The Baffling Case of Gov. Bill Lee vs. Sun Bucks
Governor rejects summer food assistance for kids, 675,000 children face food insecurity
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is among the red state governors rejecting the Sun Bucks program — an extension of SNAP designed to help families bridge the gap during the summer months when free/reduced price school meals are not available.
It’s baffling because Lee directed his Administration to spend the exact same amount of state funds as if Tennessee had accepted Sun Bucks to set up a new program. Only, the new, state-run plan covers just 25,000 kids. With Sun Bucks, the state covered a portion of the administrative costs and accepted enough money to feed 700,000 kids.
Sun Bucks is a pragmatic and powerful innovation. After fifty years of relying primarily on congregate meal service, pandemic-era pilots proved that grocery benefits are a high-impact complement. By institutionalizing that lesson, Sun Bucks delivers $120 per child to bridge the summer nutrition gap while preserving meal sites where they are effective. And beyond reducing hardship, the program’s $3.5 billion in benefits may generate over $5 billion in local economic activity each summer, supporting families, businesses, farmers, and communities alike. States that decline to participate are not just forgoing a proven strategy to reduce child hunger — they are turning down fully funded federal benefits that could strengthen their own local economies.
It’s also baffling because it works, as noted above. For just $40/month, families get the help they need to purchase extra food in the summer.
I’ve written before about how Tennessee policymakers often proclaim loyalty to religious teachings they don’t seem to want to follow with action:
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