Categories: Pennsylvania News

Pennsylvania is suing the USDA over cutting funding to a $1 billion food aid program for states

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday, saying the agency, under President Donald Trump, had illegally cut off funding to it through a program designed to distribute more than $1 billion in aid to states to purchase food from farms for schools, child care centers, and food banks.

The lawsuit in federal court, announced by Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, comes three months after the USDA advised states that it was ending the pandemic-era assistance program because it no longer reflected agency priorities.

“I don’t get what the hell their priorities are if not feeding people and taking care of our farmers,” Shapiro said at a news conference at a food bank warehouse in Philadelphia.

Sponsored

The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Harrisburg, asks the court to reverse the USDA’s decision to end the reimbursement program.

Shapiro’s administration, in the lawsuit, said the USDA’s termination of the contract was illegal, saying the USDA didn’t explain why it no longer reflected agency priorities and that the contract didn’t expressly allow the USDA to terminate it for those reasons.

Shapiro said he was confident that Pennsylvania would win the lawsuit.

“A deal is a deal,” Shapiro told the news conference. “They made a deal with our farmers, they made a deal with Pennsylvania and they broke it.”

The loss to Pennsylvania is $13 million under a three-year contract, money that the state planned to use to buy food from farms to stock food banks. States also use the money to buy food from farms for school nutrition programs and child care centers. Purchases include commodities such as cheese, eggs, meat, fruits and vegetables.

The department, under then-President Joe Biden, announced a second round of funding through the program last year.

rssfeeds-admin

Share
Published by
rssfeeds-admin

Recent Posts

Portable Sonos Play speaker leaks on Canadian Best Buy

Why is this outdoor kitchen? | Image: Sonos An unannounced Sonos speaker called Play has…

1 hour ago

Tons of Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Shows Are Now Streaming for Free on Tubi

In the midst of potential acquisition chaos, Warner Bros. has also been spinning deals with…

2 hours ago

Kalshi voids some bets on Khamenei’s ouster because it’s ‘directly tied to death’

In a statement on X, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said his company would pay out…

3 hours ago

Everything Coming to HBO Max in March

While things may be a little up in the air for Warner Bros., we know…

4 hours ago

Liberty Forum in Concord will celebrate the Free State Project

New Hampshire Free Staters will be taking a victory lap in Concord this week at…

4 hours ago

Dunbarton voters to evaluate switching to SB 2 school meeting format

On Election Day, Dunbarton residents will weigh whether to change the traditional format of their…

4 hours ago

This website uses cookies.