Tennessee’s Governor is Mean
Why is feeding hungry kids a partisan issue?
I don’t understand much about the current political climate.
But, until recently, I thought that “both sides” in American politics would at least agree that feeding hungry kids was a good thing.
A long-time, bipartisan program to do just that, though, ran into some obstacles in Tennessee.
Namely, Governor Bill Lee and his refusal to accept millions of dollars in summer food aid for kids.
On February 14, 2025, the Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) announced that the state will spend $3 million to implement a limited version of the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (S-EBT) program, providing food assistance to children in just 15 counties. This decision excludes at least 675,000 children across 80 counties who will not receive critical support to help pay for groceries during the summer months as food prices continue to rise.
This program supplements SNAP benefits for people with kids who would normally receive a free or reduced-price lunch during the school year.
Now, families who were counting on these funds to help support their food budgets this summer will not have them.
The Governor will spend the same amount of state money as if he’d taken the federal funds and feed significantly fewer kids.
All to “stick it” to the federal government and show that Tennessee can manage on its own.
Just sad.
And then, there’s action at the federal level to reduce funds available for school lunches and local food banks.
Elon Musk’s DOGE slashed a USDA program that offers states money to purchase locally sourced food for food banks and schools. Tennessee stands to lose $20 million from the cuts.
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