TN Gov Lee, amid criticism, will introduce state-funded summer food program

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee will announce programs for summer food assistance in his fiscal year 2027 budget, TCS has learned.The governor is facing criticism for Lee not applying for $84 million in federal funds for a summer feeding program.
“Lee’s intentional refusal to accept our tax dollars from the federal government to provide much-needed nutrition and combat childhood hunger was made despite pleas from dozens of county mayors, members of the clergy, educators, and lawmakers,” said Tennessee House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Ray Clemmons. “The summer EBT program, when accepted, feeds over 700,000 Tennessee children during the summer months when school-based meals are unavailable.”
This is the second year Lee has not applied for the program. Tennessee is one of 11 states that will not participate in 2026, according to a map on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website.
“The Summer EBT program was established in the pandemic-era to supplement existing food assistance programs and is mostly duplicative,” the governor’s office wrote in an email to TCS. “As a greater share of the cost burden shifts to states, Tennessee is well-positioned to ensure children are fed in the summer months by bolstering our existing programs.”
Lee allocated $3 million in the fiscal year 2026 budget for nutrition assistance in Benton, Carroll, Carter, Cocke, Fayette, Grainger, Houston, Humphreys, Johnson, Lauderdale, Marshall, Moore, Rhea, Sequatchie and Sumner counties. The program allocated a one-time payment of $120 to eligible children in households that received SNAP and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, according to a 2025 release from the Tennessee Department of Human Services.
Clemmons called it a “fiscally irresponsible decision.”
“Lee professes to govern through his faith, but here he is once again depriving hungry children of food while almost 20% of Tennessee children are experiencing food insecurity,” Clemmons said. “There is no sound fiscal or policy rationale for this cruelty.”

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