Latest news with #SunBucks
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas will begin a summer lunch program in 2027, but only if feds don't raise costs
A new food program that would give low income families $120 per child to help feed them during the summer months could be coming to Texas in 2027. Texas has never participated in the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (Summer EBT) program, created in 2023, an offshoot of a similar pandemic program. But tucked inside the state's $338 billion budget is a $60 million budget addition for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to administer such a program. States have to pay 50% of the administrative cost to participate in the Summer EBT program, a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that also goes by the name of Sun Bucks. That large investment could bring another $400 million in federal dollars to Texas. However, ongoing talks at the federal level about slashing food benefits could endanger Texas' participation in the Biden-era summer program. A provision built into the rider could cancel the appropriation if the current state-federal funding formula changes. 'If federal matching rates for the program or administration of the program are changed in a manner that result in a higher cost to Texas from the match rates in place on May 30, 2025, this appropriation is void,' the rider language states. Families would qualify for the summer meal benefits if their children, even if they are home-schooled or attend private schools, qualify for free or reduced priced lunches during the school year. In 2024, a family of four with an annual income of $40,560 or less would be eligible for free school lunch. To qualify for a reduced school meal, that same family would have to make $57,720 or less. For state Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston, bringing the Summer EBT program to Texas was personal. Today, he lives not far from where he grew up in northeast Houston. 'We were on food stamps growing up,' he said. 'I lived that experience of not having food.' While HHSC would design and manage the program, it would also work in collaboration with the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Department of Agriculture, which manages federal agriculture dollars that fund school lunches in Texas. 'TDA looks forward to continued collaboration with HHSC on their submission of a state plan, ' the agency said in a statement. The state's agriculture agency already works with schools, cities and community groups to offer lunches during the summer for school-age children. Those institutional partners submit expenses for the lunches they served and are reimbursed for cost by the federal government, according to Lena Wilson, assistant commissioner for food and nutrition at TDA. In 2024, there were 12 million summer meals (snacks and lunches) served to Texas children at 4,480 sites statewide at a cost of $46.1 million. This existing USDA's summer lunch program, which was piloted in 1968 and was made a full-fledged funding stream in 1975, does not require pre-registration or identification to access. The locations are selected primarily where children in need are located and is open to all children, even if they don't live in the specific neighborhood. 'It's great,' said Catherine Wright-Steele, TDA's commissioner of food and nutrition, because children can bring their younger siblings who aren't attending schools yet or say a young friend or cousin visiting from out of town. Some of the meals are prepared and served on site. At other locations, they can be more of a 'grab-and-go' sack lunch offering. 'So many children who live in poverty in Texas. These programs all supplement each other,' Walle said of adding another summer program. From an economic standpoint, bringing more federal dollars will put more customers in stores, he said. 'It's an economic benefit to the state of Texas,' Walle said. Walle, who said he has been working on Summer EBT for the past 18 months, also credited bipartisan support in the House and Senate, as well as Gov. Greg Abbott. For other food assistance groups, the inclusion of the rider has been welcome news. 'We're thrilled that state lawmakers included funding in the budget to administer Summer EBT,' said Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas, the state association of food banks. 'Summer EBT fills this gap, ensuring that Texas kids stay nourished and ready to learn. The program is particularly important for a state like Texas, where 1 in 6 households are food insecure.' Right now, Congress is considering slashing the budget of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, what many people still refer to as food stamps. As the rider currently reads, the Texas participation in Summer EBT could be in danger if the federal government forced states to pay more of the administrative cost or even a portion of the subsidy. There's been no word on whether the Summer EBT program could face cuts. For now, the state is moving to come up with a plan to submit to Washington. Disclosure: Feeding Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. Big news: 20 more speakers join the TribFest lineup! New additions include Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Michael Curry, former presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church; Beto O'Rourke, former U.S. Representative, D-El Paso; Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, founder and managing partner at 8VC; and Katie Phang, journalist and trial lawyer. Get tickets. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Cherokee Nation provides food to children and elders
TAHLEQUAH — The Nowata Food Distribution and Senior Nutrition site celebrated its grand opening on Wednesday. The Cherokee Nation's Senior Nutrition Program provides seniors across the 14-county reservation with weekly meals and opportunities to fellowship with others. 'We opened our first original site here 13 years ago, and now, just 13 years later, we are serving 771 individuals, and I am just so pleased with that,' District 11 Councilor Kendra McGeady said. She said that food sovereignty and the ability to meet your nutritional needs matter in many ways. 'This serves as a hub for fellowship and community, and I think that all those things play into the health and wellness of our citizens,' McGeady said. Cherokee Nation's Nowata Food Distribution Program, which operates in the same facility as the Senior Nutrition Program, serves eligible families nutritious foods and operates in a grocery store environment that allows participants to shop in a comfortable and familiar setting. The Nowata Food Distribution facility serves over 400 homes and 8,400 people through in-person and home-delivered meals annually. The new upgrades and expansion of the facilities are an investment of $2.8 million from the Cherokee Nation. 'These improvements to the Nowata Food Distribution Store and Senior Nutrition Site have been a long time coming. It's an incredible feeling knowing that we need to expand, because that means that Cherokees are utilizing these facilities in this community and surrounding communities,' said Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. The Nowata facility houses the tribe's senior nutrition site and food distribution store, which started operating in 2012. The new expansion to the building includes a 1,500-square-foot warehouse, a 400-square-foot conference room, a 500-square-foot dining expansion for the senior nutrition program, and a 1,500-square-foot freezer/cooler. Cherokee Nation is also helping the tribe's youngest citizens with its Summer EBT program, known as 'Sun Bucks. ' This program, offered through Cherokee Nation Public Health's Nutrition Programs, helps families buy nutritious foods during summer. Cherokee Nation expects to serve an estimated 50,000 children this summer, serving all eligible applicants, whether Cherokee or non-Cherokee citizens. Qualifying families will receive $120 in food benefits per child on one benefit issuance on an EBT card, which works like a debit card. Participation in this program will not impact other government assistance participants may receive. The deadline to apply is August 30. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
More than 1M students to benefit from return of Sun Bucks summer meal program
The North Carolina Sun Bucks meal program is back for a second year and more than one million students are expected to benefit from it. READ MORE: New federal program helps feed children in NC during summer months The program, which is like EBT, launched last year. Parents are given a debit-like card with $120 per child to ensure they get healthy meals while away from school on summer break. Any family who is interested can find the information here on how to sign up. VIDEO: New federal program helps feed children in NC during summer months
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Do you qualify? Sun Bucks returns in summer 2025 for some Louisiana families
Sun Bucks is returning to Louisiana for summer 2025, providing families with a one-time $120 grocery benefit for children who qualify for free or reduced school meals. The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services made the announcement Monday in a news release. It stated most children who are eligible would be automatically enrolled, so they would not need to apply for the program. See more: Unemployment claims in Louisiana declined last week Louisiana insurance crisis: What to know as Gov. Jeff Landry proposes insurance reform legislation Check it out here: Gulf Coast region gas prices declined from last week "Last year, of the nearly 670,000 Louisiana children that received over $80 million in SUN Bucks benefits, only about 1,500 were determined eligible though the application process," said Sammy Guillory, assistant secretary for family support at DCFS. "The rest were already automatically enrolled." However, families should be sure to update their addresses with any program they use — Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program, Kinship Care Subsidy Program or income-based Medicaid. Parents shouldn't forget to update their addresses for their child's school or foster care case so they don't face delays in receiving Sun Bucks benefits. The benefit will begin being issued in the second half of May for those who are automatically enrolled and "continue throughout the summer months as applications are approved or a child's family begins receiving SNAP, FITAP, KCSP, or income-based Medicaid benefits," reads the release. Sun Bucks must be used within 122 days of the issuance date. If not used, benefits will expire and cannot be added back, it reads. For more information about Louisiana SUN Bucks, including Frequently Asked Questions, visit Children born between Aug. 8, 2006, and July 1, 2019, who received SNAP, FITAP, KCSP or Medicaid benefits for those below 185% of the federal poverty level anytime between July 1, 2024 and Aug. 8, 2025. Children who applied and were individually approved to receive free or reduced school meals through the National School Lunch Program. Families previously or already enrolled in SNAP will receive Sun Bucks on their existing EBT card. Families that received Sun Bucks in 2024 will receive 2025 benefits on their same card. New participants not enrolled in SNAP will receive a preloaded card via mail. Call 1-888-997-1117. Visit Use the LifeInCheck EBT mobile app. Log into the CAFE system. Those children who attend Community Eligibility Provision schools but who didn't complete an NSLP application and who don't receive SNAP, FITAP, KCSP or income-based Medicaid will need to apply to determine if they are eligible. Some children may be eligible based on their household's income. To apply, parents can visit For more information, visit This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Does your child qualify? Get Louisiana Sun Bucks information here
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hope Florida scandal puts obstacle in Casey DeSantis' pathway to governor
Poor Casey DeSantis. She was supposed to put a fresh face on the DeSantis brand, elevating the meager political skills of her whiny, vindictive marital partner — who is term-limited but not emotionally ready to cede his imaginary legacy yet. The vehicle to make Mrs. DeSantis, a former TV reporter-turned-mother of three, into a credible candidate for governor was a pet project called Hope Florida. We're supposed to believe that Casey dreamed up Hope Florida out of her abiding need to lift up Florida's downtrodden. 'The Good Lord puts you in a position to do things,' was how she described it. There's a lot less to Hope Florida than meets the eye, and the recent revelations of its mismanagement of public money and its secret alliances with party politics has skewered this resume-building exercise for Casey DeSantis. I guess 'the Good Lord' went in another direction. And who could blame Him. For starters, the idea that Florida's governor's mansion is ground zero for lifting up the state's poor is preposterous. Florida was one of 10 states that rejected taking federal money, up to 90% of costs, to expand Medicaid insurance under the Affordable Care Act for people earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level — a refusal that left nearly 300,000 Floridians uninsured. And for two years running, Florida has refused to participate in the Sun Bucks federal program that provided $120 in groceries for poor kids during the summer months when school was out. If you listen to Casey DeSantis' stump speech about Hope Florida, it's just a warmed over reprise of Republican talking points about government assistance being the culprit in holding poor people down. 'I don't believe government is the solution to anything,' Casey DeSantis says. 'Let's look exterior to government,' she says. She talks a lot about getting churches to help people instead of government agencies. She talks about mobilizing the '20,000 institutions of faith' in Florida. 'Hey, churches, there's a single mom and she's having a tough time with groceries and food. Can you help?' she says. 'They show up with a tray of lasagna. They show up with groceries.' If you don't think this is a viable way to address systemic poverty in the third largest state in the country, a state where 3 million of its residents live in poverty — about one in six Floridians – you're not alone. That's just too many lasagnas. The pure philosophical underpinning of the four-year-old Hope Florida is to get Florida's poor to not apply for the public assistance they're entitled to. It's about taxpayer relief. Or as Casey DeSantis puts it: 'This is about a philosophy, 'How do we engineer and restructure government to benefit the taxpayer and to benefit the people who deserve help?'' Hope Florida is a phone referral service that duplicates the one already in existence in the state, and one that ultimately leads people back to pre-existing government programs for real, meaningful help. Editorial: Trump's government cuts will stifle Florida food banks, expand hunger crisis Hope Florida claims to have rescued 30,000 residents, but it's not an organization that has been upfront with the public. 'Hope Florida has not provided us any actual tangible track record of success other than a hotline that redirects people back to the state agencies that provide the services,' said Rep. Alex Andrade, a Republican lawmaker from Pensacola who has been leading the questioning of this DeSantis family enterprise. Recent financial revelations have rocked Hope Florida and put its charitable status in question. These revelations center around Centene, a managed care provider that overbilled Florida $67 million for Medicaid. In a settlement with Centene, Gov. DeSantis directed about $10 million of that money to go to the Hope Florida Foundation, rather than the state's general fund. This is where things get dirty. The foundation then directed two grants of $5 million each to dark money groups affiliated with the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Days later, about $8.5 million went to a political action committee controlled by the governor's then-chief of staff, James Uthmeier, who DeSantis would later appoint to be the Florida Attorney General. That political action committee would later send more than $10 million to the Florida GOP to use for advertising against the recreational marijuana amendment on last November's ballot, and another $1 million to the governor's own political action committee. Opinion: Woke alert! Political indoctrination (right-wing) now on syllabus at New College Yikes. These aren't the machinations of a real charity. And this is no way to make your case for being Florida's next governor. It looks like the Good Lord is going to have to take Casey DeSantis in a new direction. Frank Cerabino is a news columnist with The Palm Beach Post, which is part of the USA Today Network-Florida. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Hope Florida scandal clouds Casey DeSantis' political future | Opinion
