Senate President Cameron Henry says at the urging of state lawmakers the Landry administration has decided to participate in a federal summer feeding program that provides 40-dollars a month per child to needy families. Henry says the decision comes after a meeting with leaders of DCFS and the Department of Education.
“We anticipate from our conversation yesterday that program will be implemented, can’t say it won’t be without a hitch, but everybody is working together,” Henry said.
In February, Governor Landry announced the state would not opt into the Summer EBT program. A spokesperson for the governor said it was a pandemic era related program that costs seven million dollars and the pandemic is over. DCFS Secretary David Matlock says the state should be more focused on a pathway to self-suffiency.
But House Appropriations Chairman Jack McFarland says this is a program that could serve as many as 450-thousand children. He says an investment of three-point-six million dollars will lead to 71-million dollars in federal money.
“We have the ability to tell the agencies where they’re going to spend that money, how they are going to spend that money and when they are going to spend that money,” McFarland said.
McFarland says he’s heard from constituents who relied on the summer EBT program the last two summers and the Landry administration should make it available this summer.
“We will do whatever we got to do, to move DOE, DCFS, and OTS and any other initial to do what we tell them what to do,” McFarland said.
Summer EBT officially begins June 4th. Congress passed a law which was signed by President Biden that made the program permanent.
