Tennessee will not take advantage of a federal program that helps families afford groceries for their kids in the summer for the second year in a row.
The Summer EBT program, which was piloted by the USDA beginning in 2011 and codified by Congress during the COVID-19 pandemic, provides $120 per child enrolled in school who receives free or reduced-price lunches. Gov. Bill Lee withdrew Tennessee from the initiative in late 2024 citing the $5 million cost to the state to distribute $77 million in federal dollars to roughly 650,000 kids each year.
Instead, the governor set up a more limited fund – the Tennessee Summer Nutrition Initiative (TSNI) – which serves 18,000 students in 15 of Tennessee’s 95 counties at a cost of around $3 million. To be eligible, families have to already be enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) – a restriction that isn’t levied on recipients of the Summer EBT program but makes it simpler for the Tennessee government to administer.
While advocates acknowledge the state initiative is better than nothing, they question the effectiveness of that program. Signe Anderson is the director of nutrition advocacy at the Tennessee Justice Center. She says the stricter requirements of Lee’s plan mean families who may be living on the very edge of poverty are left out.
“TSNI felt very thrown together at the last minute with not a lot of education and information and research done to weigh the financial benefit,” Anderson said. “And also it missed some of the counties that the governor has selected as the most distressed counties.”
In response, 41 county mayors have signed onto a letter asking the governor to sign back up for the Summer EBT program. Clay County Mayor Dale Reagan was among the signers. His community is one of the most distressed in the state, with a poverty rate of 21%. But no families in the county are eligible for Lee’s program.
“When [kids are] out of school during the summertime I’m sure a lot of families struggle to make ends meet,” Reagan said. “And anything like that I think is a good thing for us to make sure that we’re getting, to make sure that the children are getting nutrition.”
Hancock County Mayor Thomas Harrison also signed. He oversees the second most distressed county in the state, with an average income of about $19,000 per person. It’s also ineligible for the TNSI program designed by Lee.
“When you have good nutrition to all the folks, then they study better, work better, all those things,” Harrison said. “And you’re relieving a void in their minds of not having to think about food. And we want to support that in every way we can.”
Despite the outpouring of support for the program, a spokesperson for Lee confirmed in a statement that the state will not participate again this summer. It will make Tennessee one of 12 states to not take advantage of the federal funds.
“The Summer EBT program was established in the pandemic-era to supplement existing food assistance programs and is mostly duplicative,” the statement reads. “As a greater share of the cost burden shifts to states, Tennessee is well-positioned to ensure children are fed in the summer months by bolstering our existing programs.”
The statement went on to say Lee will announce new investments in the TNSI program in his next budget, but the spokesperson did not provide additional details.
“I’m sure it was just a budgetary thing,” Reagan said when asked about Lee’s decision. “No doubt there’s programs out there that are being abused. But this one here I just feel like would be helpful to the majority of the folks out there that need it.”
According to the Tennessee Justice Center, 20% of children in the state go without food across every county, regardless of a region’s perceived advantages or disadvantages.
“It’s a rural issue, it’s a suburban issue, it’s a metro issue,” Anderson said. “We can’t escape it. And so the best thing to do is face it head on and do whatever we can to address it. And Summer EBT is right there – at the ready – for the governor to use.”
She added it’s still not too late for Lee to change his mind for 2026. While Jan. 1 was the soft deadline for states to express intentions to participate in the Summer EBT program to the USDA, they have until Feb. 15 to submit an administrative plan which would formalize participation.
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