The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that 15 Republican Governors have rejected a new, federally funded summer program to give assistance to hungry children. The program, Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer, which a bipartisan Congress approved in 2022, will give eligible families $40 per month for each child to buy food at grocery stores, farmers markets or other authorized retailers.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that nearly 21 million children (approximately 70 percent of the eligible children in the country) will receive the grocery benefits this summer across all but 15 states.
Moving beyond efforts to block expansion of health care for the poor and disabled, Republican governors in 15 states are now rejecting a new, federally funded summer program to give food assistance to hungry children. https://t.co/VZ1hUzxQtd
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 10, 2024
The 15 states (all of which are run by Republican governors) not participating in the program are:
Alabama (Kay Ivey), Alaska (Mike Dunleavy), Florida (Ron DeSantis), Georgia (Brian Kemp), Iowa (Kim Reynolds), Idaho (Brad Little), Louisiana (Jeff Landry), Mississippi (Tate Reeves), Nebraska (Jim Pillen), South Carolina (Henry McMaster), South Dakota (Kristi Noem), Texas (Greg Abbott), Vermont (Phil Scott), and Wyoming (Mark Gordon).
[According to USDA estimates, the State of Texas has the second highest number of children eligible for the summer EBT program: 3.8 million, and Florida has the third highest number of children eligible (2.2 million). California, which is participating in the program, has the most (3.9 million).]
Republican Iowa Governor Reynolds said in a statement: “Federal COVID-era cash benefit programs are not sustainable and don’t provide long-term solutions for the issues impacting children and families. An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic.”
Pure and simple, children will go hungry this summer because Republican governors are playing political games instead of looking after their people. It’s beyond shameful. https://t.co/nIfRIjjJEm
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 11, 2024
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) amplified the Washington Post article on X and wrote: “Pure and simple, children will go hungry this summer because Republican governors are playing political games instead of looking after their people. It’s beyond shameful.”
Note: The Summer EBT program advances the goals of the Biden-Harris Administration’s White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.
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