Nebraska’s Republican governor on Friday reiterated his rejection of $18 million in federal funding to assist feed youngsters who would possibly in any other case go hungry whereas faculty is out.
Nebraska won’t take part within the 2024 Summer time Digital Advantages Switch for Youngsters — or Summer time EBT — program, Gov. Jim Pillen stated in a written assertion. That assertion got here as advocates for youngsters and low-income households held a information convention outdoors the Governor’s Mansion in Lincoln to name on Pillen to vary his thoughts earlier than the Jan. 1 deadline to enroll in this system.
This system — a part of federal help made obtainable in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic — would supply pre-loaded EBT playing cards to households whose youngsters are eligible totally free and reduced-price lunches in school. These households would obtain $40 per eligible baby monthly over the summer season. The playing cards can be utilized to purchase groceries, much like how SNAP advantages are used.
“COVID-19 is over, and Nebraska taxpayers expect that pandemic-era government relief programs will end too,” Pillen stated in his assertion. Pillen introduced on Dec. 19 that Nebraska wouldn’t take part in this system. He has drawn a firestorm of criticism for later defending that stance at a information convention by saying, “I don’t believe in welfare.”
Neighboring Iowa is also opting out of the program, with Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds saying that call final week and saying, “An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic.”
States that take part within the federal program are required to cowl half of the executive prices, which might price Nebraska an estimated $300,000. Advocates of this system notice that the executive price is much outweighed by the $18 million profit, which the U.S. Division of Agriculture estimates would profit 175,000 Nebraska youngsters who would possibly in any other case go hungry on some days in the course of the summer season.
Advocacy group Nebraska Appleseed on Friday delivered a petition bearing greater than 6,100 signatures from 230 communities throughout Nebraska calling on the state to make the most of the federal Summer time EBT program. A lot of those that signed the petition additionally included feedback expressing how a lot this system is required, particularly in mild of multi-year inflation that has outpaced many family incomes.
“Everything is expensive,” wrote one mom from Bruno, a small rural city in jap Nebraska. “I’m a single mom who works full time, and my budget is already spread so thin. My son plays sports, and as a growing boy, he could practically eat a hole through the wall; it feels like it never stops. The extra money for food would free up money for things like bills and savings, and car maintenance.”
Pillen insisted Friday that the state would proceed to assist food-insecure youngsters by means of the Summer time Meals Service Program, which supplies meals and snacks at varied websites when faculty isn’t in session. Offering on-site companies additionally permits suppliers to identify and report points like malnutrition, neglect and abuse in youngsters, he stated.
However critics say not all households have entry to the on-site packages — notably in Nebraska’s huge rural stretches, the place websites might be many miles away from a struggling household.
“No kid ever said, ‘I want to be born into a family that struggles,’” stated Jenni Benson, president of the Nebraska State Schooling Affiliation — the state’s largest academics union. “Why would we even question that people and children deserve food?”
Preston Love Jr,, a longtime neighborhood advocate in Omaha, on Friday questioned whether or not Pillen was bowing to political stress in rejecting the federal funding.
“I know the governor a little bit, and he seems to be a reasonable man. He’s a man who is compassionate in conversation,” Love stated. “This is out of character. So, obviously, he’s not following his heart. He’s following his politics. He’s falling victim to political posturing, and there’s no excuse for that when it comes to children.”
As of Friday, 28 different states and 6 different U.S. territories and Native American tribes had confirmed their participation, in line with the USDA.
