Governor Laura Kelly joins a coalition of 22 attorneys general and two governors in filing a lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture and Secretary Brooke Rollins for unlawfully suspending the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP due to the ongoing federal government shutdown.

 

The USDA has told states that the ongoing federal government shutdown has led to insufficient funds to pay full SNAP benefits for November. The lawsuit claims that the agency has managed to fund other programs during the shutdown using emergency funds and accuses the Trump administration o0f deliberately choosing not to fund the SNAP program.

 

The suit also claims that the lack of funding will also put unnecessary strain on state and local governments and community organizations, as families increasingly rely on emergency services and local food pantries that are already struggling to fill a growing nutrition gap, and that it will affect school systems, including college and university communities, where food insecurity will stand in the way of educating students.

 

In Kansas, nearly 190,000 children, families, and seniors rely on SNAP each month to meet their needs. Governor Kelly has stated that she joined the lawsuit because the federal government has a legal and moral responsibility to fund the program and not to take food out of the mouths of Kansas children.