Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has not yet made public his decision on whether the state will take tens of millions of federal dollars to feed hungry children here this coming summer.
The deadline for the decision was January 1. No decision has been publicly posted from the governor’s office.
Lee declined to apply for the federal Summer EBT program last year. The move forfeited between $75 million to $84 million from the federal government that would have fed 700,000 Tennessee children throughout the summer.
Lee said the state could not afford the $5 million administrative costs to run the federal program in the state. Instead, he ran a pilot program that provided summer meals to about 18,000 children in 15 rural counties that cost about $2.1 million. Shelby County was not included in this program.
These funds were distributed as one-time payments of $120 per child. Analysis by The Tennessean found that the cost share of running the federal program here was $6 per child.
A chorus of officials and advocacy groups from across the state have urged Lee to re-commit to the federal program. About 38 county mayors added their voices in an early-December letter from the Tennessee Justice Center (TJC).
Though the full text of the letter was not published, the TJC said the “fight to secure Summer EBT for Tennessee children in 2026 is not over.”
“Tennessee’s reversal on Summer EBT this past summer was a hit to families trying to afford food,” said Signe Anderson, the TJC’s Senior Director of Nutrition Advocacy. “Families were also hit in November when SNAP benefits were blocked from reaching food-insecure households.”
The TJC said neighboring states of Kentucky, Arkansas, and Alabama have already opted in.
Here’s a map from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA) showing which states participate in the program.
Last month the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Williamson County sent a letter to Lee, signed by LWV groups from 32 counties. That letter said that Lee should feel confident re-joining the federal program after having tested his own summer program. They said the federal program costs about as much as his state-only plan did.
“The high participation rate of eligible families both summers confirmed that parents are desperate to use whatever resources are available to provide an adequate diet for their children,” reads the letter. “Any parent can understand what it would be like to watch your children go hungry, or to give them food you know is unhealthy, because it is all you can afford.
“Low-income families are haunted by their awareness that the trauma of childhood hunger can have harmful effects over their children’s entire lives.”
More recently, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN9) urged Lee to join the program in a letter of his own this week.
“As you know, grocery prices are up tremendously,” Cohen said. “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 urge you to direct the Tennessee Department of Human Services to apply for these important funds. There is no good reason to turn down aid for hungry children.”
