Bad news for SNAP recipients: If you live in one of these 13 states, you won’t receive Summer EBT payments in July

A major concern during the summer months when school is out is that low-income children don’t have access to a meal through lunch programs. The federal government has been working since 1975 to fill the gap by providing free meals at fixed sites through the Summer Food Service Program.

However, participation has been kept low by several factors like limited awareness, travel distances, and work schedules among other logistical barriers. Just one in seven children who got a free lunch at school during the academic year accessed the program in July 2019.

The covid-19 pandemic revealed that it was access and not demand that was the major problem. Emergency measures put in place to alleviate hardship during the pandemic along with USDA pilot programs showed that tailoring distribution of funds similar to SNAP benefits could greatly reduce food insecurity.

Congress authorized the creation of Summer EBT, a permanent summer grocery benefit, which is called SUN Bucks. The program was launched nationwide in 2024 and compliments the Summer Food Service Program.

What states provide SUN Bucks and where can you use them?

Eligible school-age children receive $120 in grocery benefits on an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card that can be used to purchase food from authorized retailers. These include most grocery stores, farmer’s markets and other retailers that accept SNAP benefits.

Currently, there are 37 states, the District of Columbia, four US territories and five Tribal Nations in Oklahoma that participate in the program. The following are the states that are not sending out SUN Bucks:

The states that have opted out have done so for various reasons including limited capacity and funding, concerns about federal requirements or reliance on existing food programs according to the Brookings Institute. As well, some have decided not to participate out of ideological opposition.

Texas is planning to join the program in 2027 and states like Alaska, Idaho, Iowa and Oklahoma are interested in signing on to the program. The non-partisan think tank says that states that have opted out are “missing a free lunch—figuratively and literally.”

“These states are forgoing fully funded benefits that could ease child hunger and support tens of thousands of families in their own communities,” Brookings states. The NGO explains that by preventing summer hunger, SUN Bucks can support school readiness among children thus combating the ‘summer slide’ and all for about 1% the annual cost of SNAP.

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