It amounts to $120 per child in free or reduced-price lunch program
Thousands of Iowa families will receive $120 in food assistance to cover the past summer months as part of the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer federal program.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday it had been approved for the federal benefits. The payments will go to Iowa children who qualified for free and reduced-price school lunch as of May, which is about 240,000 children.
The money, $120 per child, will come to families in the form of P-EBT cards in the mail by Oct. 4, the department said. They can be used on groceries like dairy, meat, pasta, bread, fresh, frozen or canned fruits and vegetables, and more, the department said.
The state originally considered passing on the federal money, citing a high administrative burden, but it reversed course after dozens of anti-hunger organizations and advocates urged state officials to accept the funds.
“Access to a consistent, nutritious diet not only ensures a child’s basic needs are being met, these benefits are an investment in their health and future success, which are key focus areas for HHS,” HHS Director Kelly Garcia said in a statement. “These additional funds will support thousands of Iowa families in putting nutritious food on their table.”
Iowa Democratic Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott of West Des Moines, who signed a letter to Gov. Kim Reynolds urging her to accept the food assistance, said Tuesday the money will help in addressing food insecurity in Iowa.
“I’m happy and relieved to see our state follow through on feeding hungry Iowa kids,” Trone Garriott said in an emailed statement. “This is the right thing to do — these cards will go a long way toward meeting the need.”
Kim Reynolds joins letter asking for migrant location details
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds joined two dozen other Republican governors in a letter urging President Joe Biden to provide more information on the relocation of unlawful migrants and asylum seekers.
The letter, signed by every Republican governor except Phil Scott of Vermont, says “every state is now a border state” and blames Biden’s border policies for recent surges in illegal crossings at the southern border and drug trafficking into the U.S.
“States are on the front lines, working around-the-clock responding to the effects of this crisis: shelters are full, food pantries empty, law enforcement strained and aid workers exhausted,” the letter says.
The governors asked the Biden administration to provide “honest, accurate, detailed information on where the migrants admitted at the southern border are being relocated in the United States” and data on asylum claim timelines and number of qualifications, along with successful deportations.
After rescinding the pandemic-era rule that allowed border officials to quickly turn away migrants, President Joe Biden’s administration enacted a policy in May intended to stem the flow of asylum seekers into the U.S. by turning away migrants who did not seek protections in another country before seeking asylum in the U.S.
Some migrants who enter the U.S. seeking asylum are allowed to remain in the country as they pursue their asylum claim, either because they entered at a legal point of entry or because they qualify for an exception under the new policy.
Border apprehensions fell steeply in June after the new policy took effect, but they increased again in July, according to federal data.
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