Perez's 'banana bill' passes House, allowing childcare providers to prepare, serve fresh produce
May 2-U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, is celebrating a personal win this week after the House agreed Wednesday to pass the Cutting Red Tape on Child Care Providers Act championed by Perez since her first term in Congress.
Perez introduced House Bill 1889 in March 2025 with bipartisan support from eight co-sponsors that included four House Democrats and four House Republicans.
The childcare providers legislation, which Perez has long called "the banana bill," would prevent states that receive grants under the 1990 Child Care and Development Block Grant Act from regulating childcare providers' ability to prepare and serve fresh fruits and vegetables.
On Wednesday, Perez's bill was connected to a five-year farm bill - the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026 - that passed the House 224-200 with the support of 14 Democrats, including Perez. Disability rights groups and others have criticized the Republican-led farm bill for provisions they said will reduce people's access to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and lead to greater food insecurity.
Perez, who had introduced a similar bill with Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina in 2024, explained banana bill's origins during an August 2025 town hall in Battle Ground.
"I heard from daycare providers that the state told them they couldn't peel a banana because that was considered food prep," Perez said. "So they could open a bag of chips but couldn't peel a banana."
Perez said she spent several weeks asking regulators why this might be happening, only to be told that the childcare providers didn't understand the rules.
"And then they found this thing where they would need six more sinks before they could actually peel a banana legally for a toddler," she said. "That makes no kind of sense. So, I introduced a bill, and this is one of the ways that we can use federal policy to shape a more reasonable landscape for small businesses."
The bill addresses "simple food preparation" including the washing, peeling, cutting and serving of produce.
"Access to minimally processed fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds is crucial for the development and well-being of children," according to the bill's text. "Licensed childcare providers often face restrictions on food preparation that limit their ability to serve fresh fruits and vegetables."
The bill claims regulations on preparing and serving fresh produce at home- and family-based childcare centers are "complicated and burdensome."
On April 16, Perez appealed to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to help change those regulations. In Washington, for instance, childcare providers must have a certain number of sinks per linear square foot to meet state health regulations regarding preparing and serving food.
"Many states who receive funding from your department are not able to peel a banana because the state considers that food prep," Perez said. "We need to reconceptualize and understand and recognize that there's a difference between preparing a raw chicken cutlet and peeling a banana."
The bill states that current food preparation regulations on childcare centers make it easier for providers to serve "pre-packaged, often ultra-processed snacks" rather than simply peel a banana or serve fresh apple slices.
"Byzantine regulations are negatively impacting the quality of nutrition our kids receive - and the status quo makes it easier to open a bag of chips than to peel and slice a banana," Perez said in a March 2025 news release. "It's time to acknowledge that a childcare provider's capacity to navigate a bureaucracy is not the arbiter of the quality of care they provide to our kids. This bipartisan legislation is a step toward giving them the regulatory clarity, agency, and respect they merit."
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This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 6:02 PM.