Press Releases

U.S. Congressman Ron Estes (R-Kansas), along with U.S. Representative Tracey Mann (R-Kansas), sent a letter to Governor Laura Kelly, urging her to protect the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in Kansas. Recent USDA data revealed Kansas’ error rate in SNAP was almost ten percent, meaning millions of Kansas taxpayer dollars were incorrectly sent to people ineligible for the program.

“By refusing to correct the SNAP error rate in Kansas, Governor Kelly has allowed millions of Kansas taxpayer dollars to be incorrectly sent to fraudsters, negatively impacting Kansans who rely on the program,” said Rep. Estes. “Today we are demanding Governor Kelly work with the USDA to strengthen the SNAP program in Kansas and correct the waste of our constituents’ hard-earned dollars.”

"Kansans work hard for every dollar they earn, and they expect their government to be a good steward of their tax dollars,” said Rep Mann. “Rather than working with the federal government to correct Kansas’ high SNAP error rate, Governor Kelly’s administration has refused to comply or even attempt to restore integrity in how our state tax dollars are spent in the program. Every instance of fraud or overpayment through the SNAP program is money taken from vulnerable families in our state who rely on this assistance to meet their nutritional needs. Kansans deserve a system that protects taxpayer dollars and serves the people it was designed to help."

The full letter can be found below.

Dear Governor Kelly, 

We are writing to you today to express our deep concern with your administration’s refusal to protect the integrity of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Kansans deserve and expect their tax dollars to be managed properly, not wasted on fraudulent and incorrect payments. Your administration’s hostility towards working with federal partners to correct this error rate is unacceptable. 

Per the most recent USDA data, Kansas had a payment error rate in SNAP of almost ten percent in 2024. A subsequent investigation by the Kansas House Select Committee on Government Oversight found that the error rate in spring 2025 to be almost twelve percent. These numbers represent millions of dollars of Kansans’ hard-earned tax dollars being incorrectly sent to fraudsters or other ineligible people, including those who entered the country illegally. Every dollar wasted and stolen from SNAP is money taken from Kansans truly in need. Your administration should be eager to correct these long-standing issues in operating SNAP, but instead, you continue to double down on refusing to do so. 

Correcting the error rate in the state is not a partisan issue. In February 2024, then Secretary Vilsack sent you a letter warning you that Kansas’ error rate in payments for SNAP was compromising program integrity and detrimentally harming those who legitimately needed access to these benefits. The Trump administration has continued this demand for accountability by requiring you to securely share SNAP data with USDA to comply with the President’s executive order on stopping waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs. Instead of working with USDA to reduce the error rate, you have flatly refused to comply with this effort. Your administration’s claims about privacy concerns are unfounded. USDA has already established a process for securely sending this information, and they have a responsibility to ensure that the federally funded SNAP benefits are accurately disbursed according to the law. Actively refusing to assist with that effort is an insult to the hardworking Kansans whose tax dollars are at stake. 

We demand that your administration drop its intentional obstruction of these efforts and work cooperatively with USDA to strengthen the SNAP program in Kansas. Rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse is critical as the SNAP program moves toward a deeper partnership between the state and federal government. Our constituents deserve transparency and accountability for every dollar spent on SNAP; anything less is a disservice to our communities and our state.