Tuesday Morning - January 26, 2021 An Update on Federal and State Policy Issues from SNATable of ContentsCOVID-19 Policy Updates USDA Publishes Second FFCRA Opt-in Waiver USDA Announces Expansion of P-EBT Federal Policy Save the Date for the 49th Legislative Action Conference: March 8-10, 2021 Check out LAC 2021 Resources State Snapshots Arizona Introduces Legislation Requiring Water During School Meals Connecticut Presents Anti-lunch Shaming Bill Illinois to Establish Anaphylactic Policies for Public Schools Minnesota Proposes Anti-Lunch Shaming School Meal Policy Mississippi Introduces the Healthy Foods Access Program Act New Hampshire Bill to Prohibit Polystyrene in Food Service New York Creates Farm to School Task Force Nebraska Proposes Farm to School Program Act North Dakota Proposes Grants to Offer Free Meals to All Students Oregon Bill Appropriates Funding to Expand School Meal Programs Virginia Presents Bill Requiring Schools to Provide Open Enrollment Wyoming Creates School Protein Enhancement Project Mark Your CalendarsUpcoming SNA Webinars Congressional Management Foundation Webinar Mystery Chat Corner COVID-19 Policy Updates USDA Publishes Second FFCRA Opt-in Waiver On January 15, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) published the waiver " Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Opt-In Waiver for School Year 2021-2022 National School Lunch Program USDA Foods Entitlement Calculations." This waiver grants States the option to extend the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Opt-In Waiver for School Year 2020-2021. Therefore, States will use preliminary SY 2021-2022 entitlement values that continue to be based on SY 2018-2019 lunch counts. States that wish to participate must notify the Food Distribution Division Program Integrity and Monitoring Branch by January 31, 2021. USDA Announces Expansion of P-EBT On January 22, President Biden's administration announced that USDA is increasing the Pandemic-Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) by approximately 15%. P-EBT was first established under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed by Congress in March 2020 and connects low-income families with kids with food dollars equivalent to the value of the meals missed due to COVID-related school closures. Read more Back to the top School nutrition staff at Euclid City Schools in Ohio have managed to serve 523,993 meals to students in their community since the start of the pandemic. Federal PolicySave the Date for the 49th Legislative Action Conference: March 8-10, 2021Mark your calendars for the 49th Legislative Action Conference, March 8-10, 2021—a virtual event—to experience The Power of One: The Impact of Many. As part of this year’s ZOOM the Hill, LAC attendees will join their colleagues in advocating for SNA’s new 2021 Position Paper. LAC resources, including Position Paper fact sheets and talking points can be found here. Stay tuned for more details about this exciting event! Register now for #LAC21!Check out LAC 2021 ResourcesSNA has published new resources for this year's Legislative Action Conference (LAC). These resources include LAC FAQs, Lobbying Tips, and " ZOOM the Hill" Guide. Keep an eye out for updates to these resources as #LAC21 gets closer. Back to the top State Snapshots Arizona Introduces Legislation Requiring Water During School Meals SB 1212 requires each school district and charter school to provide free, fresh drinking water during mealtimes, specifically breakfast and lunch.Connecticut Presents Anti-lunch Shaming Bill SB 36 prohibits any punitive action against students in public schools for unpaid meal charges and would allow public and private entities to donate funds to pay any remaining debt.Illinois to Establish Anaphylactic Policies for Public Schools HB 102 requires the Illinois Department of Public Health to develop in consultation with administrators and food service directors the establishment and distribution of anaphylactic policies to all public schools.Minnesota Proposes Anti-Lunch Shaming School Meal Policy HF 149 requires all public schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to adopt and post online a formal school meal policy prohibiting lunch shaming and communicating whether a collections agency will be utilized for unpaid meal debt.Mississippi Introduces the Healthy Foods Access Program Act HB 792 directs the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce (MDAC) to establish the "Healthy Foods Access Program Act." This Act requires the MDAC to work with local public schools to identify food desert communities and establish weekly markets.New Hampshire Bill to Prohibit Polystyrene in Food Service HB 618 prohibits disposable polystyrene food service containers in public schools, state and local government facilities.New York Creates Farm to School Task Force S 1907 establishes a farm to school task force and directs the New York Commissioner of Education to develop a program that requires all public schools to provide fresh foods to all students by supporting local agriculture.Nebraska Proposes Farm to School Program Act LB 396 establishes the Nebraska Farm to School Program to purchase locally and regionally produced or processed food to improve child nutrition programs and strengthen local and regional farm economies.North Dakota Proposes Grants to Offer Free Meals to All Students HB 1413 appropriates the necessary funds and requires the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction to provide grants to public schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students.Oregon Bill Appropriates Funding to Expand School Meal Programs SB 444 requires the Oregon Department of Education to use funding provided in the Statewide Education Initiatives Account to expand the school breakfast and lunch programs.Virginia Presents Bill Requiring Schools to Provide Open Enrollment SB 1317 requires all local school boards to establish and implement policies to provide open enrollment to any eligible student to receive a free or reduced price meal.Wyoming Creates School Protein Enhancement Project HB 52 establishes the "Wyoming School Protein Enhancement Project" to provide grants to school districts to increase the availability of Wyoming meat products in school nutrition programs. Back to the top Mark Your Calendars Upcoming SNA Webinars Next month, join us for our Webinar Wednesday and learn about USDA Foods. If you missed a particular webinar, catch up with SNA’s on-demand webinars. Making the Most of USDA Foods Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 3:00 PM ETWhen it comes to USDA Foods, diverting what you will use and using what you divert has never been more important. Join ACDA and SNA representatives to learn how to make the most of USDA Foods as you plan for next school year. Congressional Management Foundation Webinar The VIRTUAL Citizen-Advocate's Toolkit Tuesday, February 2, 2021, 3:00 pm ET Regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping in touch with constituents is among the most important job aspects for Members of Congress. With most Members of Congress taking steps to observe social distancing protocols, congressional offices quickly adopted the use of virtual platforms to communicate with the people they represent. This presentation will highlight and provide tips for effectively using virtual advocacy strategies for engaging lawmakers including virtual meetings, emailing staff, social media, online and telephone town hall meetings, and more. Mystery Chat Corner On January 26, 1837, which state was admitted to the United States as the 26th state? A: Michigan Back to the top