Governor Reynolds says the State of Iowa will participate in the federal program that gives low income families with school aged children $40 a month during the summer to buy food.
Starting January 1, the USDA has given Iowa permission to prohibit food stamps from being used by buy things like soft drinks and candy and Reynolds says federal officials have authorized the same limitations for the summer food program known as SUN Bucks. The Biden Administration had turned down similar requests in the past and Reynolds opted out of the summer feeding program for the past two years.
“Folks who work in the anti-hunger space are just absolutely elated that Iowa will be opting into Summer EBT. I think it is a huge win for kids and families in Iowa, for our pantry partners, for the food banks,” said Paige Chickering, vice chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition.
Reynolds used about $9 million from the USDA this past summer to provide boxes of food to eligible households. The Iowa Hunger Coalition has lobbied the governor to re-join the summer feeding program, making Iowa eligible for nearly three times as much federal funding. “We’re just incredibly grateful and excited the children across Iowa will be able to benefit from Summer EBT and have access to food and nutrition during those summer months when they lose access to those free and reduced price summer meals,” Chickering said.
In a written statement, Governor Reynolds said it was a challenge this past summer for some food banks and food pantries to manage delivery of her food box program this past summer and the USDA has now agreed to new, nutrition-focused limits on what the pre-paid debit cards in the SUN bucks program can be used to buy.