House Bill 162 was one of those bills that got lost in the shuffle during the 2019 legislative session, mainly because the of the jockeying back and forth in the West Virginia Legislature on the omnibus bill. Read editorial.
HB 162 (which passed the House of Delegates during one of the special sessions, 95-0, with five members absent) would create programs to ensure West Virginia kids have access to food over the summer and other times when school isn’t in session. A lot of these programs already exist, but this particular bill would provide a hub for information, so people know where to go in their part of the state to get meals for their children. The West Virginia Office of Child Nutrition would also be a centralized location where counties could view other plans already in place or new ones as they develop.
But it wouldn’t be a centralized government program. If passed, each county would assess its own needs and how to best meet them, providing that plan to Child Nutrition.
