Branstad 'more likely to approve” state money for Iowa’s food banks

DES MOINES - Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday he's “much more likely to approve” state money for Iowa's food banks than last year.

Included in the budget bills lawmakers sent the governor this year was a $1 million appropriation for Iowa's food banks. It's a matching appropriation, meaning food banks would have to raise $1 million privately in order to access the full amount.

Last year, the governor vetoed a $500,000 appropriation for food banks from the budget, saying voluntary contributions should pay for its operations.

“Well, this year, unlike last year, it's a one-time appropriation that's being matched by at least as much in private-sector contributions,” Branstad said Monday. “I have been a strong supporter of food banks, going back to my first year as governor in 1983. We've already been working on our food drive among state employees.”

The governor has until June 22 to sign all the legislation approved by the General Assembly this year for it to become law. He also has the ability to veto parts of bills that deal with appropriations, such as the food bank item, but this line-item veto authority doesn't extend to non-appropriation language.

Branstad's remarks came during his weekly news conference where he was joined by representatives from the Des Moines Symphony, the Food Bank of Iowa, Dahl's Foods and Bank of the West to announce the official start of the 5th annual Yankee Doodle Drive Against Hunger.

Carey Miller, executive director of the Food Bank of Iowa, said one in eight Iowans are food insecure, which means they don't have the means to obtain enough food to support a healthy lifestyle. One in five children doesn't have enough to eat on any given day, she added.

She read a thank you note from a bank client.

“We are on a fixed income, and sometimes we do not have enough money for food,” Miller read. “The food we receive means we eat, rather than going without. All I would like to say is thank you and God bless.”