Governors of 15 U.S. states are putting politics ahead of the needs of hungry children by opting out of a new federal food assistance program that launches this year, critics say.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced the remaining 35 states, four Native American tribes and all five U.S. territories have signed up for the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program, which will provide low-income families $40 a month for each child.
Jason Coker
But Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont and Wyoming passed on the opportunity. Some described the program as a form of welfare and others claimed electronic benefit transfers, or EBTs, can be abused or squandered on unhealthy food.
Child nutrition advocates have been astonished by the disparagement of a program that will serve close to 21 million children and will supplement existing federal meals programs.
“All the evidence that exists shows that when you give families who are economically disadvantaged such assistance, they spend it on food for their kids, clothes for their kids and housing for their kids,” said Jason Coker, president of Together for Hope, a rural development coalition that fights poverty and food insecurity in more than 300 of the nation’s poorest counties.
Kathy Castor
Other anti-hunger advocates criticized the governors for trading childhood nutrition for political gains.
“Gov. DeSantis is putting Florida families at a disadvantage, yet again, due to his extreme politics by rejecting $248 million that would benefit approximately 2 million children across the state,” said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla.
Participating in the program would have created an estimated $466 million in extra economic activity in 2024, the Florida Policy Institute estimated.
“He has turned his back on families and children and, again, failed to bring our tax dollars back to Florida,” Castor said. “DeSantis’ short-sighted, reckless and downright cruel rejection of this funding will take food away from children and risk significant harm to the health and well-being of children throughout the state.”
Austin-based KUT News reported Texas did not participate in the program because the timing of its launch occurred after the latest legislative session. But that did not lessen the disappointment of childhood nutrition advocates.
Rachel Cooper
“It’s a no-brainer to me that we should be doing summer EBTs that would help about 3.7 million children and is estimated to bring about nearly a half a billion (dollars) into the economy over the summer,” said Rachel Cooper, director of health and food justice with Every Texan. “This is really just a failure on our part to do the work to get this done for this year.”
But governors in some of those states have been unfazed and unapologetic for passing on the program, with some criticizing it as an example of redundant and wasteful government spending.
Jim Pillen
“COVID-19 is over, and Nebraska taxpayers expect that pandemic-era government relief programs will end, too,” Gov. Jim Pillen said. “To be clear, this does not mean that hungry kids will lose access to summer nutrition programs. Nebraska continues to participate in the existing USDA Summer Food Services Program, which best ensures access to nutritious food options and protective services to children who are in need.”
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds bashed the new program as ineffective. “Federal COVID-era cash benefit programs are not sustainable and don’t provide long-term solutions for the issues impacting children and families,” she said.
Kim Reynolds
EBTs are inadequate in combating the epidemic of childhood obesity because they often are used to purchase unhealthy food, Reynolds claimed. Besides, the U.S. departments of Health and Human Services and Education already offer programs addressing hunger through state and federal partnerships, she added.
“If the Biden administration and Congress want to make a real commitment to family well-being, they should invest in already existing programs and infrastructure at the state level and give us the flexibility to tailor them to our state’s needs,” she said.
Coker disputed the assertion EBTs are misused or deficient in addressing childhood hunger.
“There is no evidence that people overspend when they have EBTs, or that they spend money on things they are not supposed to buy,” Coker said. “And when it comes to buying unhealthy food, when you live in a food desert, the only place to get food a lot of times is in gas stations. So, yeah, you are going to get potted meat and snacks and macaroni and cheese. For a lot of these folks, those are the only choices.”
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