Senator Murray Speaks on Senate Floor About Her Longtime Fight to Make Summer Nutrition Benefits Permanent--Summer EBT Program She Delivered Takes Effect This Year

Floor Speech

"This has been a long time coming--and it is a huge deal that now, this program is becoming permanent. The painful reality is that right now, in this country, we have some 30 million kids for whom the free or reduced-priced meals they get at school are the difference between them eating a real meal that day or going hungry. And when summer comes, instead of feeling relief at getting a break from homework, many of these kids, and their parents, are worried about where they're going to get their next meal, until school starts again.

Still, even if it seems like common sense and basic humanity that kids shouldn't go hungry--it's been a long journey to finally get this idea passed into law. Now, that bill is going into effect. And what it means for families is: This summer, in participating states like my home state of Washington, families whose kids qualify for free or reduced-price school meals during the school year will receive a pre-loaded nutrition benefits card worth about $120 per child to buy groceries over the summer. And, unlike the pandemic-era program that we passed, this program is permanent.

I'm going to keep pushing to make sure that no child goes hungry--no child. And every family gets the same kind of support that my family got when I was growing up,"

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