According to a recent USDA study, 12% of Nebraskans experience food insecurity. That's higher than the national average.

If legislation that is the priority bill of state Sen. Jen Day, D-Papillion, becomes law, some lower-income Nebraska families will receive help paying for food. LB-952 would require the state to participate in the USDA's Summer EBT program. The program provides $40 on an EBT card per child per month during the summer to spend on groceries.

Gov. Jim Pillen decided the state would not participate. Day contends the USDA will waive the Dec. 31 deadline, and said she's encouraged by the support LB-952 has received in the Unicameral so far.

"I had 16 co-sponsors, both Republicans and Democrats. And we've been working on building that into a larger coalition of folks, so that hopefully, we will be able to override a veto in the event that that becomes necessary," Day said.

Pillen noted other summer meal options, such as the site-based USDA Summer Food Service program. However, advocates point out not all families can get their children to a meal site, especially in rural parts of the state. And the number of sites has declined significantly since the pandemic. 35 states and the District of Columbia, along with several territories and tribal nations, have enrolled in Summer EBT.

The first hearing on LB-952 is at 1:30 p.m. this Thursday.

One in nine Nebraska children is experiencing food insecurity.

Kay Wissman, community services director with Southeast Nebraska Community Action, said its food pantries served nearly 200 more households in fiscal year 2022-23 than in 2021-22, and added there's no doubt Nebraska families need help.

"Particularly during the summer when children are home, and they don't have access to at least that one, if not two, good meals at school, " Wissman explained.

Summer EBT would bring in roughly $18 million annually to assist families of about 150,000 Nebraska children.

Rebecca Firestone, executive director of the nonpartisan OpenSky Policy Institute, said the yearly administrative cost of around $300,000 is an investment that could bring the state a "significant return."

"There's a robust evidence base that suggests that when children are food secure, they do better in school. And the funds that those families spend on feeding their children is also money that goes back into supporting local economies," Firestone contended.

Three of Nebraska's neighbors -- Colorado, Kansas and Missouri -- are among the states enrolled in Summer EBT.

Children's advocates are crying foul after House Republicans called for $12 billion in cuts to school meal programs, including the Community Eligibility Provision, which allows high-poverty school districts to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students regardless of their ability to pay.

Erin Hysom, senior policy analyst at the Food Research and Action Center, said the funds are an important public investment and no child can learn on an empty stomach.

"We hear from teachers all the time that when schools offer healthy school meals for all, behavior in the classroom improves," Hysom reported. "Their academics improve and they're able to graduate and become more productive members of society."

Some 557 Colorado schools serving more than 206,000 students are projected to be affected. The proposed cuts are part of a sweeping effort by Republicans to eliminate waste and inefficiency in the federal budget in order to pay for extending President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts and other policy priorities, including mass deportations.

Hysom noted the Community Eligibility Provision has already reduced inefficiency and red tape, and cuts would send school nutrition directors away from kitchens and back to their desks to deal with unnecessary paperwork. She added the move would also affect farm-to-school initiatives putting money directly into the pockets of local farms and ranches.

"They're able to meet with local agricultural producers and bring in local products that not only improve the nutrition of the meal but also support the local economy," Hysom explained.

Cuts to federal nutrition funding would certainly not help Colorado's Healthy School Meals for All initiative, passed by voters in 2022. The popular program is competing with other priorities as the state grapples with a $1.2 billion budget shortfall.

Hysom worries the cuts could also mean the return of lunch line shaming.

"It really creates this stigma in the cafeteria," Hysom contended. "When we offer school meals to all children at no charge, it reduces that stigma."


get more stories like this via email

Organizations working to fight food insecurity across Arkansas support two bills before state legislators.

The Grocery Tax Relief Act would repeal the state grocery tax and the Good Neighbor Act would expand protections for food donors and food banks.

Brian Burton, CEO of Arkansas Foodbank, said several recent bills passed by lawmakers have helped Arkansans who cannot afford food.

"Expanding school lunch programs and raising the asset limit on SNAP Benefits," Burton outlined. "And in the current session they passed the universal Free School Breakfast bill."

Arkansas is one of only 10 states in the country with a grocery tax. It generates approximately $10 million a year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has ranked Arkansas number one for food insecurity for the last two years. If the bills are passed, they will go into effect in January 2026.

Burton noted they are monitoring possible changes in federal funding because of cuts by the Trump Administration.

"When they talk about cutting the federal budget, they are hurting low-resource states like Arkansas because we are very dependent on all the myriads of federal government programs," Burton pointed out. "Some of which have been funded for decades."

Nearly 11,000 more Arkansans are struggling to make ends meet than in 2022. It's estimated nearly 47% of Arkansas households are living paycheck to paycheck. Burton stressed those residents will be affected the most by any changes.

"Programs like SNAP and WIC, the Farm bill, these are mission-critical and central to the fight against food insecurity," Burton contended. "In fact, 80% of food insecurity is solved through some form of federal nutrition program."


get more stories like this via email

Gov. Bill Lee has opted Tennessee out of the federal Summer EBT program and nonprofit groups in the state said they will work to fill the gap for families in need.

Summer EBT provides $40 a month per child for food assistance when kids are out of school.

Ella Clay, executive director of the nonprofit Healing Minds and Souls, said losing $75 million in federal aid is disappointing. Her organization serves 500 meals a week and provides resources to families in the 37208 ZIP code, an area with high food insecurity and significant challenges for residents.

"We have food," Clay pointed out. "We have produce, vegetables, fruits, personal hygiene products, products for your household, and various products even for children. And so, those are the ways that we're here to serve our community."

Nearly 700,000 children benefited from the Summer EBT program last year in Tennessee. Gov. Lee has instead announced a state-funded alternative to provide a one-time, $120 payment to eligible families in underserved counties.

C.J. Sentell, CEO of the Nashville Food Project, said despite the proposed federal budget cuts, his organization vows to keep providing summer meals for kids and continue participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program and the Summer Food Service Program.

Sentell noted they are working with 50 partners to deliver nearly 7,000 meals weekly from two kitchens.

"We work with those organizations to enhance their programming with food," Sentell explained. "All of our work is done in partnership with other organizations and 65% of our meals are going to children and seniors, so, think after-school programs, senior adult programs."

He added they work with partners and use federal programs to reduce costs, providing food to child care centers like Saint Luke's Community House and have expanded partnerships in the past year to reach more people with food and curb costs.


get more stories like this via email