One of the first bills to pass the lame-duck session of Congress wasS. 3307, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, reauthorizing and expanding child nutrition programs. With the House agreeing to the Senate-passed bill, the measure now goes to the White House for the President’s signature. Although it passed the Senate unanimously in August and the House by a substantial margin (264-157) on December 2, the legislation was not without controversy, especially with regard to funding (see “Child Nutrition,” Congressional Digest, December 2010).

Long advocated by advocates in the child nutrition and health field, the bill was also pushed by First Lady Michele Obama, who issued a statement calling it “a groundbreaking piece of bipartisan legislation that will significantly improve the quality of meals that children receive at school and will play an integral role in our efforts to combat obesity.”

The bill will increase reimbursement rates for school lunches and set nutritional standards for all food served in public schools.  Some nutrition groups and Members of Congress had opposed the use of funds from SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly food stamps) to offset the measure’s additional costs. But President Obama has sought to ease those concerns by saying that he will state his support for SNAP during the White House signing ceremony on the bill.

The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), one of the groups working to reverse the SNAP cut, nonetheless hailed the bill’s passage and posted a summary its highlights here.