Bill would extend child nutrition pandemic waivers through next school year

A bill has been introduced in the U.S. Senate that would extend the 12 child nutrition pandemic waivers through Sept. 30, 2023.

The Support Kids Not Red Tape Act was introduced by U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator Debbie Stabenow, who serves as chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

The waivers are currently set to expire at the end of June. Throughout the pandemic, they have been extended multiple times and have allowed school nutrition programs to receive higher reimbursement rates, provide universal free meals to students and more. 

The School Nutrition Association (SNA) has been pushing for another waiver extension, saying that if schools are unable to use the waivers next school year, they could face mounting costs that would hamper their ability to feed kids.

School nutrition professionals' hope for the waivers to continue was dealt a blow last month when Congress did not include funding to extend them in its $1.5 trillion Omnibus spending bill.