Lawmakers call on Reynolds to apply for federal assistance to help feed kids during summer

Iowa Democratic lawmakers have implored Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to apply for federal assistance to help provide food for Iowa school children during summer break.

Iowa state Sens. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-Waukee, and Izaah Knox, D-Des Moines, and state Rep. Sean Bagniewski, D-Des Moines, sent a letter to Reynolds Thursday urging the governor to take advantage of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Pandemic EBT program.

The program provides families with children extra benefits for groceries when their kids aren’t receiving meals from school. Created as part of federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools and child care centers were closed or operating with reduced hours or attendance, families with children receiving free or reduced-price meals could apply for a debit-type card to purchase food to make up for missing school meals.

As of Thursday afternoon, Iowa was one of 10 states that had not yet applied for funding for the summer. A total of 14 states had not yet been approved, according to a USDA website. Four have applied and are in the process of being approved, according to Senate Democrats.

The deadline for the state to apply is July 14.

Iowa participated in the pandemic EBT program last year, providing food assistance benefits to school children in grades K-12 who were eligible to receive free or reduced price meals during the 2021-22 school year, and to school children who were newly determined eligible for meal benefits during the summer months.

State officials estimated they would issue $91.9 million to approximately 235,000 school children, and $18.1 million to about 46,400 SNAP-enrolled children in child care, according to the state’s USDA-approved plan for summer 2022.

With the ending of the public health emergency, SNAP-enrolled children in child care no longer qualify for the extra benefit.

For the summer, families in participating states with children eligible for free or reduced lunch during the 2022-23 school year will receive up to $120 per child.

In Iowa, one in every 11 children faces hunger, with 40 percent of households receiving SNAP benefits, according to Feeding America.

“Our state government is responsible for promoting and protecting the health and well-being of our citizens, and our children in particular,” the lawmakers wrote to Reynolds. “Food is a basic need. If we want our children to grow up healthy, excel in their education, and be active in our community, they need to be fed. Practical, beneficial programs like Pandemic EBT are an important way to help Iowa kids."

The lawmakers urged Reynolds to direct state departments to submit a plan for the summer USDA Pandemic EBT program, and not “leave federal money on the table while so many Iowa children are at risk of going hungry.”

The governor’s office and representatives with Iowa’s departments of education and health and human services did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Thursday afternoon.

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com