Harder Slams “Heartless” Proposal to Take School Lunches Away from Poor Children

Sixty-Three Percent of Students in Harder's District Qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch

WASHINGTON – Representative Josh Harder (CA-10) released the following statement in response to a report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicating that a Trump Administration proposal could leave nearly a million children across the country without free school lunches. Initial estimates concluded that about half as many kids would lose access.

"Someone needs to tell the administration that children deserve to eat – regardless of anything else," said Rep. Harder. "This is a heartless proposal that would rob kids in the Central Valley of the food they need to stay healthy and get ahead in school. It would be a complete disaster for our area. The administration needs to reverse course on this and stop trying to balance the budget on the backs of our kids."

The USDA's proposal would eliminate a rule that allows people living in poverty to automatically qualify for the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) program if they are eligible for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The change would leave millions of people throughout the country without SNAP, including nearly 1,000,000 children who receive school lunches because of their participation in SNAP.

Rep. Harder slammed the proposal when it was announced in July. The new report indicates that almost twice as many kids could lose access to school lunches as was initially predicted.