Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Coalition
Legislative Session Update - March 14, 2014
Late last night, the 2014 legislative session adjourned. This is the first time in several years that session has ended on time! Below is a summary of how the Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Coalition priorities ended up.
The House and Senate released their compromise budget yesterday afternoon and it passed both houses. Here's how the AHNC Priorities fared in this budget:
Program
|
AHNC Request Amount
|
Final Compromise
Budget Amount
|
| Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP) |
$1 million
| $800,000 |
| Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) |
$500,000
| $200,000 |
| State Food Assistance (SFA) |
$1.367 million
| $0 |
| Breakfast After the Bell |
$101,000
(fiscal note for the bill)
| $0 |
While it is disappointing that not all of our funding requests were included, securing the additional dollars for the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Farmers Market Nutrition Program were great wins.
Even though State Food Assistance didn't receive additional funding, there was a positive revision made to the budget language that creates a floor for the state funding for the program. It now must be funded at no less than 75% of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit amount.
Congratulations to those who worked so hard on educating legislators about these programs!
Unfortunately, the Breakfast After the Bell bill did not pass this session. The bill had some really great hearings, got some media coverage, and there is definitely a lot of interest in this issue. The good news is that United Way King County is mobilizing funds to support demonstration projects across Washington State to keep the momentum going and continue to build interest around this successful approach to increasing school breakfast utilization.
Thank you all so much for being such great advocates throughout this legislative session; especially to those who came to Hunger Action Day!
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