Maryland Congressional Delegation Secures Additional $727 Million for Students Missing Meals Due to COVID-19 School Closures

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05), Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, and Congressmen Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Anthony Brown, Jamie Raskin, and David Trone yesterday announced that Maryland can extend its Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) nutrition and meals assistance program for eligible Maryland children through June 2021. From August 2020 and with the June extension, the State will issue an estimated $727 million in benefits to help families purchase food while schools are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, benefitting more than 530,000 students who have temporarily lost access to free or reduced-price meals at school - more than half of Maryland's school-age children - according to the here.