Texas Gov. Greg Abbott just vetoed $60 million in federal funding that would have gone to the creation of a summer lunch program specifically designed for children coming from low-income families.
The program is known as the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (Summer EBT program) and was designed to provide qualified families $120 for every child. The money was to be used to buy lunches during the summer months of 2027. Authorities previously estimated that roughly 3.75 million children across the state would have qualified for the program.
Veto of Summer Lunch Program Funding
The provision to join the program was placed inside Texas' budget bill, Senate Bill 1, and Texas would have been mandated to pay part of the administration costs. This would allow the state to tap into at least $400 million in federal support that was designed to pay for the lunch subsidies.
But on Sunday, the Texas governor struck the provision in a list of vetoes, noting that there was significant uncertainty regarding federal matching rates for the program and other similar endeavors, according to KBTX.
Abbott added that the Texas Legislature can reconsider funding the item once there is more clarity regarding the long-term fiscal ramifications of the creation of such a program. The decision comes as there is a provision built into the state budget change that would have canceled the appropriation if the current state-federal funding formula were changed.
For now, Congress is considering slashing the budget of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which is also what many people call food stamps. There has been no word regarding whether or not the Summer EBT program could face similar cuts.
Families Struggling To Put Food on the Table
The CEO of Feeding Texas, Celia Cole, said that the organization, which is a network of 21 food banks serving all 254 counties across the state, was "deeply disappointed" by the governor's veto, the Houston Chronicle reported.
She said that Abbott's decision comes during a time when about a quarter of children in the state are suffering from food insecurity. Cole noted that many families in Texas are struggling to provide food for their loved ones and rely on Summer EBT to bridge this particular gap.
Additionally, the group No Kid Hungry Texas questioned the governor's motives and rationale in vetoing the funding for the program. Texas Director Stacie Sanchez Hare and Democratic lawmakers Armando Walle and Toni Rose issued a joint statement about the matter.
It said that the reasoning given for the veto is completely unfounded, noting that Summer EBT funds are not tied to SNAP rates and there is no reason to believe that they are at risk, as per KUT News.
