DES MOINES, Iowa — In early October, the United States Department of Agriculture notified the state’s Department of Health and Human Services that the waiver to create an alternative to the food program was denied.

Governor Reynolds told reporters on Tuesday at Terrace Hill that she will reapply once the Trump administration takes office.

“This is an administration that’s ready to step in and do things differently, to really look at how we can work with the states, how we can look at existing programs that work, you know, that we can feed more kids with healthier foods,” said Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R).

Reynolds’ plan is to have distribution sites for families at or below 200% of the federal poverty line. The sites would give out boxes of healthy food items, and the governor’s office said around 300,000 kids will benefit from the program.

Meanwhile, electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards provide families with $120 per child over the summer to pay for food, providing for families at or below 185% of the federal poverty line. The USDA in its response to the waiver request said the Summer EBT program is proven to reach food insecure children and improve diets, Gov. Reynolds’ plan could go hand and hand with the federal program and the department said that federal funding is limited to support feeding demonstration projects.

Advocates with the Iowa Hunger Coalition early this week called on the governor to opt back into the Summer EBT program before the deadline on Jan. 1, 2025.

“We appreciate the governor’s recognition that Iowa is facing a hunger crisis and that many Iowans are experiencing food insecurity and are not adequately being served by nutrition programs in our state,” said John Boller, executive director of the Coralville Community Food Pantry.

“Summer EBT was created to compliment, not to replace, summer meal sites … we certainly appreciate the governor’s efforts to expand summer meal sites this year, but we also know that transportation and other barriers to accessing these sites will continue to exist,” said Anne Discher, executive director of Common Good Iowa.

Reynolds plans to pitch to the next administration the state program, saying she had encountered difficulties trying to get cooperation from the Biden-Harris administration.

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