Senate Agriculture Committee advances Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, adds school food-allergy training

Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Chairman Bozeman called to order a business meeting to consider S.222, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, and the committee ordered the bill reported favorably as amended.

The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, sponsors said, would provide schoolchildren a greater variety of milk options in the National School Lunch Program. The chairman noted the bill was introduced by Senators Roger Marshall and Peter Welch and has bipartisan co-sponsors listed in the record. The House passed the prior version of the legislation during the last Congress by a 330-99 margin, the committee noted.

The committee adopted a bipartisan manager’s amendment in the nature of a substitute and then accepted an amendment offered on behalf of Senator Richard J. Durbin that expanded annual training for school food-service personnel to include food-allergy protections. Senator Amy Klobuchar, the committee’s ranking member, praised the package and said it was appropriate for National Dairy Month: "how important this bill is and that it's national dairy month so it's very appropriate." The Durbin amendment was described in committee as “Durbin, first degree number 1,” and the panel adopted it by unanimous consent.

After a brief period for further amendments and debate, Chairman Bozeman moved that S.222 be reported favorably as amended. The motion was decided by voice; the chair stated, "In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it and S.222 as amended is ordered to be reported favorably." The committee also authorized staff to make technical, clarifying and conforming changes to prepare the legislation for reporting. The business meeting was then adjourned.

Committee members and sponsors on both sides of the aisle were recorded in the meeting record as supporting the measure and the manager’s package. Ranking-member remarks emphasized concern about separate, larger proposed cuts to nutrition programs in unrelated House legislation and the potential downstream effects on SNAP recipients and state budgets.

The committee entered the bill and amendment text into the record and permitted members to submit written statements. No roll-call vote or recorded tally was taken during the business meeting; the reporting action was completed by voice vote and unanimous consent rulings as recorded in the transcript.