11,000 CNMI kids will each be eligible for $177 food assistance

An estimated 11,000 children in the CNMI will each be eligible to receive $177 in food assistance through the new Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program, or Summer EBT program, this year, according to Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) over the weekend.

Besides keeping children fed in summer when school meals are not available, the Summer EBT program will also pump about $1.9 million into the Marianas economy, with a predicted multiplier effect as high as $3.8 million, said Sablan in his e-kilili newsletter.

He said the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday the Summer EBT program benefits, adjusting the amount for the Marianas to reflect the higher costs of food here.

According to the USDA, children in the CNMI, Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands will receive $59 food assistance monthly, or $177 in total in a three-month period.

Children in the 40 states and the District of Columbia will receive $40 monthly in food assistance, or $120 in total in a three-month period.

Sablan said Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives pushed for the Summer EBT program in the Consolidated Appropriations Act; only nine Republicans voted in favor of the program.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (Public Law 117-328) authorized a permanent, nationwide Summer EBT program beginning in 2024.

Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan