Gov. Bill Lee has made it clear he doesn’t want to feed hungry kids in the summer if it means he has to take federal money to do so.
While this may seem a cruel way to prove a political point (the point, ostensibly that TN doesn’t NEED federal help), Bill Lee just doesn’t care.
He’s opted-out of a program known as Sun Bucks two years in a row – in spite many hunger and education advocates encouraging him to participate.
Oh, and this starvation scheme doesn’t save the state any money – in the federal program, TN spends about $5 million to draw down $84 million. Those federal funds ensure some 700,000 kids get some meal help in the summer. Lee took that same $5 million in state funds and created a much smaller program – one that only feeds 25,000 kids. That’s a terrible ROI. It seems Lee’s capitalist supporters would be shocked at his terrible business sense on this one.
Or, well, just shocked that he’d starve kids and not even save the state some cash.
And, in fact, some lawmakers – among them, many Republicans – are resisting Lee’s cruel approach.
In an apparent rebuke to the governor, two rural Republicans — Sen. Paul Bailey of Sparta and Rep. Michael Hale of Sparta — are sponsoring a bill to require the state to apply for the federal Summer EBT funding. In past years, the program has distributed $84 million in federal funding to low-income families to help them buy their children food at the grocery store when school is out.
So far, a bipartisan group of 30 lawmakers have signed on – and the bill has passed unanimously in every committee where its been heard.
Will these lawmakers prevail?
And where do the current candidates for Gov stand on feeding hungry kids over the summer?
