Michigan has been chosen as the first state to be approved to operate Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer, a new program authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Act — signed by President Donald Trump — which provides assistance to families of children eligible for free or reduced-price meals who are dealing with school closures.

For the 2019-20 school year, Michigan had nearly 750,000 children eligible for free and reduced-priced lunch.

Michigan submitted a plan to the secretary of agriculture for providing these benefits to SNAP and non-SNAP households.

Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) supplements current SNAP participants and complements previously announced flexibilities for child nutrition programs that:

"During these unprecedented times in the United States, President Trump has authorized a whole of America approach to tackling the coronavirus, and by authorizing pandemic EBT in the state of Michigan, we are able to ensure the Americans who need food the most are able to get it,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said. “This is a challenging time for many people right now, and we are working every day to ensure all Americans have access to safe, affordable and nutritious food to feed themselves and their families.”

The announcement is the latest in a series of actions that USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has taken to uphold the USDA’s commitment to “Do Right and Feed Everyone” during this national emergency. Other actions include:

These actions and more are part of USDA’s focus on service during the COVID-19 outbreak. To learn more about FNS’ response to COVID-19, visit fns.usda.gov/coronavirus.

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