Senators seek waiver, second chance at applying for summer food funds rejected by Pillen
LINCOLN — A group of state senators are expressing hope they can reverse Gov. Jim Pillen’s recent rejection of $18 million in federal funds to expand a summer grocery benefit for low-income families.
State Sen. Jen Day of Gretna joined 16 other senators Thursday in introducing a bill that would require the state human services agency to apply for the extra funding via the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) program.
It would place an extra $40 a month over three months next summer into EBT cards issued to low-income families to buy groceries during a time when children are out of school and away from free and reduced school lunches.
Pillen turned thumbs down on joining growing number of states — now 33 — that have opted into the summer program, saying he didn’t “believe in welfare.”
That comment sparked criticism of the governor, whose family pork-producing business and a processing plant involving his family have both been granted federal subsidies. Pillen also got $7.8 million in Paycheck Protection Program funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, though most of it was later turned back.
Day said supporters of her Legislative Bill 952 have reached out to federal officials and are confident that a previously stated Jan. 1 deadline for states to opt into the summer food program can be waived.
“It’s clearly not a hard deadline,” the senator said. “As of right now, it’s still open to us.”
Day said she believes that backers of the program can get a majority of senators to support the bill, thus showing that there’s widespread, bipartisan support for the enhanced grocery benefit. But, she acknowledged, “there’s a lot of moving parts” in getting Nebraska to join the program.
Under LB 952, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services would be required to join the summer EBT program.
The program was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic in response to growing concerns about food insecurity among low-income families. It was made permanent by Congress last year under a proposal by the Biden administration.
But Pillen administration officials have said that the pandemic is over and that pandemic-era programs should also end.
They also maintain that an existing summer food program, which distributes lunches at summer school and summer camps, is sufficient and a better program.
Advocates, however, question whether all kids can access such summer programs, which might be miles away, and point out that such summer meal sites have declined in number in recent years.
The bill introduced Thursday, which Day had pledged to introduce, states that “summer meal programs are an integral part of Nebraska’s educational system.”
Among other bills introduced Thursday in the Nebraska Legislature: Kratom would be controlled substance A proposal from Central City Sen. Loren Lippincott, LB 972, would make kratom, an herbal product from southeast Asia that can produce stimulation and sedative effects, a controlled substance.
The Federal Drug Administration has warned the public not to use kratom because it is untested and its effects vary, but it is widely available at convenience stores and herbal “CBD” shops across Nebraska.
Some people use it as an alternative for opioids, according to Lippincott, but he said it is as addictive as heroin.
“I do know individuals who have been hooked on kratom, and it’s a train wreck to get off of it,” he said.