Kansas House approves requiring parents to cooperate with child support to get food aid
The Kansas House on Thursday passed a bill that requires parents – whether they have custody of their children or not – to cooperate with child support enforcement to receive food assistance.
The Republican-led effort to further restrict welfare is the latest step in years of efforts by state lawmakers to limit government assistance. Over the past decade, the Legislature has expanded prohibitions on how aid can be used, strengthened work requirements and implemented tougher limits on how long residents can receive help.
State representatives voted 76-46 to pass the bill, House Bill 2141, which now heads to the Kansas Senate.
The legislation requires parents to cooperate with the Kansas Department for Children and Families’ child support enforcement efforts. State officials warn the change would lead to unnecessary delays in providing assistance with little upside.
Supporters said the measure was about ensuring children receive support. They said the Kansas Department for Children and Families has the power to make exceptions for individuals who working with them in good faith.
“If we don’t pass this bill then we don’t hold them accountable instead we give them food stamps with your tax dollars,” said state Rep. Susan Humphries, a Wichita Republican, said during a floor debate on Wednesday.
But Democrats opposed to the bill cast it as harsh and punitive. The Kansas Department for Children and Families, which is under the control of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, opposes the bill and has told lawmakers could add complexity to the food assistance program, risking an increase in errors and delayed benefits.
“We seem to want to punish low income people with hunger,” said state Rep. Allison Houghland, an Olathe Democrat.
The child support bill was originally set to be debated along with a measure requiring able-bodied adults ages 50-59 without children to work at least 30 hours a week or join an employment and training program as a condition of receiving aid from the Supplemental Food Assistance Program, once called food stamps. Current law limits the work requirements to adults under 50.
GOP leaders set the bill aside, however. It’s unclear whether the House will return to the legislation.
Both the child support bill and the work requirements bill were championed by the Florida-based Opportunity Solutions Project, a conservative think tank that serves as a lobbying arm of the Foundation for Government Accountability, which has received funding from Wichita’s Koch family. Several Kansas-based advocacy groups oppose the bill.
The Opportunity Solutions Project says the child support legislation will help foster connections between children and their non-custodial parents and has described the proposal as simply requiring non-custodial parents to meet their obligations. The Kansas bill is part of a larger national effort by the organization to limit access to government aid.
A lobbyist for the organization, Steve Greene, told lawmakers the current law allows non-custodial parents to receive assistance while resisting paying child support.
“This is unfair to the custodial parent, mostly single-moms, working to provide for their family and the child,” Greene told lawmakers in a written testimony, adding that it’s also unfair to taxpayers.
Julie Brewer, director of United Community Services of Johnson County, said the bill would increase barriers to accessing food assistance. The legislation comes at a time when one in seven children experience food insecurity in Kansas, she said.
“High inflation and other costs in 2022 demonstrated the fragility of many working families across Kansas who have become increasingly cost burdened in their housing, healthcare, and nutritious food for their families,” Brewer said in written testimony.
