Latest news with #TennesseeDepartmentofHumanServices
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tennessee's priorities are off when tax refunds prevail over feeding children
What kind of state is Tennessee that it approves $1.5 billion in corporate tax refunds but won't accept a $75 million federal grant to feed hungry children? Yes, these are two separate issues, but they speak to Tennessee's priorities and in both cases reveal a lack of transparency in explaining how decisionmakers made these choices. Let's start with the franchise tax refunds. The Tennessee General Assembly passed this program in 2024 because some state officials and lawmakers said the state potentially could face legal challenges. But no one had sued and no one would explain who exactly was making this claim. As of late December, $1.28 billion had been returned to businesses and 53% of that is going to companies out of state. There were about 100,000 businesses deemed eligible for the refund. In the summer, the list of recipients will be made public temporarily. Why can't that list be made permanently available? Gov. Bill Lee came into office in 2019 with a promise of transparency, but there is far more mystery to this decision. Citizens would benefit from knowing why the state needed this policy in the first place and who benefits. On the second issue, Lee's administration recently rejected a $75 million grant from the federal government to supplement food assistance low-income children receive when they are out of school. The state's annual administrative costs were $5 million. However, instead of spending that money to receive $75 million, the Tennessee Department of Human Services will invest $3 million in a summer food program that benefits only 15 rural counties. There are 95 counties in Tennessee. DHS will go from serving 700,000 children to 25,000 – about 4% of the number that had benefited from the federal program in past years. Tennessee began participating in the federal program in 2018. 'With this innovative step, we will go even further to provide food security to Tennessee children,' said DHS Commissioner Clarence H. Carter. 'This approach will deliver a fiscally responsible strategy to reach families in underserved communities in the summer months.' Back to transparency, why was the decision made? Why would the state leave $75 million on the table? Why would they dare call a program that puts hundreds of thousands of children in greater food insecurity 'innovative'? The reasons could be multiple. When Tennessee lawmakers rejected Insure Tennessee in 2015 – the program to expand Medicaid to 300,000 working poor Tennesseans – it was a clear snub to the federal government. It was a political flex. This could be the same tactic. At the same time, low-income people do not have the power that corporations have to move the wheels of government. State elected officials are accountable to the people who deserve to know the whole truth about how and why taxpayer money is being spent the way it is – and what to tell hungry families about why the state won't help hundreds of thousands of children with summer food assistance anymore. David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He is an editorial board member of The Tennessean. He hosts the Tennessee Voices videocast and curates the Tennessee Voices and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@ or find him on X at @davidplazas or BlueSky at This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee children matter more than corporate tax refunds | Opinion
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee launches limited summer food program after rejecting millions in federal funds
Tennessee will direct $3 million toward food assistance in a few rural counties this summer, though the benefit will reach just a fraction of the children in need who previously received assistance from a federal program that Gov. Bill Lee declined to participate in this year. The Tennessee Department of Human Services on Friday announced the plan to give a $120 one-time payment to eligible children — those already eligible for SNAP and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families participation — in 15 rural counties this summer. 'With this innovative step, we will go even further to provide food security to Tennessee children,' Tennessee Department of Human Services Commissioner Clarence Carter said in a statement. 'This approach will deliver a fiscally responsible strategy to reach families in underserved communities in the summer months.' The new state program mimics a federal program that in recent years has given direct cash payments to nearly 700,000 Tennessee kids to help cover summer grocery costs. But the majority of those kids will not benefit from the program this summer, after Lee declined to participate in the federal program going forward. In opting out, Tennessee effectively left more than $75 million in federal funding on the table. "I don't see how they've done anything innovative here," said Signe Anderson, a senior director at the Tennessee Justice Center. The group made a last-minute push in recent weeks to lobby Lee to reverse course on the federal program. "They've just limited the reach of a program that could have served all of the families with kids that are struggling with food insecurity during the summer," Anderson said. Last year, Tennessee officials cited administrative costs as part of the reason for not moving forward with the program, though Democrats have criticized Lee and others for opting out over political optics. The summer cash program was widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic under the Biden administration, though it actually dates back as far as 2011. Tennessee first participated in an expanded pilot program in 2018 under the first Trump administartion. Tennessee's administrative costs to administer the federal program, now called SUN Bucks, came to about $5 million in 2024. The state's share was likely to decrease in 2025, advocates said. Tennessee could also have been eligible for an additional grant to help offset some technology costs, had it opted in to the program before the deadline. But even with the state's administrative outlay, the federal program had a significant return on investment for Tennesseans. With Tennessee paying about $5 million to help run the program, every dollar the state paid into the program essentially drew down more than $14 to help feed Tennessee kids. The Food Research & Action Center also estimated those federal dollars generated at least $114 million in economic impact across the state. With the new program, Tennessee is now paying more than half what it paid to adminster SUN Bucks while reaching far fewer Tennesseans. With the $3 million allocation and $120 grants, the state's program could only serve a maximum of 25,000 kids, less than 4% than were served by the federal-state partnership. "We hope they learn from this," Anderson said of the state and the option to participate in the federal program again in 2026. "I know we are going to hear from a lot of families this summer when they don't get the summer EBT benefit during a time when food prices continue to rise. A lot of families are going to be struggling this summer." DHS said Lee will include funding for the program in his budget amendment, which will require final approval from the Tennessee General Assembly this spring. The program will be open to eligible residents in Houston, Humphreys, Marshall, Moore, Sequatchie, Sumner, Benton, Carroll, Carter, Cocke, Fayette, Grainger, Johnson, Lauderdale and Rhea counties. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TN school kids' food aid: Limited state help on meal costs this summer
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
$120 payment proposed for families with children in underserved TN counties
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Families in two East Tennessee counties could receive a $120 payment under a new proposed $3 million investment in the Summer Food Service Program. The Tennessee Department of Human Services announced that Governor Bill Lee's administration has proposed an investment of $3 million in the program to reach families in underserved or unserved counties. If approved by the Tennessee General Assembly, the Tennessee Department of Human Services will provide a $120 one-time payment to eligible children in SNAP and TANF households in underserved or unserved counties. The funds would be added to existing EBT cards. Knox County News New program brings Knox County Trustee's Office to elderly, disabled residents To be eligible for this addition to the summer food program families need to be a part of the Families First initiative or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program with at least one child between the ages of 5 and 18 and residing in a Tennessee county identified as unserved or underserved by the Summer Food Service Program. Underserved counties Benton Carroll Carter Cocke Fayette Grainger Johnson Lauderdale Rhea Unserved counties Houston Humphreys Marshall Moore Sequatchie Sumner The investment will be included in Lee's FY25-26 budget amendment. Additional information will be shared regarding distribution dates and other program details in the coming months. North Carolina DOT gives insight into repairs ahead of reopening of I-40 This announcement comes after Tennessee chose not to opt into the Summer EBT Program for 2025. Instead, state leaders said they would focus on the food assistance programs Tennessee already had in place, including the Summer Food Service Program, which has served approximately 3.4 million meals to children. 'With this innovative step, we will go even further to provide food security to Tennessee children,' said TDHS Commissioner Clarence H. Carter. 'This approach will deliver a fiscallyresponsible strategy to reach families in underserved communities in the summer months.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Children in Tennessee will go hungry if state does not renew Summer EBT program
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King reminded us that, 'The time is always right to do what is right.' Now is an especially important time to do right by Tennessee's children. The state must decide by Saturday, Feb. 15, whether to continue to distribute federal food assistance to relieve child hunger during the summer. The clock is ticking. The federal program provides nutrition assistance to low-income kids during the summer months when school is out, and they don't have access to free or below-cost school meals. Research over decades has shown that child hunger increases during school vacations. In what is supposed to be a carefree time of play, poor children suffer the pangs of chronic hunger. Inadequate diet impacts their ability to focus and succeed when they return to school, with lifelong effects on their health and well-being. During the pandemic, the federal government provided financial assistance via electronic benefits transfer ('EBT') cards to millions of families across the nation, dramatically reducing hunger. EBT cards are debit cards which enabled families to buy food for their children when schools were closed and they lacked access to school meals. The program ended with the pandemic, but educators, pediatricians and child nutrition experts convinced Congress that the need continues whenever schools are closed. Last year, with strong bipartisan support, Congress established the Summer EBT program. For children to receive Summer EBT assistance, their state must opt to administer the program. The federal government covers the entire cost of the children's food, and the state and federal governments split the administrative cost. We can be proud that the Volunteer State was among the first states in our region to offer to administer Summer EBT when the program began last summer. The program is a lifeline at a time when inflation in food prices makes it impossible for too many families to provide adequate nutrition for their children. The Tennessee Department of Human Services worked hard to create the administrative infrastructure to distribute the cards. Approximately 700,000 Tennessee children received nutrition assistance, and more than $80 million in federal funds flowed into the state's economy. Tennessee did such a good job that it inspired our neighbors, including Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Virginia, to implement Summer EBT beginning in 2025. Unfortunately, the need for summer nutrition assistance for Tennessee' low-income children will continue in the coming year and beyond. The deadline is looming, and so far, Tennessee has declined to renew its commitment to distribute Summer EBT. If we fail to do so, hundreds of thousands of children will experience hunger this summer, millions in federal aid will go unused, and the state and families will be the poorer for it. A recent poll shows that 86% of Tennesseans of all persuasions want our kids to get the benefit of this important federal program, which alleviates hunger at minimal cost to the state. It's a common sense response to a serious problem. It is also the right thing to do. And, as Dr. King reminds us, the time is always right to do the right thing. The Right Rev. Brian L. Cole serves as the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee (The Episcopal Church). The Rev. Dr. Kevin L. Strickland serves as the Bishop of the Southeastern Synod (AL, GA, MS, TN) for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee children will go hungry without Summer EBT program | Opinion
