MEMPHIS - Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) tonight wrote Governor Bill Lee a letter urging him to have the State of Tennessee apply for Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (Summer EBT) funding for a Summer U.S. Agriculture Food Assistance Program for an estimated 700,000 children and not fail to apply for it as he did last year.

The U.S. Depart­ment of Agri­cul­ture's Sum­mer EBT pro­gram provides $120 in food bene­fits to sup­port school-aged chil­dren who don't have access to free or low-cost school meals dur­ing sum­mer months.

The letter reads in part:

"I concur with Senate Democratic Caucus Chair London Lamar and urge you to direct the Tennessee Department of Human Services to notify the U.S. Department of Agriculture of its intent to apply to the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer Program for Children (Summer EBT) before the deadline of January 1, 2026.

"I wrote to you last year urging you to apply for these benefits. You chose not to, and the state instead ran its own program that cost much more to feed far fewer children. The state program fed 18,000 children and only reached 15 rural counties, while Summer EBT would have fed nearly 700,000 children and reached all 95 counties.

"As you know, grocery prices are up tremendously. It is concerning you would turn down nearly $84 million meant to feed hungry children at a time when affordability should be the first issue on all our agendas.

"I hope you will decide to apply for these important funds. There is no good reason to turn down aid for hungry children."

See the letter here.

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