15 G.O.P. Governors Shut Out Food Aid for 8 Million Children
15 G.O.P. Governors Shut Out Food Aid for 8 Million Children
Congress approved a Biden administration initiative to feed poor children during the summer. But 15 states opted out.
Archive.is link to get around the paywall: https://archive.is/UMh6A
In Vermont, the Department for Children and Families said it declined to participate because the requirements were “very detailed and extensive.” But the department said that Vermont would want to provide “this important summer nutrition benefit” in 2025, as long as the state identified the necessary funds to run the program, and technology support and other infrastructure concerns were addressed.
Another state that said no, Oklahoma, also cited bureaucratic and logistical concerns, though it did not rule out participating in the future.
I'm interested to know how many democrat states opted out of this program as well. I don't think anybody said that they were against giving food to children, just that setting up the programs would be a hassle.
So the article links to the Department of Agriculture announcement which says that 35 states and all five territories opted into the program. The only 15 states that opted out were ones run by Republicans. Linkage: https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2024/01/10/nearly-21-million-children-expected-receive-new-grocery-benefit
"Democratic."
The GOP hate the post-born.
That thumbnail has left me with the a weird craving for the breadiest chicken patty on a dry white-bread bun. I can smell the rounded edges on this paper tray.
Oh, that might be styrofoam. Then no. That's completely different.
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More than eight million children in 15 states, all led by Republican governors, will be shut out of a new federal food assistance program intended to help needy families during the summer months.
Set to begin this summer, the new program will provide low-income families with $120 for each eligible child, which can be used to purchase food at grocery stores, farmers’ markets or other approved retailers when such assistance is not available in schools.
Asked why Florida did not apply for the summer food program, the state’s Department of Children and Families wrote in an email to The Orlando Sentinel last month: “We anticipate that our state’s full approach to serving children will continue to be successful this year without any additional federal programs that inherently always come with some federal strings attached.”
But he said he was heartened by the willingness of the state’s tribal nations — the Cherokee, Chickasaw and Osage — to offer the program to eligible Native and non-Native children on their reservations.
Missouri, for instance, wrote in a letter to the Agriculture Department in December that a “lack of final guidance” and the uncertainty of securing state funding posed “potential unforeseen challenges.”
Still, Caitlin Whaley, communications director for the Missouri Department of Social Services, explained: “Philosophically, we support the premise that kids should be fed in the summer, and this is an additional resource to that end.
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Why is it so hard for the writer to mention the hardships that the governors claim as the reason for not adopting the program? I went down the rabbit hole looking for the source and came across: H.R. 2617, the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023,” making consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023, and for providing emergency assistance for the situation in Ukraine, and for other purposes.
I can’t find anything deeper. The language in the resolution, stipulations for the funds. Is this the normal level of transparency?
Those states are just refusing the government money out of spite, that's all. There's no conspiracy or mystery behind it. It's just human pettiness and spite at the state government level, causing millions of children to suffer and starve needlessly.
Oh no doubt, usually they don’t claim they’ll play ball later though so I wanted to see what was different this time. Frustrating that I can’t find the source and that the reporting is so lacking these days they don’t think the source is relevant.