Democrats blast Kemp for refusing federal funds for student summer meals

ATLANTA – Legislative Democrats urged Gov. Brian Kemp Tuesday to accept federal funding for a program that provides low-income children with free meals during the summer when school is not in session.

Georgia is one of 12 states that did not participate in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer EBT Program this summer and isn’t planning to participate next summer. The state faces a deadline of Aug. 15 to commit to the program.

“I’m enraged that Governor Kemp is choosing to disregard the needs of some of the most vulnerable families in Georgia,” U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, said Tuesday. “The state has to do better.”

The Summer EBT Program provides pre-loaded cards to families with eligible school-aged children worth $40 a month, totaling $120 for the months school is not in session.

Georgia suffers from one of the nation’s highest rates of food insecurity, said state Sen. Jason Esteves, D-Atlanta, a former teacher and former member of the Atlanta Board of Education.

“In some counties, one in four children live in food-insecure households,” he said. “Sixty-four percent qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.”

McBath and the other six Democrats in Georgia’s congressional delegation sent a letter last week asking Kemp to change his mind about opting out of the federal program.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the governor cited the program’s cost to the state, $4.5 million a year to cover 50% of the administrative expense.

“While it is disappointing that the Biden administration continues to ignore reasonable concerns surrounding the program’s lack of nutrition standards and fiscal sustainability, we will continue to promote the many successful programs Georgia already has in place,” Garrison Douglas said.

The state Department of Education’s Seamless Summer program provided more than 2.5 million breakfasts and more than 3.2 million lunches in 2023, with the majority of school districts participating. Another state program, Happy Helpings, served 2.8 million meals at 997 sites in 2023.

But children in 59 of Georgia’s 159 counties did not have access to a Happy Helpings summer meal site last year, the congressional Democrats wrote in their letter to Kemp, citing numbers from the state Department of Early Care and Learning.

“Committing to participate in Summer EBT in 2025 is a simple, common-sense step that will ensure every child in our state, regardless of where they live, has access to food when they need it most,” the letter stated. “States that refuse to participate in Summer EBT for unsubstantiated reasons are needlessly putting children in jeopardy during the summer months.”

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