Thirty-seven states have signed up for summer meal dollars for kids. Idaho is not among them.

The Department of Agriculture's Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program provides up to $40 per child per month for eligible families who qualify for free or reduced price lunches during the school year.

It's an extension of a pandemic-era food benefits program. However, Idaho is among the 13 states that decided not to participate this summer.

Dawn Pierce is a board member of the Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force, and said that means families will have to find other ways to feed themselves.

"They're going to continue to rely on churches, food pantries, neighbors to help them get through the summer," said Pierce, "and we could have alleviated a lot of the pressure put on local food pantries and local charities by implementing Summer EBT."

About 107,000 children in Idaho would have been eligible for the Summer EBT program this year, according to the Food Resource and Action Center.

The state would have had to cover $545,000 in administrative fees. Opponents of the legislation say the state doesn't need the welfare program.

Pierce noted that in legislative debates over the program, lawmakers erroneously claimed that kids would be able to buy energy drinks with the money, and that families making six figures would be eligible.

"The senators were factually incorrect when they were debating this," said Pierce. "One senator said that she didn't like it because there were no work requirements for the children and it doesn't teach them that you work for what you get."

State Sen. Cindy Carlson - R-Riggins - made the reference to work requirements and said the program would send the wrong message to parents and kids if the state provided "for everybody without needing something in return."

But Pierce said her organization and others are still fighting for Idaho's participation in the program.

"We're not done," said Pierce. "You can opt in to it at any time. It's not just, 'Well, you didn't do it for '24, so you're done forever.' You can do this every year until you get in."




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A state-funded matched savings program has helped low-income Oregonians for more than 25 years and backers said it needs more funding to continue.

Participants in the Oregon Individual Development Account Initiative save money toward specific goals like buying a home or vehicle, or going to college, while working with local nonprofits. Once they reach their savings goal, the state matches it at a 5-1 ratio, helping build long-term financial stability.

Abi Brambila, a first-generation college graduate and small business owner, credits the program for the financial support to make college possible, and its budgeting classes for giving her confidence.

"These skills are going to take you further than any amount of money," Brambila pointed out. "For me, it really has been life-changing, and I do believe that other people deserve to get into a program like this."

Despite rising costs for goals like education and homeownership, program funding has remained flat for 15 years. Advocates are asking the legislature to update the funding to reflect inflation.

Cameron Herrington, director of policy and advocacy for the nonprofit Neighborhood Partnerships, which helps distribute the funds, said lawmakers have two options to shore up the program's funding: raise the cap on its main tax credit or dedicate some lottery revenue.

Herrington noted the program has helped more than 19,000 low-income Oregonians since it started, but cannot continue at its current pace without more support. He added both bills have bipartisan backing statewide.

"It's a matter of the budget writers at the legislature stepping up to the plate now and fixing the funding," Herrington emphasized. "It's overdue but we've set it up for them to make an easy decision to keep this program strong for the future."

Both bills to increase funding are in committee. Backers of the initiative said it helps bridge the growing income gap in the state, as well as the racial wealth gap. Data show the top 1% of earners in the state have more income than the bottom 50% of Oregonians combined.


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The Trump administration has slashed jobs and closed research centers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Experts said the effects will be felt in West Virginia, where coal miners depend on the agency for its Coal Workers Health Surveillance Program.

Scott Laney was a research epidemiologist at the program's Morgantown office until it was shut down. He said miners will not have access to health care or mobile X-ray screening.

"Miners are offered chest X-rays throughout their working career," Laney explained. "We administer that program with the goal of identifying the earliest stages of black lung and providing a resource to miners where they can move to a less dusty part of the mine."

After decades of being on the decline, black lung disease among miners in recent years has been on the rise, largely driven by increased exposure to fine silica dust. The federal government passed a law last year to cut in half the allowed exposure limit for crystalline silica during an eight-hour shift.

Laney stressed more miners and their families will suffer without a robust Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program.

"The bottom line is this was certainly going to lead to more premature mortality," Laney contended. "Coal miners are going to be dying younger and younger because we were unable to identify their disease and stop it from progressing."

Laney added he is equally concerned about the safety of workers in other fields, noting the institute is responsible for investigating firefighter deaths. He also pointed out N95 masks used during the pandemic were certified by the institute's workers to ensure a standard of safety and efficacy.

Ahead of Tax Day, a national receipt shows where some Ohio tax dollars were spent in 2024.

War and weaponry remain top federal expenses, with the average tax filer paying more than $3,700 to maintain America's military arsenal.

Lindsay Koshgarian, program director of the Institute for Policy Studies, said that cost could increase for 2025, since President Donald Trump has said he wants a $1 trillion military budget.

"We've been expecting to see it hit a trillion dollars some time in the near future," said Koshgarian, "but I don't think we were expecting it quite so soon as this."

She said the military budget decreased slightly after the 2008 recession, but has been noticeably increasing the past few years. A $1 trillion military budget would be the largest on record.

The average tax filer paid under $18,000 in federal taxes last year, with the greatest share supporting Americans' health through Medicaid, Medicare, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Trump and billionaire Elon Musk have vowed to cut at least $1 trillion in spending.

But Koshgarian warned that eliminating smaller agencies - which work to alleviate homelessness, for example - won't reap much reward.

"And so, I think what we're likely to see next year is a lot less money for things like that," said Koshgarian, "without necessarily any appreciable savings for most of us."

Americans on average pay just one penny to help keep people off the streets. The average cost for deportations and border enforcement is just under $100.

Koshgarian said that cost could jump next year as well, as Trump continues to call for the deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants.

This story was produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.





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