Five Ways the Big, Beautiful Bill Will Harm Kansas Families

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Jessica Herrera Russell

Topeka, KAN. - Today, the U.S. House gave final approval to the One Big, Beautiful Bill ahead of the July 4th deadline given by President Trump. The bill contains more than $1 trillion in funding cuts from Medicaid and SNAP, jeopardizing lifelines for American families.  

Unfortunately, Kansas won’t remain unharmed once these budget cuts and corresponding arbitrary rules go into effect over the next few years. Here are five ways low- and moderate-income families will be harmed for years to come. 

SNAP Could End in Kansas Completely. It may seem alarmist, but it’s true. With states now required to pay part of the SNAP benefits cost – which has never been a requirement in the program’s history – based on each state’s payment error rate, Kansas will see an approximate $62 million-a-year bill starting in FY 2028.  

When that daunting bill comes due, Kansas lawmakers must choose to allocate funding to continue the program in Kansas or likely be unable to draw down the additional federal funding.  

If SNAP were to end in Kansas, around 187,000 Kansans (including around 85,000 kids) would not be able to access grocery help. This would be devastating for Kansas kids not only in the short term, but across their lives. One study estimated that for every $1 of SNAP benefits invested in children, $62 is returned over their lifetimes. 

Work Requirements Don’t Meet Families’ Needs. With more low- and moderate-income Kansans set to be subject to work reporting requirements – including parents – SNAP benefits will be stripped away from thousands due to the onerous paperwork burdens caused by these stringent rules. 

For SNAP, the federal bill subjects able-bodied adults age 18-64 – including parents of children 14 years or older – to these work reporting requirements. These one-size-fits-all rules don’t provide for how often lower income workers are subjected to job instability, such as unexpectedly fewer hours than is required to remain eligible or even potentially making just above the income cut off one month but not the next.  

Kansas Kids Will Lose Out on Child Tax Credit. With the bill’s new requirement for at least one parent to have a Social Security Number in order for their child to be eligible to receive the federal child tax credit, nearly 25,000 Kansas kids are projected to lose out starting in tax year 2025.  

Child tax credits are among the most effective tools for lifting children out of poverty, as parents utilize the payments for food and essential items. In 2021, the federal child tax credit kept 2.9 million children out of poverty nationwide. Without this tax relief targeting everyday families, financial stability in households with children are set to worsen.  

Health Care Access Will Be Harder for Kansans. Around 17 million are projected to lose health coverage, and Kansans won’t remain unscathed. A recent estimate found 13,000 Kansans would lose coverage through KanCare, the state’s Medicaid program.  

The state is also projected to lose $3.9 billion in federal and state dollars over the next decade. For rural hospitals that already operate on slim margins, any loss of funds could mean hospitals in rural communities decrease their services – like labor and delivery – or close their facilities completely. This impact hurts all Kansans, not just those accessing Medicaid.  

And with the Kansas state budget already projected to be hemorrhaging funds by FY 2028, this could have much wider impacts on what priorities – K-12 funding or the new SNAP cost burdens – state lawmakers decide to fund.  

Threatens Services for Kansans with Special Needs or Disabilities. Reduced funding will threaten optional services provided through KanCare. If lawmakers have a skinnier budget than they are used to, these optional services could be some of the first places where lawmakers look to pass a balanced budget.  

One example of an optional service within the KanCare program is home and community-based services (HCBS), which help children and people with special needs or disabilities receive accommodations that allow them to stay in their homes instead of a hospital or institution. If this option were to be cut to save the state money, these individuals could lose in-home nursing care, medical supplies, specialized transportation, and more. 

Additionally, any progress Kansas has made with reducing the IDD/PD waiting lists, which has been in headlines in recent years, would be lost.