The federal government said Monday that Tennessee has not opted into a summer food program for low income kids that brought more than $84 million in funding to avert childhood hunger in previous years. (Photo: Getty Images)
Despite the urging of county mayors, child advocates, clergy and educators, Gov. Bill Lee has declined to secure millions of dollars in federal funding to provide food to low-income kids by the government’s Jan. 1 deadline.
Lee has remained quiet about the apparent decision to forgo approximately $84 million from the federal government’s Summer EBT program, also known as SUN Bucks. In the past, the federal funding has helped feed 700,000 Tennessee kids during summer months when school is out. The governor’s office, for weeks, has not responded to reporters’ questions about whether he planned to participate in the federal Summer EBT…