Gov. Bill Lee Has Not Heard the Cry of the Needy
He has failed to be a Governor for all of Tennessee
Following last year’s “liberation” from federal assistance in feeding hungry kids during the summer, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee will also forego funding for food assistance in 2026.
Tennessee Lookout reports on this year’s decision:
Despite the urging of county mayors, child advocates, clergy and educators, Gov. Bill Lee has declined to secure millions of dollars in federal funding to provide food to low-income kids by the government’s Jan. 1 deadline.
Lee has remained quiet about the apparent decision to forgo approximately $84 million from the federal government’s Summer EBT program, also known as SUN Bucks. In the past, the federal funding has helped feed 700,000 Tennessee kids during summer months when school is out. The governor’s office, for weeks, has not responded to reporters’ questions about whether he planned to participate in the federal Summer EBT.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that “Tennessee has not submitted their intent to participate in Summer EBT for 2026.”
Last year, Lee used state funds to set up a smaller program that helped feed about 18,000 kids. This left 682,000 kids who normally received the summer food assistance without it in 2025.
Lee has not explained his reasoning, but his refusal to accept the funds falls in line with a group of GOP governors who rejected the money to “liberate” their states from federal government dependence.
Even with this refusal, Tennessee continues to receive more funds from the federal government than the state’s residents pay in.
Tennessee received more than $14,730 per capita as of 2022, according to a Rockefeller Institute of Government report released last year. That total does not include COVID aid.
But Tennessee only sent the federal government $11,510 per capita, leaving a $3,220 balance.
And, while Gov. Lee may be proving a point and falling in line with President Trump’s thinking, doing so comes at the cost of letting hungry kids stay hungry.