On August 15, Gov. Reynolds requested a waiver from the USDA to operate a summer feeding demonstration project instead of participating in Summer EBT. As the Iowa Hunger Coalition stated at the time, we appreciate the fact that Gov. Reynolds recognizes the hunger crisis facing our state and that far too many Iowans facing food insecurity are not currently being served by nutrition programs.
As food banks, food pantries, and other anti-hunger organizations are assisting record-breaking numbers of Iowans, enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is near a 16-year low. This is an unsustainable path.
Recently, the Iowa Hunger Coalition learned that USDA denied Iowa’s request for federal funding to operate the proposed summer food box demonstration project.
It is our shared belief as Iowans that no child should go hungry. We are happy to offer our recommendations and expertise to Gov. Reynolds at this critical juncture. We believe that these policy recommendations provide the best path forward to reduce hunger and food insecurity in our state.
The Iowa Hunger Coalition recommends Gov. Reynolds take the following actions:
- Take immediate action to ensure Iowa participates in Summer EBT (SUN Bucks) in 2025.
- Summer EBT is evidence-based policy and has been shown to improve healthy eating while reducing childhood food insecurity.
- Parents should be trusted to make the best food choices for their children.
- Summer EBT would provide an estimated 8.8 million meals to 245,000 children in Iowa – far more than are being served by summer meal sites.
- Most children in Iowa who would receive Summer EBT are not currently being served by SNAP.
- SUN Bucks could be used to purchase food at over 3,000 retailers and farmers markets in Iowa, as well as being used to purchase groceries online, with delivery options available.
- SUN Bucks would generate an estimated $45 million in local economic activity annually in Iowa, thanks to its economic multiplier effect.
- USDA is offering $100 million in technology grants to help reduce administrative costs to states. Iowa is eligible for a $1.1 million grant, which would halve the state’s share of administrative costs to implement the program in 2025.
- Iowa has other options to reduce administrative costs and make the program more accessible to families, such as loading SUN Bucks onto existing EBT cards for children who are already enrolled in SNAP.
- Raise the income eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL).
- Increasing the income eligibility for SNAP up from 160% FPL would allow the program to support Iowans of all ages whose household incomes are currently too high to qualify, but still struggle to put food on the table.
- This would expand SNAP income eligibility to an estimated 200,000 Iowans, 50% of whom are children or seniors.
- This would also increase the number of children eligible for Summer EBT and free school meals through direct certification.
- Raising income eligibility can also encourage participation among individuals who already qualified—this is known as the “woodwork effect.”
- Additionally, the asset test for SNAP included in Senate File 494 should be repealed before it can be implemented by July 2025, or families will be at risk of losing SNAP benefits next summer.
- Provide state investment in the Double Up Food Bucks program.
- The Double Up Food Bucks program incentivizes the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables for SNAP participants.
- In addition to a state appropriation, Iowa should also apply for federal matching funds available through the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) to maximize the impact of its investment.
- Double Up Food Bucks has an economic multiplier effect of 1.9, keeping dollars circulating in communities and positively contributing to Iowa’s local food system.
- IHC commits to advocate at the federal level to allow SUN Bucks benefits to qualify for Double Up Food Bucks purchases.
- Expand efforts to increase participation in SNAP, WIC, free and reduced price school meals, and summer meal sites.
- This is a shared priority included in Iowa’s State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) for 2023-2027.
- Only 42% of Iowans who qualify for SNAP participate in the program, and only 45% of Iowans who qualify for WIC participate.
- Additional staffing at state agencies could reduce caseworker loads, improve application processing timeliness, and increase program access and public confidence in SNAP.
- More efforts must be made to promote nutrition programs through positive public awareness and outreach campaigns.
- Gov. Reynolds should encourage Iowans to utilize nutrition programs they qualify for, not attack safety net programs and discourage participation.
- Ideally, Iowa should provide Healthy School Meals for All.
- Short of this, the state should encourage and support qualifying schools to utilize the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) to provide free meals to all students. Iowa ranks second to last in the nation for school district adoption of CEP.
- Iowa could also explore providing free school meals to all students who qualify for reduced price meals, which would expand access to free school meals to nearly 22,000 low-income children.
- There is evidence that implementing universal free school meals drives down grocery prices for all consumers.
- The state should continue in its efforts to expand access to summer meal sites across Iowa.
- Explore measures to eliminate food deserts in Iowa.
- With grocery stores shuttering in both urban and rural areas of the state, Iowa should explore ways to keep stores open and establish new locations in existing food deserts.
- Doing so will improve access to more nutritious and affordable food for all Iowans, including those using SNAP, WIC, and Summer EBT.
- Research shows that without full-service grocery stores nearby, consumers pay more and have less access to nutritious options, in both urban and rural areas.
The above recommendations would bring in tens of millions of dollars in nutrition support to Iowans facing food insecurity, generate even more in local economic activity, and cost the state a mere fraction of the benefits we would receive.
All of these proposals have bipartisan appeal, with many of the above recommendations receiving previous support from both Republicans and Democrats in the Iowa legislature.
Feeding our children is an investment in the future of Iowa. When kids lack adequate nutrition, it has lasting impacts on the rest of their lives. We must do everything in our power to support the physical, mental, and emotional health of our children. No child, nor any Iowan for that matter, should ever go hungry.
We stand ready to work with Gov. Reynolds, state agencies, and the Iowa legislature to achieve these policy recommendations and our shared vision for a hunger-free Iowa.