Iowa will not participate in a federal program that gives $40 per month to each child in a low-income family over the summer to help with food costs while school is out.

Iowa will not participate this summer in a federal program that gives $40 per month to each child in a low-income family to help with food costs while school is out, state officials have announced.

The state has notified the U.S. Department of Agriculture that it will not participate in the 2024 Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children — or Summer EBT — program, the state’s Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Education said in a Friday news release.

“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,” Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said in the news release.

…

A bipartisan group of Nebraska lawmakers have urged the state to reconsider, saying Summer EBT would address the needs of vulnerable children and benefit the state economically, the Journal Star reported.

    • @Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
      21•1 year ago

      That’s actually not the case. Per the linked article…

      States that participate in the federal program are required to cover half of the administrative costs, which would cost an estimated $2.2 million in Iowa, the news release says.

      Of course, that’s no excuse to turn this program down. Particularly since she also just announced that the state will “end Fiscal Year 2023 with a balance of $1.83 billion in the General Fund, $902 million in reserve funds and $2.74 billion in the Taxpayer Relief Fund.” $2.2 million is a drop in the bucket when it would benefit so many needy children.

        • @Vent@lemm.ee
          1•1 year ago

          $40 is not enough to feed a kid for an entire month, and it’s only for low-income kids, not all kids. And it’s only for the summer, not year-round. It’s a good thing and a no-brainer, but it’s not feeding every kid in the state. It’s not even completely feeding the kids it benefits.

    • proleEnglish
      18•1 year ago

      This is a federal program. It costs them nothing

      That’s really the most fucked up thing. These are always states that already take far more from the federal government than they provide in taxes, and they complain as if they’d be the ones paying for this shit.

      As someone who’s in a state that gives far more to the US government in taxes than we take, I should have more of a say where that money goes, and I would prefer to continue giving aid to these children in Iowa. In fact, it should be more.