(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s getting positive signals from USDA officials reviewing Iowa’s request to redirect electronic benefits families with children who qualify for free or reduced price school lunches get to buy groceries in the summer. The Biden Administration twice rejected the governor’s plan to instead have the state make bulk purchases of healthy food and provide boxes of groceries to families in the summer.

“Stay tuned,” Reynolds said of the pending waiver request. “I really appreciate Secretary Rollins and her team…really understanding the uniqueness of each of the states and they need to take that into consideration.”

During a visit to Iowa at the end of March, U.S. Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins said she was “really excited” about the plan Reynolds had presented and her staff was reviewing it “very closely.”

“Hopefully we’ll be hearing something soon on that,” Reynolds said yesterday. “It always just takes longer than it should.”

Reynolds and her staff are seeking three other waiver requests from the Trump Administration. In February, Reynolds asked for authority to roll federal funds designated for a variety of education programs into one block grant and let Iowa officials determine how the money is distributed. Reynolds said McKenzie Snow, the state’s education director, has been answering questions federal education officials have about the concept.

“Sometimes, you know, in an effort to make things less complicated they make it more complicated,” Reynolds said, with a laugh. “We have pushed back on a couple of things and just said: ‘That’s not helpful in your goal and what you’re trying to achieve.’ We have a really good working relationship with Secretary McMahon’s team. Director Snow has worked with some of them before, so it’s a good conversation and a healthy conversation to have. I don’t want to start down this path and then find a lot of unintended consequences.”

On March 20, President Trump signed an executive order directing U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take steps “to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education” and return education decisions to the states

Reynolds is also awaiting word on a waiver to let the state change what products can be purchased with federal food benefits as well as a plan to require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to show they work 100 hours a month. Congress is considering a similar change for all state Medicaid programs.