Rep Sharice Davids Presses For Food Programs To Continue
Assistance initiatives put in place during COVID-19 ought to extend beyond the pandemic, congresswoman and advocate say
Federal programs put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic to help American families struggling during the economic impact of the pandemic have made a positive difference, and ought to persist into the future, according to a Democratic congresswoman and an advocate for food security in her home state.
The American Rescue Plan — emergency legislation passed earlier this year in response to the ongoing pandemic — increased benefits for recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, otherwise known as “food stamps,” by 15 percent.
“In addition to that 15-percent SNAP increase that you talked about, going through September, there are also SNAP maximum allotments that will remain in Kansas through the end of the year,” Haley Kottler, with the Kansas-based advocacy organization, Kansas Appleseed, said in a web call with Rep Sharice Davids (D-Kan). “You know, when we think of schoolchildren, there are other resources available. One of them is 'Pandemic EBT,’ or P-EBT, which Congress passed last year.
“And, basically, what this Pandemic EBT benefit provides is just additional food assistance for families who may have lost access to school meals due to COVID-19,” Kottler added. “Over the next couple of months, these families will also be seeing an additional benefit of $375 to cover food costs during this summer. This program will also be eligible for next summer, too, so we are very excited to see the Biden administration get this done.”
Free meals children have been receiving through the pandemic will continue through the 2021-2022 school year, Kottler said.
“It definitely is notable — the free meals program and the impact that that's going to have,” said Rep Davids.
There is a need for these programs to exist after the end of the pandemic, Kottler said.
“We have to really, really continue these programs that have helped during COVID-19, to ensure that all Kansans can thrive during and after our pandemic,” she added.
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