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Bill would require Tennessee to use federal funding to feed low-income students

Staff file photo by Matt Hamilton / Sen. Bo Watson, R-North Chattanooga, speaks during an event in Soddy-Daisy. Watson said a bill that would require Tennessee to enroll in a summer feeding program for low-income children could cause problems with the state budget. Staff file photo by Matt Hamilton / Sen. Bo Watson, R-North Chattanooga, speaks during an event in Soddy-Daisy. Watson said a bill that would require Tennessee to enroll in a summer feeding program for low-income children could cause problems with the state budget.

By Melissa Brown / Chalkbeat Tennessee March 7, 2026 3 min read

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A bipartisan group of lawmakers want to require Tennessee to use available federal funding to provide summer grocery funds to low-income students, bucking Gov. Bill Lee’s repeated insistence that the state doesn’t need the federal dollars to help feed 700,000 children during school breaks.

Last summer, the majority of low-income students across Tennessee did not receive supplemental grocery funds for the first time in five years after Lee declined to enroll the state into the 2025 federal program, known as Sun Bucks.

Lee effectively rejected an estimated $75 million in federal funds by doing so, despite entreaties from Democrats, county mayors and children’s advocates who argued the funds helped bridge the summer months when students don’t have access to school meals.

Now, a Republican-backed effort to require Tennessee to participate is advancing through the General Assembly and would sidestep a decision from the executive branch not to participate.