DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa will not participate this summer in a federal program that gives $40 a 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 Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children 2024 – or Summer EBT – program, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services and the state Department of Education in a news release Friday.
“COVID-era federal benefit programs are not sustainable and do not provide long-term solutions to the problems impacting children and families. An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic,” Republican Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said in the press release.
She added: “If the Biden administration and Congress are truly committed to family well-being, they must invest in pre-existing programs and infrastructure at the state level and give us the flexibility to tailor them to the needs of our state.”
States participating in the federal program must cover half of the administrative costs, which in Iowa would cost an estimated $2.2 million, the news release said.
Some state lawmakers, including Democratic Sen. Izaah Knox of Des Moines, quickly voiced their opposition to the decision.
“It is extremely disappointing that the Reynolds administration plans to reject federal money that could put food on the table for hungry Iowa children,” Knox said in a statement. “This cruel and shortsighted decision will have real consequences for children and families in my district and communities across Iowa.”
At least 18 states and territories and two tribal nations — Cherokee Nation and Chickasaw Nation — have announced they plan to join the program in the summer of 2024, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The list includes Arizona, California, Kansas, Minnesota, West Virginia, American Samoa and Guam.
Other states, territories and eligible tribal nations have until Jan. 1 to notify the Department of Agriculture of their intent to participate in the program this summer.
