Nebraska intends to participate in a new federal Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) program, ensuring that the families of 150,000 low-income children will have better access to nutritious food when school is out.
Governor Pillen made the announcement on Monday, noting that the Summer EBT program had the potential to reach more children than the existing Summer Food Service Program, which served only about 10,000 Nebraska children on a daily basis last year.
Summer EBT, which is modeled off of programs implemented during the public health emergency, will provide $120 each summer via EBT to parents whose children participate in the free or reduced-price lunch program during the school year. In Nebraska, Summer EBT could provide $18 million in funding to enable hard-working families to care for their children and be spent in support of local grocers and farmers, ultimately contributing an estimated $30.6 million to the state’s economy.
Advocates, in encouraging Nebraska’s participation, touted those benefits to empower Nebraska’s working families, and they were amplified in a recent hearing on LB 952, a bill to compel Nebraska to participate in the Summer EBT program that drew bipartisan support.
According to Feeding America, 58,000 children face food insecurity in Nebraska, and programs similar to Summer EBT have shown promising results in not only reducing child hunger but improving the quality of diet as well, ultimately enabling kids to learn and thrive.
Learn more about sales taxes
As policymakers consider a proposed tax shift in Nebraska, join us tomorrow (Tuesday, Feb. 13) for a noon-hour webinar to discuss the ability to pay principle in tax policy, how the sales tax affects people’s budgets and the implications of possibly raising the sales tax in Nebraska. Register today to participate or to receive a link to view a recording on-demand.
We’re very pleased that Sen. John Fredrickson, in his first term representing Legislative District 20 in Omaha, will launch the discussion. The tax experts joining us include Richard Auxier, who focuses on state and local tax policy as a senior policy associate in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, as well as Stacy Watson, a tax and consulting shareholder at Lutz who serves as chair of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce’s Taxation Council.