Democrats will return to Des Moines with legislation to feed Iowa kids during the summer

While it needs Republican buy-in, Democrats in the Iowa Legislature plan to reintroduce Summer EBT bill that would have Iowa put $29 million to work feeding 240,000 kids.

Child hunger continues to plague Iowa. According to Feeding America, 110,500 children—or 1 in 6 children in the state—do not have enough to eat. But Iowa has been reluctant to participate in a federal program that helps keep bellies full while schools are out for the summer.

Rep. Sean Bagniewski, a Democrat from Des Moines, told Iowa Starting Line that with the 2025 legislative session just around the corner, he plans to reintroduce a bill that would require the state to participate in the US Department of Agriculture’s Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program. 

“We’ll see if there is any receptiveness from Iowa Republicans,” Bagniewski said. “Everyone I talk to thinks we should participate regardless of party.”

Often called Summer EBT or SUN Bucks, eligible families get $120 per child each summer to buy groceries. The benefits stack with other food assistance programs like SNAP and WIC. This gives children normally dependent on free or reduced school breakfasts and lunches additional resources to prevent them from going hungry. 

In 2024, SUN Bucks put $2.6 billion dollars to work across the nation impacting as many as 21.3 million kids. The USDA estimates its economic impact on the nation to be between $3.9 billion and $4.6 billion. 

It’s not free for states like Iowa to participate, but the cost is miniscule relative to what the state would get in return. It would cost the state an estimated $2.2 million dollars in the first year and $1.3 million in subsequent years. That would open the state to as much as $29 million in federal money that would go towards feeding Iowa’s estimated 240,000 eligible children.

READ MORE: Iowa’s food policies negatively impacting the people who live here

Last session, an identical bill originated in a push by Senate Democrats Sarah Trone Garriott of West Des Moines and Izaah Knox of Des Moines. It was widely supported by Democrats in both chambers, but failed to garner Republican support.

Unless that changes this time around, eligible Iowa children will continue to miss out on the SUN Bucks program. 

“We saw record numbers at food pantries throughout the summer,” said Trone Garriott, who works at Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC), which manages a network of food pantries. “That need is growing.”

This month, the Iowa Hunger Coalition, which DMARC is a member of, urged Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to reconsider her stance on Summer EBT. Iowa has until mid-January to decide to enroll. 

Can legislation change the governor’s mind?

Iowa is among 12 states that leave the money on the table. But just this year, governors who claimed they “don’t believe in welfare” had a change of heart.

In 2023, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen cited Iowa in his rejection of the program’s money for kids. But he changed his mind in 2024, saying, “We have to do better in Nebraska.” 

The Associated Press reported that before reversing course, there was a legislative move to require Nebraska to enroll in the program. He was later joined by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, another Republican, who enrolled her state in the SUN Bucks program. 

Reynolds, meanwhile, has continued to reject the funds, saying the anti-hunger program has done “nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic.”

Rather than accept the USDA’s evidence-based SUN Bucks, Reynolds has asked the federal agency to give that money to the state to run a separate meal box program. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a Trump-era food box program showed the logistical challenges that boxes offer to the organizations that have to distribute them and the families that have to transport their children to receive them. On top of that, the USDA already has programming for supplementing meal sites with food boxes. 

In January, as the Iowa Legislature returns to session, Bagniewski’s legislation would need to find purchase among Republicans in order to convince the governor to reconsider her hardline stance on SUN Bucks. Potentially, Reynolds could give families access to Summer EBT while supplementing the state’s meal sites, feeding children in the process. 

But without bipartisan buy-in, those federal dollars will remain in limbo.