By Jack O’Toole | South Carolina Democrats in the General Assembly are challenging GOP Gov. Henry McMaster’s refusal to claim an estimated $65 million in federal food aid for needy children by promoting legislation that would force the governor to accept the funds.
“This program provides critical food assistance to hungry kids throughout South Carolina, especially in rural areas,” Orangeburg Democratic Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter said this week in an interview. “So my question for Governor McMaster is this: what’s your Plan B? Without this money, what’s your plan to keep these hungry children fed?”
Summer EBT, the federal program under which the funds are available, offers families up to $40 per child each month during the summer break when school is out of session. All children who qualify for free or reduced price school meals are eligible. The money is delivered on a pre-loaded debit card, which can be used to purchase approved food items at any store that accepts EBT. To date, 35 states have signed up for the program, including neighboring North Carolina and Tennessee.
Advocates estimate about 543,000 South Carolina children would be eligible to receive the Summer EBT benefit in 2024 at a total cost of about $3 million to state taxpayers, who would be responsible for 50% of the program’s administrative overhead. All other expenses, including the cost of the benefits themselves, would be paid by the federal government.
For his part, McMaster said he believed the Summer EBT program, which began as a Covid emergency measure, has outlived its usefulness and is not needed in light of existing state and nonprofit feeding programs.
“At some point, we must end these pandemic programs,” the governor said in a January 30 press conference. “Keep in mind, we already have programs to provide food for people below a certain income. We already have that. Also, keep in mind, we have food banks galore all over the state.”
Moreover, he argued, the real answer to the problem of hunger in South Carolina isn’t more government – it’s private-sector jobs.
“We don’t want to create yet another entitlement and grow this bureaucracy,” McMaster said. “The main thing is to provide good work and good careers and good stability for our people.”
Nevertheless, advocates and policy experts like Sue Berkowitz of the SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center said they thought McMaster’s call for a return to normalcy post-Covid missed the point.
“The thing that’s frustrating for me is when the governor says we have to get back to normal,” Berkowitz said. “Normal is one in six kids going to bed hungry in South Carolina. Why would we want to get back to that kind of normal?”
Ultimately, according to Berkowitz, the issue boils down to a question of conscience for everyone in South Carolina, political leaders and citizens alike.
“I believe that if there’s a will in our state to feed hungry children, we can find a way to get this done,” she said.
- Jack O’Toole reports on statewide issues for Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!