• Millions of children in Republican states will not receive federal food subsidies this summer.
• Thirteen states have withdrawn from a new federal summer food assistance program.
• Non-participating states cited everything from technical problems to a reluctance to accept social benefits.

Millions of children from low-income families in the United States will not be eligible for federal food subsidies this summer because they live in states that have opted out of the new program.

Last year, the Department of Agriculture introduced SUN Bucks, a permanent electronic summer benefit transfer program. The program gives eligible families $120 per child to purchase food during the summer months. SUN Bucks is a $2.5 billion program that provides healthy food and nutrition to children during school breaks.

The program is aimed at low-income families who struggle to put three healthy meals on the table each day. Tens of millions of children experience increased hunger during the summer months because they cannot be sure that schools will provide free or reduced-price meals. The Department of Agriculture estimated earlier this year that nearly 21 million children would benefit from SUN Bucks this summer.

During the pandemic, the federal government covered the entire cost of the summer EBT program, but starting this summer, states will have to share the administrative costs 50/50.

Thirteen Republican-led states ultimately dropped out of the program this summer, citing a variety of reasons, including layoffs, lack of support and political considerations.

Alabama

According to the state Department of Health, one in four children in Alabama is food insecure. These students will not have access to SUN Bucks this year.

According to local broadcaster WAFF.g, Alabama lawmakers had already finalized the state's annual budget when they learned of the program.

However, the state has now earmarked $10 million to support the program next year, the news agency reported.

Alaska

Alaska cited logistical and technical problems as the reason for rejecting the SUN Bucks this year.

The state Department of Education and Early Development decided not to participate in the program this year, telling local broadcaster Alaska News Source that the agency responsible for processing benefits was already working through a backlog of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

The state will reconsider its participation in the summer program once the backlog has been cleared, the outlet reported.

Florida

Two million eligible children in Florida will not receive SUN Bucks this summer after the state Department of Children and Families insisted that existing programs adequately address food insecurity.

A spokesman for the Florida Department of Children and Families told local broadcaster WFSU that federal programs “always” come with conditions.

Georgia

More than half of Georgia public school students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, but the state has chosen not to participate in the federal summer nutrition program this year.

A spokesman for Republican Governor Brian Kemp told local broadcaster 11 Alive that a summer nutrition program has already been introduced in the state.

“Therefore, Georgia, like our neighboring states, has chosen not to participate in the proposed EBT program and instead remains focused on well-established and effective programs that are tailored to the specific needs of our state by providing families and children with necessary nutrition and employment,” the spokesperson told the outlet.

According to estimates by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than one million children in the state of Georgia would have been eligible.

Idaho

The Idaho State Senate rejected proposed funding for the SUN Bucks program earlier this year.

According to Idaho Education News, Republican Senator Cindy Carlson said approving the program would “send the wrong message to parents and children.”

“I think the message we need to send is that we all have to work for what we get,” she said, according to the outlet.

Iowa

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds rejected the SUN Bucks program in December, saying in a Department of Health press release that the benefit would do “nothing” to improve nutrition amid the growing childhood obesity epidemic.

“If the Biden administration and Congress are truly committed to family well-being, they should invest in existing state-level programs and infrastructure and give us the flexibility to adapt them to the needs of our state,” Reynolds said.

About 240,000 children in Iowa would have been eligible for the benefit.

Mississippi

The Mississippi Department of Human Services ultimately declined to participate because the state government lacked the resources and staff to support the program, a spokesman told the Magnolia Tribune.

More than 300,000 children in Mississippi would have been eligible for the benefit.

Oklahoma

Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt said the SUN Bucks are too new for Oklahoma to participate this year, citing the untested nature of the inaugural event.

“We've donated over $20 million to various food banks over the last few years,” he told local station KJRH. “So we're confident that kids won't go hungry this summer. We just don't know enough about the program. But that doesn't mean we won't do it next year.”

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, states that decided not to participate this year will have the opportunity to do so in the future.

Stitt also expressed skepticism about the Biden administration's involvement, the outlet reported.

“There is certainly always a concern that certain governments are forcing certain issues on children,” Stitt said.

However, several Native American tribes in Oklahoma participate in the SUN Bucks.

South Carolina

According to WCBD, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster declined to participate in the Summer EBT program earlier this year, citing the program's connection to the pandemic and saying South Carolina needed to “return to normal business activity.”

More than 500,000 children in the state have qualified for SUN Bucks.

South Dakota

South Dakota rejected the SUN Bucks on the grounds that there were federal restrictions attached to them.

Iran Fury, communications director for Republican Governor Kristi Noem, told Chalkbeat that unemployment in the state is low and that they do not want to afford the administrative burden of implementing the program.

“Federal money often comes with strings attached and more of it is often not a good thing,” Fury told the outlet.

57,000 children from South Dakota would have been eligible.

Texas

Texas has opted not to distribute benefits to 3.8 million children across the state who are eligible for SUN Bucks.

According to The Texas Tribune, the state's Health and Human Services Commission made the final decision, arguing that it did not have enough time to successfully implement the program.

Wyoming

Wyoming authorities withdrew from SUN Bucks earlier this year, arguing that existing food assistance programs across the state were sufficient.

The state's Secretary of Education, Megan Degenfelder, apparently disagreed with the Biden administration's interference, according to local media outlet WyoFile.

“I will not allow the Biden administration to weaponize summer school meal programs to justify a new welfare program,” Degenfelder told the newspaper. “Thanks, but no thanks. We will continue to fight child hunger the Wyoming way.”