Tag Archives: Bill Lee and Summer EBT

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Bill Lee’s Hunger Game

Will Bill Lee make sure Tennessee kids get summer food assistance OR will he continue to be a lackey for Trump?

Easy: Lee chose Trump over kids. For the second year in a row.

Following last year’s “liberation” from federal assistance in feeding hungry kids during the summer, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee will also forego funding for food assistance in 2026.

Tennessee Lookout reports on this year’s decision:

Despite the urging of county mayors, child advocates, clergy and educators, Gov. Bill Lee has declined to secure millions of dollars in federal funding to provide food to low-income kids by the government’s Jan. 1 deadline.

Lee joins a group of a dozen GOP governors who are refusing summer EBT benefits at the behest of Trump, who wants states to be less “dependent” on the federal government.

And, apparently, Lee is willing to score political points even if it means hundreds of thousands of kids face food insecurity.

Which, by the way, what kind of sick political game creates incentives for actively promoting childhood hunger?

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Will Bill Lee Do The Right Thing in 2026?

It’s never too late to start

Gov. Bill Lee refused federal funds in 2025 to help provide food assistance to families during the summer – allowing extra SNAP funds for those who qualify for free/reduced lunch.

Yes, all school meals should be free for every kid every day.

But for now, free meals are limited to those who fill out forms and qualify based on income.

Lee has an opportunity to accept federal funds for 2026 -and the deadline for that decision is fast-approaching (It’s January 1st).

Groups are asking Lee to take action – County Mayors, pastors, and more are calling on Lee to accept the funds that help some 700,000 kids access food assistance in the summer.

Below is a statement from the Tennessee High School Democrats:

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A Plea for Bill Lee

Will Gov. Bill Lee do the right thing in the last year of his term? Will he accept federal assistance for Sun Bucks – a summer EBT program that provides help for families with kids who receive free or reduced lunch?

Probably not.

But, local elected officials are asking him to.

33 County Mayors are calling on Gov. Bill Lee to participate in the federal Sun Bucks program in 2026.

The local leaders penned a letter to Lee asking him not to forego the summer program that provides additional EBT funds for families during the summer. The program is designed to provide additional assistance during a time when kids are unable to get free or reduced-cost meals at school.

Lee refused to participate in Sun Bucks last summer – and left hundreds of thousands of kids without the food assistance their families need.

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Bill Lee: Letting Kids Starve to Prove Fealty to Trump

Sad!

In particularly maddening news, Gov. Bill Lee refused to accept federal “Sun Bucks” this year to help kids on free/reduced lunch have meals over the summer.

The program is inexpensive and it works, so naturally, Tennessee policymakers don’t want to participate.

I suspect many of them spent this Sunday in church, singing praises to a Jesus whose teachings they willfully ignore.

More maddening? The Tennessee voters who show up continue to elect “leaders” like Lee simply because these politicians align with their chosen King, Donald Trump.

Here’s more on Sun Bucks and the 675,000 children who suffered this summer so Bill Lee could prove a point:

Sun Bucks is a pragmatic and powerful innovation. After fifty years of relying primarily on congregate meal service, pandemic-era pilots proved that grocery benefits are a high-impact complement. By institutionalizing that lesson, Sun Bucks delivers $120 per child to bridge the summer nutrition gap while preserving meal sites where they are effective. And beyond reducing hardship, the program’s $3.5 billion in benefits may generate over $5 billion in local economic activity each summer, supporting families, businesses, farmers, and communities alike. States that decline to participate are not just forgoing a proven strategy to reduce child hunger—they are turning down fully funded federal benefits that could strengthen their own local economies.

Yep. That’s Bill Lee. “turning down fully-funded federal benefits that could strengthen” Tennessee’s economy.

Sad!

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