Full Text of SR1115 98th General Assembly
SR1115 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, More than 15% of Illinoisans struggle to provide | 3 | | enough food for their families and more than 22% of | 4 | | Illinoisans' children are food insecure, meaning they do not | 5 | | have consistent access to adequate food; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Illinois ranks 24th in the nation for childhood | 7 | | hunger and 21% of children live in poverty; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, There are children in every county of the State of | 9 | | Illinois who experience food insecurity; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, No child deserves to go without food, and children | 11 | | who are food insecure suffer from increased risk of chronic | 12 | | diseases, increased rates of behavioral problems, decreased | 13 | | academic achievement, and long-term social and economic | 14 | | impacts; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Federal nutrition programs play a pivotal role in | 16 | | helping low-income children access free, healthy meals, | 17 | | including the School Breakfast Program, the National School | 18 | | Lunch Program, Summer Meals Programs, Child and Adult Care Food | 19 | | Program Afterschool Meals Programs, and the Special | 20 | | Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and | 21 | | Children; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, More than 825,000 children participate in free and | 2 | | reduced price school lunch; 376,000 children participate in | 3 | | free and reduced price school breakfast; and 95,000 children | 4 | | participate in the summer meals program; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Students who eat school breakfast achieve 17.5% | 6 | | higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more | 7 | | days of school each year than those who do not; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Thirty-two percent of low-income families find | 9 | | themselves without enough food in the summer months and 43% of | 10 | | low-income families find it harder to make ends meet in the | 11 | | summer months; low-income families spend an additional $300 per | 12 | | month in the summer months to provide food for their families; | 13 | | and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, 4,189,025 summer meals were provided through the | 15 | | Summer Food Service Program; these meals were distributed | 16 | | through 1,716 sites, of which only 882 were open to the | 17 | | community and did not require enrollment; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Summer Food Service Program sites are an ideal | 19 | | model for summer food delivery and provide on-site adult | 20 | | supervision and enrichment activities for children; however, | 21 | | more Summer Food Service Program sites are needed that are open |
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| 1 | | to the community; therefore, be it
| 2 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | 3 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we encourage schools | 4 | | participating in the School Breakfast Program to utilize | 5 | | alternative delivery models, such as Breakfast in the | 6 | | Classroom, Grab n' Go, and Second Chance Breakfast, to provide | 7 | | breakfast after the bell to all students at no cost to | 8 | | students; and be it further
| 9 | | RESOLVED, That we encourage Summer Food Service Program | 10 | | sites to operate as open sites to the community so that all | 11 | | children can access healthy, nutritious meals during the | 12 | | summer; and be it further | 13 | | RESOLVED, That we encourage eligible providers to | 14 | | participate in Child and Adult Care Food Program Afterschool | 15 | | Meals Programs; and be it further | 16 | | RESOLVED, That we urge Congress to develop a 2015 Child | 17 | | Nutrition Reauthorization that protects and strengthens the | 18 | | federal food and nutrition safety net for children; and be it | 19 | | further | 20 | | RESOLVED, That we are opposed to cuts in funding to federal | 21 | | food and nutrition programs for children and families through |
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| 1 | | the annual federal budget process or any other measures; and be | 2 | | it further | 3 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 4 | | delivered to the members of the Illinois congressional | 5 | | delegation, the President of the United States, and the United | 6 | | States Secretary of Agriculture.
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