Iowa will not participate in a federal program that gives $40 per month to each child in a low-income family over the summer to help with food costs while school is out.
Iowa will not participate this summer in a federal program that gives $40 per month to each child in a low-income family to help with food costs while school is out, state officials have announced.
The state has notified the U.S. Department of Agriculture that it will not participate in the 2024 Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children — or Summer EBT — program, the state’s Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Education said in a Friday news release.
“Federal COVID-era cash benefit programs are not sustainable and don’t provide long-term solutions for the issues impacting children and families. An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic,” Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said in the news release.
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A bipartisan group of Nebraska lawmakers have urged the state to reconsider, saying Summer EBT would address the needs of vulnerable children and benefit the state economically, the Journal Star reported.
That's actually not the case. Per the linked article...
States that participate in the federal program are required to cover half of the administrative costs, which would cost an estimated $2.2 million in Iowa, the news release says.
Of course, that's no excuse to turn this program down. Particularly since she also just announced that the state will "end Fiscal Year 2023 with a balance of $1.83 billion in the General Fund, $902 million in reserve funds and $2.74 billion in the Taxpayer Relief Fund." $2.2 million is a drop in the bucket when it would benefit so many needy children.
That's really the most fucked up thing. These are always states that already take far more from the federal government than they provide in taxes, and they complain as if they'd be the ones paying for this shit.
As someone who's in a state that gives far more to the US government in taxes than we take, I should have more of a say where that money goes, and I would prefer to continue giving aid to these children in Iowa. In fact, it should be more.
Her only claim of accomplishment is that the state has a huge surplus, which is simply due to her cutting just about everything simply so she can trigger tax cuts for the rich.
Not even the first federal money she's rejected, when not misappropriating the federal money she has taken
Farming subsidies are insane in Iowa but because so much of the farming is owned by giant corporations instead of families, it's just another way we move money from taxpayers to the wealthy.
It pisses me off to no end that rural Iowans go hard Republican. They listen to the pandering to "Iowa Farmers" from the right, despite only larping as farmers since they all sold their farms in the 70s and 80s.
Sorry, Tom the "farmer", but living in a ranch house on .25 acres in a town of 200 people and wearing coveralls from 35 years ago, does not make you the beneficiary of Iowa farm money.
They do this for so many things. The death penalty is far more expensive than life in prison, but they'd rather be cruel than save the money that they always say shouldn't be spent.
There's a very good chance the kids that are overweight are overweight in part because the parents can't afford better food as junk food is often cheaper. This could just worsen the problem.
Yup. Not to mention, distended bellies are also a symptom of malnourishment. These are the people who will point at starving kids in Africa and claim they're fat.
“Federal COVID-era cash benefit programs are not sustainable and don’t provide long-term solutions for the issues impacting children and families."
"...so instead we the GOP are going to replace this unsustainable program with nothing making a future problem a problem of today!" /s
"An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic,” Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said in the news release."
"While yes, EBT card is useful to buy all kinds of healthy food such as fresh produce, staples such as beans and rice, as well as great protein choices such as chicken, pork or beef, you may not be aware that EBT card can also buy sugar! And, you may not be aware, its possible for someone to consume enough sugar to gain weight. Therefore the GOP solution is to remove the EBT card which grants access to this sugar (as well as all the other food). By doing this those children that are overweight will effectively be put on a starvation diet where their bodies will slowly first digest their body's muscle and put their liver at risk by forcing ketosis. Those children that don't happen to be overweight, and will suffer tremendously, should have thought about that before they let all their peers eat too much." /s
I love when this happens and they present no alternative. Choosing a losing option instead of accepting an imperfect effort. Try to improve it? No surely not. Throw it all away. If a social program helps someone I deem unworthy of aid it must be removed.
Their entire party is built around making their constituents angry at other people. Earnst us trying to enrage people because she's ameyeing a national positikn.
I think it's time to just call them on it. Everyone believes in feeding kids. It's not controversial. It's the ethical right thing to do. There is no disagreement between parties here. She's just doing this to try and stir up anger at "them/"others" because she thinks it will make a subset of people vote for her.
It’s really sad because I grew up poor and relied on food assistance at school for a reliable meal during the weekdays. If I had to not eat lunch most weeks I think my childhood would’ve been arguably a lot worse
it's infuriating. And not "mildly" infuriating. this is full on, rage-inducing pisses me off. Fortunately, we're going the way up here; funding more free lunches.
This is so fucking stupid, not only does this feed kids the money goes to local retailers but a huge chunk also buys Iowa food products. What the fuck is wrong with that idiot
They have never experienced poverty so they think it's fine because if they were in that situation they would pull themselves up by their bootstraps or whatever delusional shit they come up with. To them it's non-issue and everyone in poverty must be lazy.
"God, I want to hurt children so much." - Republicans
An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic,
Poor nutrition is when the poors have too much access to food. /s
She added, “If the Biden Administration and Congress want to make a real commitment to family well-being, they should invest in already existing programs and infrastructure at the state level and give us the flexibility to tailor them to our state’s needs.”
Read: "Give us money and let us cut taxes for our ultrawealthy donors yet again."
In practice, the GOP has made it a core issue to defund schools and remove free and subsidized lunches, so it's unlikely that any money given to the governor's administration would go towards anything of the sort.
“Federal COVID-era cash benefit programs are not sustainable and don’t provide long-term solutions for the issues impacting children and families. An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic,” Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said in the news release.
Okay, so they have a better program they're implementing instead to address those issues?
“In the end, I fundamentally believe that we solve the problem, and I don’t believe in welfare,” Nebraska Republican Gov. Jim Pillen told the Journal Star on Friday.
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
But religious right wingers who even know this part of the Bible will do some backflips to justify that they don't have to help those people. I once encountered someone telling me it only applied to missionaries.
“Federal COVID-era cash benefit programs are not sustainable and don’t provide long-term solutions for the issues impacting children and families. An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic,” Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said in the news release.
She added, “If the Biden Administration and Congress want to make a real commitment to family well-being, they should invest in already existing programs and infrastructure at the state level and give us the flexibility to tailor them to our state’s needs.”
They don't think the current program to address child hunger is sustainable. They are not replacing it with another program, are they? They're just going to let the kids go hungry?
I bet Matt Gaetz was disappointed to find out that this was what his Nebraskan pals had meant when they said they'd be screwing a bunch of kids during summer break.
My sister in law works in a fast food restaurant. My niece (9 years old) primarily eats fast food for this reason. My SIL gets a discount, she doesn’t have to cook or go anywhere else. To her it’s a way to save money. My niece is slightly overweight and doesn’t like fast food anymore.
Food stamps would help, but nobody can get them to reach out for help. They feel ashamed for some reason.
Requiring time, equipment, space, and energy. Work two jobs a day and tell me how easy it is to save money making rice and beans at the end of the day.
I wish the government would give me $40/month just so I can feed myself, lol.
I wish that for you, too. Nobody should go hungry, and if my taxes can help you out, I would be thrilled to see our government spend money making your life liveable.
I hate that people forget that some of the races we pay are to help people....but I really really really hate that companies like Walmart plan on their employees needing government programs instead of proper wages....they should pay more. But honestly I'll never have a problem with proper nutrition...I just hope no trash people are aiming to profit off the assistance. (CEO of Walmart and like companies)
You can budget for cheese on $1.29 a day? You could get rice and black beans twice a day for that, but not much else. I wouldn't consider that "definitely enough"...
I wish the government would give me $40/month just so I can feed myself, lol.
That's the basis of UBI. Rather than spending a lot on management and bureaucracy, and still missing those most in need, instead just give everyone the baseline and tax slightly more. It provides a natural alternative to various aid and support systems. They all get rolled into 1. It also feels fairer to people.
And before the inflation argument is brought up, it's easy to counter. You just have a % tax, with a flat payout, and run it as a fairly closed loop. The income growth line gets shallower, but is flattened at the bottom. No new money is entering the system, so no additional inflation. It also counters the "no-one will work" argument. If people drop out of the workforce, the fund's income will drop, this will reduce payouts and encourage more work from people.
Yes, they know how to vote very well. They just only know how to vote against their own interests because that’s how their pastor told them to vote and because they are scared of brown people and people from shudder New York and California
I know. Just sad. Representatives doing the opposite of what their constituents want/need. And in many cases, at not cost to the state. Hopefully the leaders get voted out.
EBT can be spent on almost anything, so there's no guarantee this isn't just buying your sidechick a steak.
The grocery store is, just like everything else in the US, a fucking scam. Most of the items aren't nutritious at all, repackaging salt, sugar, and corn into a thousand shapes and flavors. It tastes good, so people buy it because they're fucking stupid, and the ones that aren't were taught a fucked food pyramid that prioritized protein and carbs because of corruption.
We're fucked lads. The kids are double fucked and don't have any idea.