The Iowa Hunger Coalition has renewed its call for Gov. Kim Reynolds to have the state participate in the USDA’s Summer EBT program. The program provides direct funds to families with children receiving federal food assistance to help them cover the increased cost of food during summer months when kids aren’t in school.
Iowa was one of 14 Republican-led states — along with Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont and Wyoming — that have rejected increased federal food assistance provided through Summer EBT in 2024.
The program, also known as SUN Bucks, provides SNAP recipients with an extra $40 per month for each child in a family receiving SNAP benefits, or benefits through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, as well as those participating in the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations. Enrollment is automatic, and the extra funds are loaded directly onto their existing EBT cards.
The extra benefits last for the three months schools are on summer break, a period when the burden on food insecure families greatly increases. It’s estimated that 245,000 children in Iowa would be assisted by the Summer EBT program in 2025, if the state participates.
Despite studies showing the program allows families to access better nutritional options, the governor says she is convinced that it doesn’t help kids eat better.
“An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic,” Reynolds said in December 2023, when she rejected the federal funding for 2024.
In place of the Summer EBT program, the governor launched a competitive grant program, in which nonprofits could apply for funds to set up new summer meal sites for kids. The governor allocated $900,000 for her grant program, which amounted to 3.1 percent of the $29 million that would have been provided to Iowa families through Summer EBT. The money came from the funds Iowa received through the American Rescue Plan Act, which President Biden signed into law in 2021.
The governor’s program resulted in an additional 21 summer meal sites being set up around the state.
Three months ago, Reynolds announced Iowa wouldn’t participate in the Summer EBT program next year. But the governor still wants additional money from the USDA. She submitted a waiver request to use the federal funds to create her own “summer feeding demonstration project” instead.
“Three monthly boxes with healthy foods would be available at distribution sites during the summer months,” is how the governor’s office described the demonstration project in an August news release. The boxes would be available to families whose children receive free or reduced price school meals that sign up for the project. There would be a home-delivery option for those who are unable to get to a site.
Following a review of the waiver request, the USDA rejected it. Undeterred, the governor said she would reapply for the waiver after President-elect Trump takes office.
“I would be extremely surprised if this waiver request was granted,” Luke Elzinga, chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition, said during an online news conference on Monday.
Elzinga pointed out the legislation creating the Summer EBT program specifically set it up as an electronic benefit transfer program.
“It is written in the statute. I think that if this were just a minor waiver request, there may be a better shot,” he said. “But this is not just a simple waiver request. The state is asking to waive 29 separate pieces of federal code. They’re essentially saying, ‘we would like this money, we don’t want to participate in the program.’”
Even if the Trump administration’s USDA were inclined to grant a waiver, Elzinga said, “I don’t think USDA has that authority to make that sweeping of a waiver.”
In a statement about the USDA rejection. Reynolds said her “summer feeding demonstration project would feed nearly 60,000 more Iowa children than” the Summer EBT program.
Elzinga pointed out the governor based her number on every family eligible signing up for the project using a new online registration portal the state would create, even though participation rates for two well-established nutrition assistance program run below 50 percent. Only 42 percent of Iowans eligible for SNAP participate in the program, and for the Woman, Infants and Children (WIC) program, the participation rate in the state is 45 percent.
Elzinga was joined at the news conference by Executive Director of Common Good Iowa Anne Disher, Paige Chickering, Iowa state manager for Save the Children Action Network, and Coralville Community Food Pantry Executive Director John Boller, who also serves on the coalition’s board.
The Iowa Hunger Coalition appreciates “the governor’s recognition that Iowa is facing a hunger crisis, and that many Iowans experiencing food insecurity are not adequately being served by nutrition programs in our state,” Elzinga said. But the coalition believes it vitally important for the governor to let Iowa join the Summer EBT program, in addition to whatever steps she may intend to take at the state level.
States have until Jan. 1 to sign up to participate in the summer 2025 program.
“Summer EBT was created to complement, not to replace, summer meal sites,” Disher said.
Boller said the program “has been shown to improve healthy eating while reducing childhood insecurity. Parents should be trusted to make the best food choices for their children.”
In addition to her claim that participants would not make healthy choices if allowed to join the Summer EBT program, the governor has also cited her concern over the cost of the program as a reason for rejecting it. The state would have to split the cost of administering the program with the federal government. It would cost Iowa just over $2 million to provide access for the 245,000 eligible children. But, as Chickering explained, the state can qualify for a USDA grant that would cover about half its cost.
“We could actually provide $29 million in nutrition benefits to our kids at a cost of just $1.1 million to the state of Iowa,” she said.
In addition to joining the Summer EBT program, the coalition is also calling on the governor to take other steps to help food insecure Iowans, including increasing efforts to make sure Iowans are aware when they are eligible for SNAP, WIC and free school meals. The coalition also recommends raising the income eligibility level for SNAP benefits from 160 percent of the federal poverty level to 200 percent.
“We estimate that doing so would extend SNAP eligibility to over 200,000 Iowans, half of whom are children and seniors,” Elzinga said.
Other recommendations included expanding the availability of free school meals for students, and investing in the Double Up Food Buck program, which makes it easier for SNAP participants to afford fresh fruits and vegetables.
Asked about the likely impact of the second Trump administration on the Summer EBT program, Elzinga said, “We’ve seen no indications that Summer EBT in particular would be under attack. This is a permanent program, it’s funded for next year.”
“What we do know is there have been a number of proposals targeting SNAP and other nutrition programs,” he added. “So, we as advocates are fully prepared, whether that’s at the federal or state level, to protect SNAP, to protect benefits, to protect the ability of people to choose what foods they’re purchasing with the program.”
Disher said the changes the coalition is advocating for might seem ambitious given the current political leadership in Des Moines and the change in leadership coming in Washington D.C., but that ambition is necessary.
“We must be ambitious when it comes to fighting hunger, because Iowa is facing a hunger crisis,” she said. “Our people are struggling. Food banks and food pantries are breaking record after record, and some are closing because they can’t keep up with the demand.”
