With the holidays and Thanksgiving behind us, low-income Iowans will likely experience increased worry in 2024. Reduced SNAP benefits running out sooner each month, grocery costs still bloated. And now, shockingly, Republican governor Kim Reynolds has decided not to accept $20 million in federal monies through the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) program for children’s lunches the following summer.
Thus, $40 a month per child is not enough to make up for three months of not receiving free or reduced-price school meals. Reynolds maintains that the existing state programs will make up the shortfall. Additionally, she asserts that they provide superior nutrition, preventing the “epidemic” of childhood obesity. According to the governor, Iowa will not have to pay $2.2 million in EBT administration fees.
Reynolds stated, “If the Biden Administration and Congress want to really commit to family well-being, they should invest in state-level infrastructure and already-existing programs and give us the flexibility to tailor them to our state’s needs.”
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