Chattanooga Times Free Press | April 17, 2026
“Tennessee lawmakers this week will consider a measure to force Gov. Bill Lee to resume participation in a federal anti-hunger program that helped feed 700,000 kids during the summer before the governor rejected the funding two years ago.
In an apparent rebuke to the governor, two rural Sparta Republicans — Sen. Paul Bailey and Rep. Michael Hale — are sponsoring a bill to require the state to apply for the federal Summer EBT funding. In past years, the program has distributed $84 million in federal funding to low-income families to help them buy their children food at the grocery store when school is out.
A bipartisan group of 30 lawmakers has signed onto the measure. The proposed legislation has been approved unanimously in every committee that has considered it thus far, as lawmakers faced pressure from constituents, educators, county mayors, pediatricians and faith leaders to restore the funding.
Lee in 2024 joined a dozen Republican governors in rejecting Summer EBT, also known as Sun Bucks. The governors cited state administrative costs and criticized the program as an attempt ‘to expand the welfare state.’”