Madeleine Bordallo: “Today I introduce the Federal School Meals Parity Act with my colleague Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin…”

“Today I introduce the Federal School Meals Parity Act with my colleague Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands as the original cosponsor. Our bill would ensure that Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are reimbursed fairly under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's in-school meal and child nutrition programs. These USDA programs provide nutritionally balanced meals to needy K- 12 students each school day, including a breakfast, a lunch, and an after-school snack. For many needy school children, these USDA programs often provide their only well-balanced or full meal of the day. These important Federal nutrition programs serve millions--millions-- of American schoolchildren nationally, including some 18,000 Guam students and more than 10,000 students from the Virgin Islands. However, current USDA regulations reimburse Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands at the rate for the continental United States. At the same time, our peer outlying jurisdictions--Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico--receive a much higher reimbursement rate. According to USDA, the higher reimbursement rates for these States and territory reflect higher costs of delivering these programs in those outlying jurisdictions. Well, we agree wholeheartedly that all outlying jurisdictions should be reimbursed at higher rates than the mainland United States because of these higher costs.…”