Here’s some good news for school lunch programs: On Thursday (December 2), the House of Representatives approved the “Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act” in a 264-157 vote. The bill, which the Senate unanimously passed in August, expands eligibility for lunch programs and sets nutrition standards for school meals. It is the first increase in school lunch funding since 1973.

“[This] offers a real chance to improve nutrition for all children,” said Kim Anderson, the NEA’s Director of Government Relations told the neatoday.org website. “By improving opportunities for healthy meals in and out of school, the bill would take an important step forward in addressing both child hunger and obesity.”

The bill is now on its way to the White House for President Obama’s signature.

According to the NEA, once signed into law, the act will allocate an additional $4.5 billion over 10 years to school meal programs, boosting the federal reimbursement rate for school lunches by 6 percent. The number of children eligible for those school meals will increase. The United States Department of Agriculture will use Medicaid data to directly certify students who meet income requirements, providing 115,000 new children with meals, and it will use census data to determine school-wide income eligibility. Further, the act will allow Child and Adult Care Food Program providers like day-care centers, at-risk after-school programs and emergency shelters, to be reimbursed for providing after-school meals.

For more on the bill, visit neatoday.org.