https://apnews.com/article/nebraska-summer-ebt-food-program-children-789f2d04bd195086d2e41d0d43b8111c
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s Republican governor on Friday reiterated his rejection of $18 million in federal funding to help feed children who might otherwise go hungry while school is out.

Nebraska will not participate in the 2024 Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children — or Summer EBT — program, Gov. Jim Pillen said in a written statement. That statement came as advocates for children and low-income families held a news conference outside the Governor’s Mansion in Lincoln to call on Pillen to change his mind before the Jan. 1 deadline to sign up for the program.

The program — part of federal assistance made available during the COVID-19 pandemic — would provide pre-loaded EBT cards to families whose children are eligible for free and reduced-price lunches at school. Those families would receive $40 per eligible child per month over the summer. The cards can be used to buy groceries, similar to how SNAP benefits are used.

“COVID-19 is over, and Nebraska taxpayers expect that pandemic-era government relief programs will end too,” Pillen said in his statement. Pillen announced on Dec. 19 that Nebraska would not participate in the program. He has drawn a firestorm of criticism for later defending that stance at a news conference by saying, “I don’t believe in welfare.”

Neighboring Iowa is also opting out of the program, with Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds announcing that decision last week and saying, “An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic.”