Nebraska
Summer EBT in Nebraska rolled out after governor’s controversial denial
Millions Of Families Struggled With Food Payments Last Year
Putting food on the table was a struggle for families across the US last year, with reports showing ‘food insecurity’ up by 45% since 2021.
unbranded – Newsworthy
LINCOLN – Sherry Brooks-Nelson has been very busy in her kitchen preparing chili, spaghetti and meatballs with bell peppers, and even fresh cornbread. The 66-year-old retiree most recently worked as a middle school cafeteria worker, and as the sole provider for her two teenage granddaughters, she doesn’t always have the resources to cook these big meals.
Nebraska’s Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program, a federal initiative to feed hungry kids during the long summer months, helped Brooks-Nelson and thousands of families that would’ve otherwise gone hungry.
Over the summer, the extra $40 per month per child for three months helped families across the state buy fresh produce they don’t usually have in their grocery budget, such as cabbage, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, apples and bananas.
“We’re able to get some things that we’re not used to eating because we just don’t have the money,” Brooks-Nelson said. “It’s a lot of money for me because I know how to stretch it. We love spinach and cabbage around here.”
But families like Brooks-Nelson’s in Nebraska almost didn’t get summer EBT benefits.
Last December, Nebraska was under the national spotlight when Gov. Jim Pillen rejected $18 million in grocery-buying federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help feed low-income Nebraskans, telling the media he didn’t “believe in welfare.” But in February, Pillen changed course after young Nebraskans and state lawmakers from both political parties convinced him to opt into the program.
Pillen’s initial reasoning for not opting into summer EBT was his argument that Nebraska’s Summer Food Service Program, which created a system of sites where children could access free meals, was adequate enough and helped provide important touch points for check-ins with families.
But advocates and lawmakers said it wasn’t enough, including Republican state Sen. Ray Aguilar, who prioritized a bill urging the state to opt into summer EBT. He had heard from former and current school administrators in Grand Island, a city in his district just west of Lincoln, that the area had the highest rate of students eligible for free and reduced lunches in the state.
“They were well aware that in the summertime, without cafeteria service, there’s kids going hungry,” Aguilar told USA TODAY. “That was an important reason, as far as I was concerned. Hearing from them, and coupled with the fact that I don’t want to see any kids go hungry, I thought it was kind of a no-brainer for me to jump on that.”
But more than a dozen states — all with Republican governors — refused the federal funds, including Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming, according to the USDA.
According to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, the state distributed about $28 million in summer EBT funding to over 76,000 households.
“Under Governor Pillen’s direction, DHHS successfully developed the “Nebraska way” of implementing the S-EBT program while also identifying additional needs of children and their families through multiple touchpoints,” the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Service said in a statement to USA TODAY.
Eric Savaiano, a program manager at Nebraska Appleseed, a non-profit that advocates for underserved communities, said they heard from families who were “excited” about receiving EBT cards. He noted that while summer meal sites help families while school is out, they aren’t as accessible in the state’s rural areas, and summer EBT helped fill those gaps.
“We’re a very rural state, and it’s hard to go to those summer food service program sites,” Savaiano said. “Although there’s some new options that make it a little bit easier and spreads a bit more of the meals around, this is a program that reaches a ton more kids and can be a real lifeline.”
‘It’s just one thread’
While Nebraska rolled out summer EBT, across the state’s eastern border in the neighboring state of Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds chose not to have the state participate in the program this year, arguing that it was unsustainable and didn’t adequately address the state’s high childhood obesity rates.
“An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic,” Reynolds said in a December press release.
Luke Elzinga, chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition, saw the negative impacts of the decision, with more children using food pantries this summer compared to past years when pandemic benefits were going out.
“In Iowa, we had 245,000 kids who would have qualified for this. It was $29 million in benefits could have gone out, and that certainly would have had an impact,” Elzinga said.
Alicia Christensen, the director of advocacy and policy for Together Omaha, an organization focused on combating homelessness and hunger, said there was a difference in traffic between their food pantry in Omaha, Neb., and their Council Bluffs location right across the border in Iowa.
Christensen noted that although the differences in food pantry usage can’t be attributed to one program, it didn’t hurt to have summer EBT in Nebraska, saying it worked in combination with other food and nutrition programs to help strengthen both food and nutrition security.
“It’s just one thread in different things that make up the whole cloth of that supportive system,” Christensen said. “The school lunch and breakfast program is a component, along with SNAP and WIC. And then summer EBT is just another. The more threads you have woven in there, the stronger it’s going to be, and when you take one of those out, it shifts all those resources downstream.”
Kaytron Allen is now Penn State’s all-time leading rusher after yet another stellar performance on the ground.
Nick Singleton, Allen’s 2022 classmate and good friend, added two more touchdowns to his impressive career total, along with 95 combined rushing-receiving yards.
Singleton has amassed 53 touchdowns for PSU, tying him with Saquon Barkley for the most in program history.
Penn State’s offensive line, led by vets Vega Ioane, Nick Dawkins, Drew Shelton, Anthony Donkoh and Nolan Rucci, paved the way for the Lions’ 231 rushing yards and four rushing scores in PSU’s 37-10 steamrolling of Nebraska on Senior Night in State College.
Senior defensive linemen Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zane Durant combined for two sacks and two pass breakups in the contest.
The Penn State veterans came to play as the Lions improved to 5-6 in their final 2025 game at Beaver Stadium.
It was a good night for a few of the program’s gifted young players, too.
Ethan Grunkemeyer. The Lions’ redshirt freshman quarterback, in his fifth career start, completed 11 of 12 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown.
Grunkemeyer became the first Penn State quarterback to complete 90 percent of his passes on 10 or more attempts – “Grunk” was at 92 percent – since Todd Blackledge completed 10 of 11 (91 percent) passes at Syracuse in 1981.
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Penn State running back Kaytron Allen
Daryus Dixson. Penn State’s rapidly developing true freshman cornerback was a difference-maker against Nebraska, finishing with a career-high eight tackles, five of them solos.
Yvan Kemajou. The Lions’ true freshman edge rusher collected four tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack against the Cornhuskers. The sack was Kemajou’s first.
Kemajou has 4.5 tackles for loss.
Koby Howard. Penn State’s true freshman wideout delivered another explosive play on the Lions’ first touchdown drive – a 31-yard catch that positioned PSU at its 47. The Lions capped their 98-yard scoring march three plays later.
Howard, who has three explosive plays in 2025, is averaging 19.8 yards on five receptions.
Alex Tatsch. PSU’s true freshman linebacker produced a career-high five tackles, three of them solos.
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The Nebraska Cornhuskers visit the Penn State Nittany Lions as underdogs looking to knock off the resurgent home team during Week 13 of the college football season. Kickoff takes place today at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) on Saturday, November 22 with a live TV broadcast on NBC, and streaming on Peacock.
• You can watch Penn State vs. Nebraska football live for FREE with Fubo (free trial), by signing up with DIRECTV (free trial) or streaming live on Peacock for under $11/month.
What TV channel is the Nebraska vs. Penn State football game on today? Is it streaming free anywhere?
When: Kickoff takes place at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) on Saturday, November 22.
Where: Beaver Stadium in University Park, PA
TV Channel: NBC, and streaming on Peacock.
How to watch streaming live without cable: There are several options to watch this game and more football games this season.
- You can watch this game live for FREE with DIRECTV (free trial) or by signing up for Fubo (free trial).
- You can also sign up for Peacock ($10.99/month) to watch this game live on your TV, computer, phone or tablet with the Peacock app. Many Big Ten college football games will be streaming only on Peacock this season.
- The best deal: Another great option might be to get a Sling “Season Pass” ($199) and buy an HDTV antenna. This pairing would give you nearly every channel showing college football this season.
- If you already have a cable provider, use your login information to watch this game on NBC Live.
Nebraska vs. Penn State spread, latest betting odds
Point spread: PSU: -7.5 | NEB: +7.5
Over/Under: 45.5
- Get promo codes, signup deals and free bets from our Oregon Betting News home page.
Nebraska
Lincoln senator slams Pillen’s push to scrap TEEOSA as Nebraska’s school funding fight escalates
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) — Nebraska’s education funding has been the topic of much discussion this week, from a legislature-created commission studying the funding formula to an interim study that is in-part focusing on property tax contributions.
But a pointed statement from Gov. Jim Pillen is drawing ire from some legislators, and interest from others.
Pillen issued a statement Thursday night calling for the Unicameral to abolish TEEOSA — the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act — after a $30 million overpayment to Omaha Public Schools.
TEEOSA is the funding formula used to determine state aid, by subtracting resources from needs, and it’s been in use since the 90s. But some legislators say getting rid of it is not as simple as it might sound.
Pillen, in his statement, blamed the “deaf ears” of some in the legislature for failing to pass tax reform.
Adams senator Myron Dorn told 10/11 because of valuation increases, TEEOSA has gone a different route than originally intended.
“I believe there could be definitely easier ways. There are solutions,” Dorn said. “We’ve tried to change it over the years. We haven’t had much success. Is it too complicated? Yes, it’s complicated.”
But abolishing the program outright isn’t something Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad will support, calling the governor’s comments “bizarre” and “unhinged.”
“It would be reckless and wrong to dismantle our school funding system without a clear, viable alternative that would ensure we can meet our students’ needs and ensure that we are good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Conrad said.
She and Dorn clashed during an interim study hearing Thursday, where Conrad asked if protecting tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations was more important than providing property tax relief.
Part of the funding issue is a massive budget deficit, something Conrad attributed in-part to tax cuts for the wealthy pushed by Gov. Pillen and his legislative allies in 2023.
“Gov. Pillen and his allies in the Legislature pushed forward blindly to engineer Kansas-style tax cuts that are inequitable and unsustainable and that benefit the wealthiest Nebraskans and the largest corporations,” Conrad said, “at the expense of ensuring a balanced budget and our ability to take care of critical things like roads and the university health care and child care and public education in our K-12 schools.”
Dorn added he has faith in the new School Finance Review Commission.
“I think if you give them a year or two, they’re going to come up with some very good concepts, some very good ideas in how we can make the TEEOSA formula better, or maybe have a different formula,” Dorn said.
Legislators will return Jan. 7 to begin their short, 60-day second session, with the budget expected to take up most of their time.
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