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State-Federal Match Costs 'Pennies on the Dollar'
Trenton - U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. joined with the New Jersey Anti Hunger Coalition and Assemblyman Gary Schaer on Tuesday to urge Governor Chris Christie to refrain from cutting state funds from the popular school lunch program, saying the state cut will result in the substantial loss of federal funds.
The governor's budget proposal would reduce the state share for the school lunch and breakfast programs by $5.5 million, causing the "loss" of more than $19 million in federal funds.
" The recession is making it difficult to manage the state budget but it is also making it hard for families to provide for their children," said Pallone. "This is the worst time to make this type of cut. For pennies on the dollar, we can provide hungry children what may be their only meal of the day."
The state reductions will result in more expensive meals, fewer school children participating and fewer schools offering the free or discounted meals.
In contrast, President Obama's budget proposal includes a $1 billion increase in funding for the child nutrition programs.
For every 10 cents in state money, the federal match for each school lunch or breakfast ranges from $1.16 to $2.70.
"The economic recession has brought us to a point where we are asked to put a price tag on our values as well as our priorities," said Pallone. "There are some programs that are just too important to cut. We shouldn't be balancing the budget by denying hungry children healthy meals."
In the previous school year, 519,000 children in New Jersey participated in either the school lunch or school breakfast programs. The state ranks towards the bottom with its participation rate of approximately 37 percent of eligible children. |
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