Federal child nutrition programs come up for reauthorization or renewal every five years, and this process gives Congress an opportunity to examine the current law and make improvements. The current law, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-296), expired in 2015. When a reauthorization is delayed, Congress usually includes funding to maintain the program as-is through the annual appropriations process, which allows the program to continue to operate. However, this means we are about seven years overdue for changes to be implemented to strengthen federal child nutrition programs.

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