June 2025 Newsletter
By Kansas Action for Children | June 26, 2025
‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ — What You Need to Know
With the U.S. House and U.S. Senate scheduled to be in their home communities next week and President Trump wanting to sign the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” by July 4, there should be clearer proposals around federal budget cuts begin to emerge very soon.
The bill has gathered endless media headlines in recent months because of the enormous size of cuts to critical programs, like SNAP and Medicaid. Current estimates suggest more than $850 billion could be axed from the Medicaid program and more than $200 billion from SNAP over the next decade.
With 187,000 Kansans relying on SNAP each month to have enough to eat and 440,000 enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP to access health insurance, these massive funding cuts will harm Kansas kids and their families.
There’s just no way for Congress to achieve this level of budget cuts without vulnerable populations having to go without. A new report shows that 13,000 Kansans will lose Medicaid coverage, and the state will lose out on $3.77 billion in federal funding because of the most recent proposal.
This should be unacceptable.
Congress could see a final version of the bill and vote on it soon to send to President Trump to sign by July 4. Kansans still have time to reach out to our congressional delegation and ask them to vote NO on the bill.
For more information, we’ve written up what’s changed in the Senate’s version of the bill. Plans are still developing, as some provisions have to be rewritten due to having been found to violate Senate rules.
Read: U.S. Senate Follows U.S. House’s Lead in Destructive Budget Cuts
National Data Shows the Successes and Struggles of Kansas Kids
The Annie E. Casey Foundation released its 2025 KIDS COUNT Data Book, a 50-state report of recent data analyzing how kids are faring in post-pandemic America.
This year, Kansas ranked 14th overall – 5th in economic well-being, 24th in education, 26th in health, and 24th in family & community context.
Notably, the state’s economic well-being bettered, with fewer children living in poverty or high housing cost burdened households. Kansas kids’ health, however, is slipping, as 3,000 more Kansas kids went uninsured in 2023 compared to 2022.
Read more of the findings here.
The data show that investments do make an impact on outcomes for children. Families are still feeling a financial boost due to the federal enhanced child tax credit and better access to family assistance programs, for instance. Conversely, when the federal government began requiring Medicaid enrollees to recertify their eligibility midway through 2023, more Kansas kids went without health insurance.
We cannot afford to lose ground where we’ve gained or lack investing in programs that we know help keep families afloat. State leaders should commit to improving these outcomes for the long term.
Child Care Bill to Take Effect Next Week
The first set of changes from this past session’s early childhood bill will begin to take effect on July 1. As a reminder, this is the bill that includes the Office of Early Childhood, as well as the expansion of legal, unregulated child care and cementing loosened vaccine exemptions into law.
Here’s a quick list of what changes to expect next Tuesday, but check out more on the facts of the bill here.
- The Governor will appoint members of the transition team for the Office of Early Childhood.
- Changes to the Children’s Cabinet take effect (added members and legislative requirements).
- Child care licensing threshold increases from 20 hours/week split among two children to 35 hours/week each for up to four children.
- Loosening of vaccine requirements in child care settings.
- Updates professional requirements for directors and other staff within facilities.
- Decreases from 16 to 10 hours of annual training.
With this new landscape of child care changes for parents to navigate, advocates will have to adapt to ensure kids thrive in their care environments.
New Staff
Earlier this month, two new staff joined the KAC team!
Jacquie Lightcap is our Coalition Manager and will work closely with the Partnership for Early Success to build power around early childhood issues.
Nathan King joined as the Communications Specialist and will focus on KAC’s digital strategy, including social media, emails, and the website.
We’re excited to see how their presence and unique skillsets will expand KAC’s capacity to advocate and collaborate.
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