Another hungry summer?

Here's a great article on the challenge of feeding kids over the summer by Amelia Knisely of Mountain State Spotlight. My friends at the WV Food For All Coalition have worked for years to pass a bill addressing out of school food programs. Ironically, in 2020 the bill died just as the pandemic was setting in...which kinda demonstrated the need for it.

As awful as the 2021 legislative session was, a resolution to study the issue passed the senate. It remains to be seen how they'll follow up on it, but it took a lot of work to get things that far.

Still, a lot of people all over the state are working hard on the issue. There's also some federal good news. Trump-era SNAP restrictions have been removed and the American Rescue Plan extends free school lunches and P-EBT cards for kids eligible for free and reduced lunch or for all students in counties that have implemented the Community Eligibility Provision. Last year, P-EBT cards were sent to over 220,000 WV families, which meant millions of dollars pumped into local economies.

I'm hoping we can make some of the temporary provisions, like free school meals for all, P-EBT cards, SNAP boosts and enhanced tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit permanent. 

And it looks like West Virginia's senators will have a lot to say about that.

Act now for summer food for kids

The WV Summer Feeding for All bill (HB 2794) has a great chance to move through the House this week. If you care about our children getting food this summer and throughout the school year when it is not in session, email House Education Committee chair Joe Ellington and vice-chair Delegate Joshua Higginbotham today and tomorrow.

Below is a script to guide you. But nothing is more passionate than our own thoughts and words.

"Hello Delegate ____ ,

My name is _____ and I am concerned about our West Virginia school age children not receiving nutritious meals when school is not in session.

HB 2794, the Summer Feeding for All bill would play a major role in assisting counties and schools with making sure families know where they can go to receive food when school is not in session, including unforeseen emergency events including natural disasters. Please consider placing it on the education committee agenda for this coming week." 

(The bill would require counties to assess out of school student needs and resources and report this to the Office of Child Nutrition. This will give local parents and advocates information they need to expand out of school food programs.)

If you're in the Charleston area tomorrow (Feb. 12), there will be a Compassion Calls Us presentation in the lower rotunda at 10 a.m. It's also Food and Farm Day, so there will be lots of like minded people there and it'll be a good chance to move the bill.

Please don't call it a "no-brainer"!

I'm not a superstitious person, aside from taking a few prudent precautions. Like throwing spilled salt over my left shoulder. And crossing myself when a black cat crosses my path. And not rocking an empty chair. Then there's the one about sitting down before you leave if you go back into the house because you forgot something. And knocking on wood. And the thing about pennies found on the ground being good luck if they're heads up.

But that's it.

But, as I've observed here more than once, I will admit to one sure bringer of bad luck: using the term "no-brainer" to describe a desirable public policy option for West Virginia. In my experience, those are the hardest things to get done.

That's why I felt like engaging in any number of rituals to undo the potential damage when an otherwise right on editorial in the Gazette-Mail used that dreaded expression to talk about a common sense child nutrition bill.

The bill in question is House Bill 162, one of the more (or only?) rational things to come out of the special session of the legislature this summer on "education betterment." It would basically require counties to assess summer and out of school food programs for children and report this to the Office of Child Nutrition.

This simple bill would make it easier for people to find needed assistance and also possibly nudge some counties into doing more to take up the slack.

It passed the house unanimously, but didn't make it through the senate. Under the weird rules of this stage of  the special session, which is dormant at the moment, the senate could reconvene to take up bills that have passed the house but no new items.

Reconvening to pass this little bill would be...perhaps something that does not require an undue amount of cerebral agitation.

Just don't use the fatal words!