AASA Urges Congress to Include Children Nutrition in Budget Reconciliation

October 1, 2021

AASA joined nearly 800 organizations in a letter to Congress urging leadership to include essential nutrition provisions in the Build Back Better budget reconciliation package. The asks included:

• Expand the number of schools eligible to offer free meals to all students through the Community Eligibility Provision by increasing the multiplier (that determines the amount of federal reimbursement that a community eligibility school receives) from 1.6 to 2.5 and lowering the eligibility threshold to 25 percent.
• Give states the option to implement the Community Eligibility Provision statewide.
• Allow all states to conduct Medicaid direct certification.
• Extend Summer EBT nationwide for students who receive free or reduced-price school meals to close the summer meal gap.
• Provide $500 million for school kitchen equipment grants. 
• Provide $634 million for a Healthy School Meal Incentives demonstration project.

These provisions will reduce food insecurity and ensure that millions more children will have the nutrition they need to learn, grow, and thrive 365 days a year.