. For details, please review our summary.

On July 7, 2023, USDA released the 2023-2024 meal reimbursement rates for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs as well as the Child and Adult Care Food Program. 

On September 19, 2022, USDA issued a final rule, Streamlining Program Requirements and Improving Integrity in the Summer Food Service Program, and on December 27, 2022, USDA issued technical corrections to the final rule. For clarity, only the final corrected version is linked here.

The No Kid Hungry 2023 Federal Briefing Book is available for all 50 states. It will introduce the impact of the No Kid Hungry campaign in your state, the challenge of child food insecurity, and the programs and policies that can improve access to food and nutrition in communities.

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