The federal government’s Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program, which provides low-income families with $120 in food assistance per eligible child while schools are out of session, will officially launch as a permanent program this summer. Started in 2011 as a pilot project that served 12,500 families, Summer EBT has grown exponentially over the past decade and will reportedly help just under 21 million children this summer. The federal government estimates that it will provide $2.5 billion in benefits—a light lift for states, which need only split the administrative costs with the federal government.
Unfortunately, 14 states—all of which currently have Republican governors—have rejected using federal money to help feed millions of children while school is out for summer. According to the Associated Press, those 14 states are home to around 10 million eligible children.
Here are 14 Republican-controlled states that decided not to feed needy children using the Summer EBT program:
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Alaska: Despite being unable to manage Alaska’s substantial backlog of food-assistance applications, state officials said they thought the costs and administrative requirements weren’t worth it. Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks, says 1 in 8 children in Alaska face hunger, and 41.3% of households receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in the state have children.
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Idaho: The Summer EBT program would have provided Idaho with millions of dollars in federal food assistance, impacting an estimated 123,000 children, but the state decided not to participate. Who decided? Nobody knows for sure as one of the most Republican states in the Union is filled with conservative officials who were unwilling to take responsibility when the state chose to forego similar funds in 2023.
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Wyoming: When the Equality State opted out of the Summer EBT program, Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder defended the decision. “I will not let the Biden Administration weaponize summer school lunch programs to justify a new welfare program,” she said. “Thanks, but no thanks. We will continue to combat childhood hunger the Wyoming way.” What say you, facts? According to local news outlet WyoFile, “At 11.4%, Wyoming’s average prevalence of household food insecurity between 2020-2022 is slightly higher than the U.S. average of 11.2%, according to the Department of Agriculture.”
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South Dakota: Summer EBT would have provided millions of dollars to help the tens of thousands children who face food insecurity, but Gov. Kristi Noem said meal programs are already offered and administering the program would be hard. Department of Education spokeswoman Nancy Van Der Weide told news outlets that the state would have a hard time getting the right information on which kids needed assistance and that’s why the state rejected the funding in 2022 and 2023, as well. As of December, South Dakota was instead looking for “sponsors” for their summer food programs.
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Iowa: Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds rejected the $29.4 million that could have benefited just under 245,000 Iowans. “An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic,” Reynolds said, despite the fact that food insecurity in her state has recently increased. On, Iowa, on forever more!
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Oklahoma: Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt opted out of Summer EBT, making factually incorrect statements about the robustness of his state’s food-assistance programs, and questioning the federal program in the first place. Feeding America reports that more than 180,000 children in Oklahoma face hunger—that’s 1 in 5. Despite Stitt, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw Nations will offer the program to eligible children on their reservations.
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Texas: The Lone Star State said that they cannot implement the program this summer because of “current resource constraints at the state agencies, the level of effort needed to implement a new program, and the need for new appropriations from the Legislature.” The promising news is that the state didn’t rule out participating in Summer EBT in the future, meaning that the more than 1.3 million Texas children facing hunger may eventually get assistance if Texas can get its act together.
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Louisiana: With more than 230,000 children facing food insecurity (1 in 5), and with Democratic officials imploring Gov. Jeff Landry to reconsider his opposition to the program, Louisianans will not be receiving the $71 million in federal food assistance this summer. Why? According to a Louisiana Department of Education spokesperson, “it would be “improper to commit Governor Landry and a new legislature to millions of dollars in increased spending toward a new government program.”
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Mississippi: Gov. Tate Reeves, best known for not doing much about the misuse of welfare money in his state, opted out of the Summer EBT program, categorizing it as one of the many “attempts to expand the welfare state.” In his state, 1 in 5 children face food insecurity, according to Feeding America.
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Alabama: Like Texas, Alabama didn’t rule out participating in the program in 2025, but lawmakers in the Yellowhammer State claimed they could not properly administer the program in 2024 because they had not allocated the funds yet. Republican Gov. Kay Ivey was far more vague about figuring out how to create the budget to help feed more than 200,000 Alabama children, saying, “At this time, we are contemplating our next steps for 2025.”
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Georgia: With more than 335,000 children facing hunger, Gov. Brian Kemp opted out of the Summer EBT program, saying through his spokesperson, “This federal covid-era EBT program not only lacks basic nutritional requirements and sustainability but fails to address the mission of improving the health and wellness of our children.” Kemp’s office said that they would rely on the state’s “well-established and effective programs” that … have left more than 335,000 children facing hunger.
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South Carolina: After calling the program a relic of COVID-19 pandemic programs, Gov. Henry McMaster said, “We’ve got to get back to doing normal business. We can’t be doing that forever.” More than 141,000 food-insecure children live in his state.
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Florida: Everyone’s least favorite 2024 failed GOP candidate for president Gov. Ron DeSantis, continues to prove how much he cares for his state’s children, opting out of the program that the White House emphasized would have sent $250 million to the Sunshine State, costing “Floridians nothing” and potentially helping more than 2 million children who are eligible for the food assistance, according to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. DeSantis’ move comes on top of his state removing 360,000 kids from the Medicaid rolls in 2023.
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Vermont: Vermont is a very Democratic state with a Republican governor, but unlike Texas and Alabama, state officials have said they are hoping to opt in to the program by 2025. Deputy Commissioner of Children and Families Miranda Gray told Vermont Public that “Vermont is very committed to doing this, but also wanting to make sure we are doing this thoughtfully and correctly, because it is federal money that will be audited, so wanting to make sure that we are prepared.” According to Gray, the state’s information technology infrastructure is being modernized and officials are hopeful it will be ready to administer programs by next year.
Special mention goes to Republican-led Tennessee, which will be participating in the program this summer but says it plans to pull out of the program in 2025 because the existing federal SNAP funds are sufficient.
Feeding America reports that 1 out of 8 children in Tennessee, or just shy of 200,000 kids, face hunger and almost 42% of households currently receiving SNAP benefits have children residing in them.
Ohhhhh yeah! Democrats kicked ass and then some in Tuesday’s special election in New York, so of course we’re talking all about it on this week’s episode of “The Downballot.” Co-hosts David Nir and David Beard explain how Tom Suozzi’s win affects the math for Democrats’ plan to take back the House, then dive into the seemingly bottomless list of excuses Republicans have been making to handwave their defeat away. The bottom line: Suozzi effectively neutralized attacks on immigration—and abortion is still a huge loser for the GOP.
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