The state told the Agriculture Department that it won't participate in the federal Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children program.

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.

  • Twentytwodividedby7@lemmy.world
    86·
    11 months ago

    Iowa has a budget of $8.5B. This program has about 93k eligible families in the state. At $40 per month, assuming 3 months for summer, the total cost is about $11M. Or 0.10% of their state budget. It’s a rounding error…

    • iforgotmyinstance@lemmy.worldEnglish
      33·
      11 months ago

      It’s not even Iowa money, it’s a federal subsidy right?

      Who does this clown think she’s saving money for? The federal budget doesn’t truly exist, we just use numbers for fun.

      • ersatz@infosec.pub
        52·
        11 months ago

        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.”

        They’re upset because the federal cash goes directly to the needy families. They want it to pass through them first so they can skim most of it off the top.