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Texas turns down $350M in summer food assistance for children, citing lack of resources (www.houstonchronicle.com)

submitted 9 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

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Texas is passing up nearly $350 million in federal aid to help feed millions of low-income children during the summer months after a state agency said it lacked the time and resources to implement the program this year.

Summer EBT, a new U.S. Department of Agriculture program approved by Congress in 2022, will provide families in participating states with funds to buy groceries to fill the void when their children are not receiving meals at school. The benefits — $40 per eligible child per month — will be dispensed via “electronic benefit transfer” cards, similar to a prepaid debit card, for three months.

The majority of states, as well as several territories and tribal nations, have signed onto the program. Texas is among a minority of 16 states not participating.

...

USDA spokesperson Allan Rodriguez pushed back on Texas health officials’ reasoning, saying the agency provided an “unprecedented level of guidance and support” to states in the months leading up to the rollout.

“The fact that 44 states, territories and tribes are moving forward in the program’s inaugural year shows that states have had the information they needed,” Rodriguez said. “Those that do not launch the program this summer will have future opportunities to opt-in, and we will keep working with every state and tribe to set them up for success in doing so.”

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[-] Theprogressivist@lemmy.world 124 points 9 months ago

Shitty grid, starving children, racist deputized border agents arresting American citizens. Texas is a 3rd world country.

[-] AquaTofana@lemmy.world 34 points 9 months ago

Don't forget about our border towns on the TX-NM border doing their best to lock down road travel for pregnant women!

They're failing for the moment, but dammit they're trying!

[-] tartan@lemmy.world 34 points 9 months ago

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it as many times as I need to. I’ve lived in “3rd world countries”, and I’ve lived in Texas. Texas is worse.

[-] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 15 points 9 months ago

Third world countries really get a bad rap.

[-] Instigate@aussie.zone 9 points 9 months ago

It’s also such a dehumanising concept. The ‘First World’ is the Anglosphere and Western Europe, the ‘Second World’ is the Sovietsphere, and the ‘Third World’ is just everything else. How the hell are Eritrea, India, the UAE and Brazil in any way related to one another or even similar? What a stupid way to group nations that’s extremely outdated for the modern world.

While I prefer the modern term ‘Global South’ as encompassing developing nations, it still has its own issues - particularly as an Australian because we’re southern hemispheric but definitely don’t fall under the banner of ‘Global South’.

[-] prole@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 months ago

Why not just "developing world"

[-] Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

Also the majority of rural texas has similar access to hospitals and doctors, for many of the largest aspects of healthcare, as Guatemala.

this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024

391 points (99.5% liked)

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