Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 2/1/21

Even before Vilsack is sworn in, Biden’s USDA has taken a series of actions to expand food assistance for low-income Americans, especially families with children. That includes a new policy to fix bureaucratic potholes that derailed roughly $2 billion in aid from reaching needy families each month, Pro Ag’s Helena Bottemiller Evich reports.

The Pandemic EBT program was created last spring to help low-income families buy extra groceries to replace the subsidized meals that their children would have received at school. But most eligible households still haven’t received any payments for the current school year, even though Congress re-upped the program in September.

Details: On Friday, USDA released guidance allowing states to simplify how they determine which children are eligible for benefits, including how to assist kids who are below school age, a change that was requested by Congress.

— The new guidelines essentially make it easier for state officials to distribute the money, and at a higher payment rate than before. USDA is also encouraging states to retroactively apply the boosted rate of benefits from the start of the school year.

Big picture: The changes mark a significant ideological shift from the Trump administration, which preferred stricter limits on eligibility for nutrition benefits. Under Biden, USDA’s mandate is to err on the side of pumping out more aid to as many low-income households as possible, even if it means accidentally including some kids who have access to in-person school meals, Helena writes.

On your radar: Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) on Friday asked the Biden administration to address food insecurity among military families, including loosening income requirements to qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. (The New York Times has more on the military hunger crisis in this December deep-dive.)