DESPITE STATE $24 BILLION SURPLUS, ABBOTT REJECTS $450 MILLION IN FED $$$ TO FEED HUNGRY KIDS OVER ADMIN COST

By Eric Holguín

Austin American-Statesman

Opinion

For more than a million kids across Texas, summer break isn’t a time of carefree fun — it’s a time of hunger. When schools close for the summer, so do their meal programs, leaving working class families scrambling to provide enough food for their children. 

The recently launched Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program for Children (Summer EBT) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers a critical lifeline. But Governor Greg Abbott’s decision to reject this program for 2024 left 1.3 million children without the help they need, even as the state enjoys historic budget surpluses.

The Summer EBT program is straightforward: $120 per child is loaded onto a debit card that parents can use to buy groceries for children who have already qualified for school meal programs. 

The federal government funds 100 percent of the benefits and even covers half the administrative costs for states. This is our taxpayer money Texans can get back from the federal government to invest in our children.

Yet despite this opportunity to address child hunger at little cost, Texas, under Abbott’s leadership, was one of just 13 states to turn down the program for Summer 2024, walking away from $450 million in federal funds.

State officials claim administrative hurdles prevented implementation in 2024, citing the need for state funding that the legislature had not yet appropriated, limited bandwidth due to Medicaid reenrollment efforts and delayed federal guidance. These challenges, however, can be easily overcome — especially in a state with a projected $24 billion surplus for 2025.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. According to our newly released UnidosUS report, 52 percent of these Texas children are Hispanic/Latino. This is a harsh reality happening in areas like the Rio Grande Valley which has some of the poorest neighborhoods in the state. 

Hunger doesn’t take a break when school does. Families who rely on free and reduced-price meals during the school year face added financial strain when those meals disappear in the summer. For these families, Summer EBT offers direct, targeted relief that is proven to reduce child hunger and ensure our kids receive the nutrition they need to grow and thrive.

Rejecting federal food assistance doesn’t just harm families – it weakens Texas’ economy. Without those resources, families buy less food, which reduces sales for grocers and other retailers. The damage ripples outward as struggling retailers purchase fewer goods and services from other Texas businesses. 

Instead of boosting economic growth by drawing down federal dollars, Abbott’s decision puts unnecessary strain on local economies, particularly in areasalready facing food insecurity. Our UnidosUS pre- and post-election polls made it very clear that Hispanic/Latino voters want elected officials to address costs of living.

With a historic $32.7 billion surplus recorded in 2023, Texas had more than enough resources to cover the minimal administrative costs and leverage federal dollars. Additional federal grants could further modernize Texas’ systems, ensuring smoother implementation of Summer EBT programs.

It’s not too late to act. Texas missed the August 15 deadline to submit its administrative plan for Summer 2025, but the state secured a waiver buying more time. Abbott and Texas leaders now have a second chance to opt into the program, but the February 15 deadline is quickly approaching.

This time, they must prioritize Texas children. Rejecting this program for another year would be an unforgivable choice – a choice to leave children hungry, deny Texans access to their own federal tax dollars and ignore the needs of Texas’ most vulnerable residents. Investing in children’s wellbeing isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s the smart thing to do.

(Eric Holguín is the Texas State Director of UnidosUS, the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization.)