Healthy School Meals Plan Targeted
WATCH ON FOR SCHOOL LUNCH RIDER IN SPENDING DEAL: As Congress scrambles to get omnibus spending legislation in front of President Barack Obama by Dec. 11, saving government from another shutdown, efforts continue to include a rider that would rein in school nutrition requirements.
Appropriations staff had, as of late Friday, reached a tentative deal on the school lunch rider, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations. Interest groups expect the agreement to be somewhere between relaxing whole grain and future sodium requirements, as proposed by Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), and a one-year waiver from all new standards for schools losing money, as proposed by Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.). Leadership in both houses will have to sign off on any deals and Obama must be willing to sign it into law.