TEFAP Alliance Blog

March 2004

In This Issue:
• Budget Limits May Stymie Child Nutrition Expansion
• Allied Program Slated for Cuts
• Poverty Guidelines Updated
• Food Banks Try to Jumpstart Donation Bill
• TEFAP Funding Formula Adjusted Again
• Cherries Coming to TEFAP
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Budget Limits May Stymie Child Nutrition Expansion
Child nutrition advocates are facing an uphill battle for new funding in the fiscal year 2005 budget and appropriations processes that have just begun. Congressional leaders have warned that more money will be needed just to maintain current service levels, without even considering program expansions.
Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran (R), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, told a national anti-hunger meeting on February 23 that an additional $460 million will be needed over the next decade just to reauthorize child nutrition programs as they operate now. Cochran and Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, the top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, sent a February 20 letter to the Budget Committee urging that, “At a minimum, we request that the budget resolution provide additional mandatory funding without terminating the benefits of current program beneficiaries.”
The letter also noted that, “The Committee has received several suggestions for improvements to child nutrition programs and hopes that additional mandatory funding for these programs can be provided to make them more effective in achieving their objectives.” In response to a question at the anti-hunger meeting about school lunch, Cochran said that universal hot meals are “a worthy goal to work on. It’s something I think we ought to have on the agenda,” if funding is available. Congress is expected to begin making decisions on the reauthorization of child nutrition programs later this month.

Allied Program Slated for Cuts
The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) is on the appropriations chopping block for fiscal year 2005. The Bush Administration, in its budget submitted to Congress on February 2, requested only $98 million for the CSFP, well below the current funding level of $110 million.
CSFP advocates are urging funding of $134 million in fiscal year 2005, an amount that will allow seven new states to join the program. A higher funding level is needed because all carry-over funds available in fiscal year 2004 have been used for program expansion, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture officials.
The CSFP provides a variety of commodities for elderly persons and women and children not served by the WIC Program in 32 states, the District of Columbia, and two Indian Tribal Organizations.

Poverty Guidelines Updated
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued its annual update of federal poverty guidelines for 2004. The guidelines affect participation in The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and other federal programs. The new annual poverty income levels for the continental United States are $9,310 for a one-person household; $12,490 for two people; $15,670 for three, and $18,850 for a family of four. Higher rates apply to Alaska and Hawaii.
For more details, see the HHS website at: http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/poverty.shtml.

Food Banks Try to Jumpstart Donation Bill
America’s Second Harvest, the national food bank network, is making a new push to encourage passage of the Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Act, legislation that would expand favorable tax treatment for the donation of food and grocery products to the needy. The bill has been pending in Congress since early last year as a provision of the broader Charity Aid, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act (S.476, H.R. 7).
The hunger initiative portion of the bill would expand the current “special rule deduction” to all taxpaying businesses, not just C Corporations, the only type of entity that can claim the deduction now. Additionally, the legislation would expand the deduction by considering the fair market value of food that is donated, as determined by the taxpayer.
Second Harvest notes that the bill would particularly benefit farmers, ranchers, small business, and restaurant owners. “The CARE Act would spur private donations of food to thousands of local hunger relief charities across the nation through equitable changes to the tax code, thus helping to feed millions of hungry people,” says Second Harvest. The bill, with an approximately $12 billion price tag, has passed both the Senate and the House, but no conference committee has been appointed to iron out differences between the two versions.

TEFAP Funding Formula Adjusted Again
Allocations for TEFAP food and funds have been readjusted in recent weeks to account for changes in poverty and unemployment around the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). To ameliorate significant decreases in several states, FNS implemented the new formula in two stages. States that gained the most in their percentage of nationwide TEFAP resources were Texas, Connecticut, South Carolina, and Oklahoma, while Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Ohio found their share of TEFAP reduced the most. Although state percentages were adjusted both up and down, total funding for TEFAP remained unchanged.

Cherries Coming to TEFAP
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in mid-February that it will purchase three million pounds of dried red tart cherries for donation to child nutrition and food distribution programs, including TEFAP. The cherries are useful for baking, cereal, and toppings on other foods.

WASHINGTON UPDATE is published monthly for the TEFAP Alliance by Weinberg & Vauthier Consulting, 419 West Broad Street, Suite 204, Falls Church, VA 22046; telephone: 703-532-5700; fax: 703-532-5780; email: zyweinberg@earthlink.net.

Washington Update
Tuesday, March 2, 2004

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