State forgoes $350M in food assistance, citing lack of resources
Texas is passing up nearly $350 million in federal aid to help feed millions of low-income children during the summer months after a state agency said it lacked the time and resources to implement the program this year. Summer EBT, a new U.S. Department of Agriculture program approved by Congress in 2022, will provide families in participating states with funds to buy groceries to fill the void when their children are not receiving meals at school. The benefits — $40 per eligible child per month — will be dispensed via “electronic benefit transfer” cards, similar to a prepaid debit card, for three months.
The majority of states, as well as several territories and tribal nations, have signed onto the program. Texas is among a minority of 16 states not participating.
A spokesman for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission said “ensuring children have access to adequate nutrition support during the summer months is a priority,” but obstacles prevented the state from joining this year, including receiving the program’s final rules a few days before the Jan. 1 sign-up deadline. Spokesman Thomas Vazquez also said the agency lacks the staff to implement a new program and needs new funding from the Legislature. The agency will “evaluate implementing a Summer EBT program in Texas in the future,” he said, but offered no timeline.
While the federal government will provide states with full funding for the benefits, it covers 50% of the administration costs, leaving states to come up with the rest. It’s not clear what the price tag would have been in Texas; HHSC said it was still working on an estimate.
USDA spokesperson Allan Rodriguez pushed back on Texas health officials’ reasoning, saying the agency provided an “unprecedented level of guidance and support” to states in the months leading up to the rollout.
“The fact that 44 states, territories and tribes are moving forward in the program’s inaugural year shows that states have had the information they needed,” Rodriguez said. “Those that do not launch the program this summer will have future opportunities to opt-in, and we will keep working with every state and tribe to set them up for success in doing so.”
Late last year, dozens of nonprofits and schools signed onto a letter urging Texas’ health agency to prioritize the Summer EBT program, which they estimated would help 2.9 million Texas children and amount to roughly $348 million in federal aid.
“It’s unfortunate, obviously,” said Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas, a network of 21 food banks that serves all 254 Texas counties that was among the signatories. “It’s a loss this summer for hungry kids, but I understand it. … When they’re (HHSC) underwater, we understand that.”
Since the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency last year, HHSC has struggled to keep up with processing Medicaid eligibility for millions of Texans whose benefits went unchecked during the pandemic. The agency is also behind on processing food assistance claims, which increased amid high inflation.
The state has dropped nearly 1.7 million Texans from the Medicaid program so far, more removals than any other state. Most were removed for procedural reasons unrelated to their eligibility, the Texas Tribune reported last month.
As of early last month, there were still hundreds of thousands of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and Medicaid applications waiting to be processed, according to figures provided by HHSC.
Cole said it makes sense for the agency to focus on processing Medicaid and SNAP claims now, but expects Texas to opt into the food assistance program by 2025.
HHSC spokesperson Mike Parker said the agency is “taking all possible actions to provide benefits to eligible Texans as quickly as possible,” including working with the federal government to come up with streamlining strategies.
Parker acknowledged that wait times are up because of the influx of SNAP applications and Medicaid determinations. He said the agency likely will need the full 12 months allotted by the federal government to complete the determinations.
The agency cut wait times from 120 days in late November to 39 days as of late December, Parker said. As of the end of December, the agency was processing 62% of SNAP applications within federal standards that require a maximum 30-day turnaround.
The Summer EBT program would be critical in a state like Texas where almost two-thirds of kids enrolled in public schools in Texas qualify for free or reduced-price meals, Cole said. Congress approved the program in 2022 after pilots in other states found they significantly reduced food insecurity. House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-beaumont, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick did not respond to requests for comment on whether they have been supportive of funding the program and whether they would be in favor of providing it in the future.
The agency would need to coordinate with two others to identify qualifying students and administer the program: the Department of Agriculture and the Texas Education Agency. The agencies did not respond to a request for comment.