With the Hunger Free New Hampshire Act, Becky Whitley wanted a buffet of solutions to eliminate food insecurity. In the end, Gov. Chris Sununu signed a small portion of her original bill into law. 

Students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch will now receive summer benefits, too, in the form of an Electronic Benefits Card, with Senate Bill 499. 

When Whitley, a Hopkinton Democrat, first introduced the bill this session it was a comprehensive package with several new proposals.  “It was really an effort to show the various areas that are available to use right now to address hunger in New Hampshire,” she said. “A lot of people might not know that there continues to be families who don’t have enough to eat, and in particular, a whole heck of a lot of children who don’t have enough to eat.”

Whitley is blunt on food insecurity – in a small state like New Hampshire, hunger is the product of government failure.

“If government has any role, I believe it’s ensuring that everyone has enough food to eat. That is a basic human right,” she said. “In an economy and a state like New Hampshire, there shouldn’t be one person who is hungry.”

Whitley’s initial package required schools to have a breakfast program in addition to free and reduced lunch and expanded reimbursements the district could receive if they followed school wellness policies, designated by state and federal standards.

With a 14-10 split in the Senate, Republicans to Democrats, Whitley said her party had to compromise for the final package. But what remained – the summer benefits and a streamlined application process for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs – are still important “low-hanging fruit.”

Expanding summer benefits for students eligible for free and reduced lunch is anticipated to cost $1.1 million this year, and approximately $260,000 each year thereafter. The initial start-up costs include technology improvements, personnel costs for administrative support and outreach efforts.

The state investment will be complimented by $4.5 million in federal funds and 37,000 children will be eligible for these summer benefits, according to Whitley.

“It just seems like a no-brainer that we should keep that continuity and kids just shouldn’t be able to have access to food just while they’re in school,” she said.

The streamlined SNAP application process does not expand eligibility for benefits. Instead, it allows for greater flexibility in verifying applicants, extends certification to 36 months and waives the interview requirement to be re-certified for five years to increase participation for adults who are over 60 years old.

The state incurs a one-time cost of $37,500 for technology associated with the program.

Before Rep. Art Ellison, a Concord Democrat, died in March, he championed free and reduced lunch expansion in the legislature as a state senator for three terms. At 80, his “dying wish” was to have House Bill 1212 passed, which would have expanded the income guidelines from 185 percent of the federal poverty line to 300 percent.

This expansion could build the foundation to someday introduce universal meals in schools, where New Hampshire remains the outlier to neighboring, Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont.

Lawmakers killed Ellison’s bill in the House along party lines, with Speaker Sherman Packard casting the deciding vote. Ellison’s family sat in the gallery and watched, as lawmakers had honored him earlier that session.

Although Whitley is not running for re-election in the Senate, after floating a congressional run, she said she will continue to carry on Ellison’s efforts and make food insecurity an ongoing conversation in the legislature.

“It is going to be Ellison’s legacy, we will make it happen and I think there is a deep commitment to get there,” she said. “Sometimes it does take time, but we’ll keep at it.”