Friday afternoon, the Kansas Attorney General’s office reported that the state has already forfeited more than $10 million in federal food assistance funding after Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration declined to provide information requested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, setting the stage for a legal clash that could cost Kansas families millions more in the months ahead.
In a conversation with Salina311 this Friday in Salina at 1858 Coffee House, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach described the dispute as both a matter of law and of necessity. “Whenever the governor’s secretary is asked to provide any report, the governor shall provide it, and the secretary shall provide it. They’re not, and they’re not,” Kobach stated.
At issue is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the federal program formerly known as food stamps. The USDA asked Kansas and other states for lists of recipients to address eligibility errors and prevent ineligible payments, including those to undocumented immigrants. Most states complied, but Kansas refused, Kobach said.
“Governor Kelly, in what I believe is political performance theater, said, ‘No, I’m part of the resistance,’” Kobach said. “As a result, Kansas lost $10.4 million in benefits on September 20. That’s money that would have gone directly to needy families.”
The USDA has warned that Kansas could forfeit the same amount every three months unless it submits the requested data. Kansas typically receives about $402 million in SNAP benefits annually, supporting more than 180,000 residents.
Kobach said his office has asked a judge for an injunction to compel the Kelly administration to release the information. A hearing is scheduled this week. “Our lawsuit is simple,” he said. “We are seeking an injunction to force the governor to follow the law and provide this basic information. Without it, families are the ones who lose.”
For now, Kobach said, the state faces the prospect of watching its annual SNAP allocation shrink quarter by quarter. “The money will not be there to refill the EBT cards that families use to put food on the table,” he said.