Meng Hails Approval of New York State's Plan to Operate Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer Program

Statement

Today, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service approved New York State's plan to operate the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) program.

The P-EBT program provides free breakfast and lunch benefits to current Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households and non-SNAP households, which include children eligible for free and reduced-price school meals, through the State's SNAP EBT card system.

"With over 55 million students at home and over 124,000 public and private schools closed, making sure students who have food at home is critical for their health," said Meng. "Food insecurity during this public health crisis is deeply alarming and it is why I wrote to President Trump urging him to provide more funding for critical safety net programs in New York City, including this Pandemic-EBT designation. Now that New York State has been approved, I am confident that New York families will be one step closer to food security in this tough time."

New York State estimates nearly 1.3 million households will benefit under the P-EBT program.

On May 1, Meng, along with State Senator Roxanne Persaud (D-Brooklyn), Assembly Member Andrew Hevesi (D-Queens) and Council Member Karen Koslowitz (D-Queens), led 94 New York Elected Officials from Congress, the State Legislature and City Council in letter to President Trump calling for more funding for critical safety net programs for New York. One of the priorities in the letter included approval of New York State's plan to operate P-EBT.

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