HB341 would authorize the Department of Family Services to administer the federal “Summer EBT program,” which provides a debit card with $120 in “grocery benefits” for each eligible school-age child when school is not in session.

The House rejected HB341 on February 10, 2025, by a vote of 25 to 34. We have assigned pluses to the nays because the responsibility for feeding children belongs to parents or family members, not the government. There can be no such thing as a “free” meal, and taxation in the name of “social welfare” is neither just nor charitable. “Cradle-to-grave” policies rely on the unconstitutional theft of taxpayer money for use on behalf of some citizens (particularly those who have little or no tax liability) at the expense of others—resulting in more debt, dependency, and poverty. Moreover, nothing in Article 1, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution authorizes the federal “Summer EBT program,” Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).