By Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy and Adam Van Brimmer
Image: U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., are critical of Gov. Brian Kemp for his decision not to accept federal food aid for lower-income families.
Georgia Democrats are turning up the heat on Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to opt out of a federal government program that helps lower-income families with school-age children pay for groceries.
Georgia is one of roughly a dozen states that didn’t join the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program which is designed to help struggling families during months when their children would otherwise get free or reduced price lunches at schools.
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath of Marietta and Georgia U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff are among the Democrats who have pressed Kemp to commit to the program for next summer ahead of Thursday’s deadline.
“It can be tough in the summertime when school’s out and suddenly there aren’t school meals anymore,” Ossoff told reporters Monday after addressing the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. “I’d urge that the governor accept these federal resources to help families across Georgia afford food in the summertime.”
McBath and state Sen. Jason Esteves, an Atlanta Democrat and the former chair of the Atlanta School Board, will hold an event today to urge Kemp to accept the funding.
Kemp spokesman Garrison Douglas said it was “disappointing that the Biden administration continues to ignore reasonable concerns surrounding the program’s lack of nutrition standards and fiscal sustainability.”
He pointed to other state-based programs, including the Department of Education’s “Seamless Summer Option,” designed to provide breakfast and lunch meals to needy students during the break.