Mississippi lacks resources, says no to a federally funded child food program
Some morning economics in the states trying to rein in costs. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves takes on a cut back on food for kids by not accepting a fully funded program.
Tate looks like he could spare a few pounds except . . . Republican Governor Tate Reeves is declining to participate in the federal program giving electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards to low-income families to supplement food costs for children when academic classes are out of session. And why would he do such?
Mississippi quits child food program amid Republican ‘welfare state’ attack, The Guardian, Gloria Oladipo.
The governor there announced his decision, characterizing the decision as a way to reject “attempts to expand the welfare state.” Eligible families would have received $40 a month, or a total of $120 to account for the break between school terms.
Not satisfied with the governor’s words, the Mississippi’s welfare agency undercut Reeves’s reasoning, saying the state does not have the capacity to administer the program.
According to spokesperson of the state human services (wow there is a misnomer) Mark Jones;
“Both [the Mississippi department of education] and [its department of human services] lack the resources, including workforce capacity and funding, to support a summer EBT program.”
In other words, if the state gave us capacity to do the program, we could do it. Reeves gets caught up in his reasoning by the looks of this. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves is one of 15 Republican governors rejecting the federally funded food program meant to help feed children during the summer.
Reeves’s latest comments ignited fierce backlash.
Nikole Hannah-Jones, a scholar and creator of the 1619 Project, criticized Reeves’s decision as “cruelty”.
“The cruelty of being the poorest state in America and choosing – choosing – to turn down federal aid for poor children to eat,” Hannah-Jones said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Keith Boykin, author and co-founder of the National Black Justice Coalition, said funds earmarked for welfare in Mississippi have previously gone to superfluous objectives, including the construction of a sports stadium.
“Mississippi gave millions of dollars of welfare funds to former NFL quarterback Brett Favre to build a volleyball facility for his daughter’s school, but they won’t take federal funds to feed hungry children. Because helping poor kids is the kind of welfare that Republicans hate,” Boykin said on X.
If your kids are starving … It is about keeping the cost of labor down.
He (they) all remind me of the closing of Animal Farm …
On MLK day I remember Dr King’s speech on war:
http://www.worldfuturefund.org/Reports2013/Martinlutherkingspeech1967.html
“Beyond Vietnam”.
We are in the same spiral that Dr King preached against!
Sad that US is immoral as when I was 17!
The administration wants $100B for more war on top of the nearly trillion it will spend this year.
Maybe Mississippi should take it, but don’t get why just adding $120/year to SNAP families with school kids. If you don’t qualify for SNAP but do qualify for free meals, well those free meals are your family’s benefit, which isn’t bad. But pretty sure the overlap of SNAP and free school meals is high. It’s $120 people….don’t create any new administrative burdens to deliver it. There is a program that can deliver it, so just change its value.
It is $120 total for three months over Summer. Or $40/month in this instance. They have fee lunches during the regular school year.
Eric, this is not rocket science. Don’t make this so difficult.
Next up, repeal the state child labor laws so those hungry kids can work for their own food.
I wish I could think that was snark.
Jane:
You are on the money with this remark. Republicans do not care either.
Mississippi’s War Against the War on Poverty
Food Power, Hunger, and White Supremacy
Bobby J. Smith II
Uuniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – July 1, 2019