The U.S. House of Representatives has passed an appropriations bill to fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Included in this bill is funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), school meals, and other critical nutrition programs, which were set to lose funding next month due to the partial government shutdown. Earlier this week, USDA officials announced they would be able to fund these programs through February.

The American Heart Association (AHA) expressed support for the bill, noting that the funding was critical for federal programs critical to low-income people who rely on them to keep food on the table for their families.

According to the AHA: “The House bill would also fund important nutrition programs such as the National School Lunch Program; the School Breakfast Program; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); SNAP-Ed and the Child and Adult Care Feeding Program (CACFP), among others, for the remainder of FY2019. We urge the Senate to take up this appropriations bill to confirm funding for these programs.”

The AHA warned that funding these programs through February is only a short-term solution.

“States and beneficiaries of these essential programs continue to face great uncertainty. We call on Congress and the administration to resolve their differences in a way that does not threaten the health and wellbeing of our nation’s most vulnerable.”