By:  Ellis                                             S.R. No. 328
    1-1                           SENATE RESOLUTION
    1-2        WHEREAS, Every day in Texas many parents must decide between
    1-3  buying groceries and paying rent, between feeding their children and
    1-4  heating their homes, and between sending their children to school
    1-5  after a good breakfast or sending them with adequate clothing; and
    1-6        WHEREAS, Thousands of low-income families across this state
    1-7  face a daily struggle due to inadequate resources and support; and
    1-8        WHEREAS, The Texas Childhood Hunger Identification Project,
    1-9  the most comprehensive study of childhood hunger in Texas, has
   1-10  determined that one in nine Texas children under 12 are hungry;
   1-11  and
   1-12        WHEREAS, More than 60 percent of the children under 12 in
   1-13  the low-income families surveyed by the Texas Childhood Hunger
   1-14  Identification Project were hungry or at risk of hunger; and
   1-15        WHEREAS, Children from hungry households experienced nearly
   1-16  twice as many health problems as children from nonhungry households;
   1-17  and
   1-18        WHEREAS, Hunger can impair a child's ability to learn and to
   1-19  succeed in school and it can make children more susceptible to
   1-20  illness; and
   1-21        WHEREAS, There were working family members in more than
   1-22  70 percent of the families identified as hungry, but the family
   1-23  incomes were not great enough to provide adequate food for the
    2-1  children; and
    2-2        WHEREAS, Current food and nutrition programs provide an
    2-3  important defense against childhood hunger; and
    2-4        WHEREAS, Over 60 percent of the families in the survey had
    2-5  received food stamps in the past year; more than 90 percent of the
    2-6  families had heard of the Special Supplemental Food Program for
    2-7  Women, Infants and Children program (WIC); more than 1.3 million
    2-8  children in Texas receive free or reduced price school lunches
    2-9  daily; hundreds of thousands of children and families rely on other
   2-10  food and nutrition programs as part of their fight against hunger;
   2-11  and
   2-12        WHEREAS, Despite the success of current food and nutrition
   2-13  programs, many families who are eligible for assistance are either
   2-14  unaware of the programs or believe that they do not qualify for
   2-15  them; now, therefore, be it
   2-16        RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas,
   2-17  74th Legislature, hereby commend the Center for Public Policy
   2-18  Priorities for its invaluable work on the Texas Childhood Hunger
   2-19  Identification Project; and, be it further
   2-20        RESOLVED, That Texas work to improve economic security for
   2-21  low-income families through job creation and work force development,
   2-22  so that they can feed their families adequately, be free of the need
   2-23  for public assistance, and end the daily struggle with hunger; and,
   2-24  be it further
   2-25        RESOLVED, That ending childhood hunger be a priority for this
    3-1  country, for Texas, and for individual communities across the state.
    3-2                               ______________________________________
    3-3                                       President of the Senate
    3-4                                    I hereby certify that the above
    3-5                               Resolution was adopted by the Senate
    3-6                               on February 28, 1995.
    3-7                               ______________________________________
    3-8                                       Secretary of the Senate
    3-9                               ______________________________________
   3-10                                        Member, Texas Senate