As food insecurity in Texas increases, advocates want state officials to reconsider a summer food assistance program cut from the state budget.
The summer EBT program, SUN Bucks, provides grocery benefits for eligible school-age children over summer break. Gov. Greg Abbott line-item vetoed the program when approving the state budget in 2025, citing concerns over federal funding. Now, advocates want Abbott to reconsider.
Stacie Sanchez Hare, director of No Kid Hungry Texas, said even though the state hasn’t participated in the program yet, other states have seen a lot of benefits over the last three summers.
“The decisions and commitments from state leaders need to happen now to ensure the program can be implemented in time so children don't face another summer without reliable access to food when school is out,” Sanchez Hare said.
Texas has one of the highest rates of hunger in the country, with almost 5.4 million people experiencing food insecurity in 2023.
Dallas-Fort Worth ranks third among U.S. metro areas, according to the North Texas Food Bank. In North Texas, one in six people regularly go hungry – about one third are children.
Dr. Lauren Gambill, a pediatrician and leader with the Texas Pediatric Society, said she sees families trying to survive, but they don’t have adequate access or resources.
“This is not a theoretical health issue,” she said. “This is an every single day issue that pediatricians are working with. And not only is it so prevalent, health and nutrition impacts every aspect of a kid's health and wellbeing.”
Gambill said many families struggle to meet their food needs, especially with higher cost of a more nutritious diet.
While food insecurity is a statewide problem year-round, three out of four Texas parents report taking on more debt during the summer months to cover the cost of food while school is out, according to No Kid Hungry Texas.
Advocates, like Sanchez Hare, have been trying to secure funding for the SUN Bucks program for years. In 2025, they got close.
“There was a concerted effort by the speaker and the lieutenant governor to get this done,” state Rep. Armando Walle said. “It got done. They came up with the amount of $60 million as a placeholder in the budget. It was passed by both houses…The governor didn't zero anything out other than this line item in the budget.”
The $60 million in the state budget also would have brought $450 million in federal funding to the state – serving about 3.8 million Texas children.
While the legislature isn’t due back to session until 2027, Walle said he’s hopeful state officials will find a way to invest in the program still. He said people should reach out to Gov. Abbott to encourage him to work with federal partners to join the program.
“When the governor expresses what he wants to do, it seems to happen,” Walle said. “There is a short window, obviously, right now, to try to get that ramped up because it just logistically does take some time.”
Walle said the program could mean a significant boost for the Texas economy by infusing millions of dollars of federal funding into the state.
Gambill also food insecurity not only affects the individual, but the health of Texans in the long run.
“Economically, with increased health care risk, we also see decreased employability,” Gambill said. “It's cycles of food insecurity and poverty that are impacting not just kids today in Texas, which is enough, but for generations potentially.”
Gambill said there are some immediate benefits when people have access to enough nutritious food. For example, children who experience food insecurity are more likely to be hospitalized and have health care costs more than 200% higher than other children.
“There's tons of data to support feeding children,” Gambill said. “Not that we should need data to support feeding children, but we have it.”
Abigail Ruhman is KERA’s health reporter. Got a tip? Email Abigail at aruhman@kera.org.
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