Rob Sand, the Democratic nominee for Iowa governor, said Wednesday that Iowa would keep taking part in the federal summer food program for children if he wins, during a roundtable with food pantry leaders in Coralville.
Asked directly whether he would commit to keeping Iowa in the summer EBT program, Sand answered, “We’ll keep taking it.”
The Coralville Community Food Pantry, where the event was held, sees about 500 households in a typical week and has outgrown its building after three and a half years. Staff said first-time visitors are climbing.
The pantry’s executive director John Boller said about 25,000 Iowans have lost SNAP access since federal cuts passed last year, including roughly 10,000 children.
“I used to say food pantries were designed to be more of a band-aid,” Boller said. “A more apt analogy these days is we’re a tourniquet.”
Sand tied the pantry crunch to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ decision to turn down federal summer meal money. He put the rejected aid at $30 million. But the state turned down the money two summers in a row.
“Who doesn’t want hungry kids to be fed?” Sand said. “It’s not like somehow they otherwise magically get fed. No. They then end up coming here, which adds more strain to your demand.”
Sand has also backed universal free school breakfast and lunch.
Ryan Bobst, who sits on the Iowa Hunger Coalition board, asked how Sand would make sure Iowa HHS can process SNAP applications quickly and accurately. Iowa’s payment error rate was 5.34% in federal fiscal year 2025, just under the 6% line that triggers a state share of benefit costs under the federal law. Iowa also ranks fourth lowest among states for the share of applications processed on time, at 71.38% in fiscal year 2025. Sand said improving the process would come from working with on-the-ground HHS caseworkers to identify where the problems are and address them.
A reporter asked how he would work with the Trump administration to bring more money to Iowa.
“Joyfully,” Sand said. “I don’t care what the name of the president is. I don’t care what their party is. What I care about is, what is it they want to do? Is it good for Iowa? Great, let’s do it.”
