10,000 Kansas children have lost food assistance because voters sat on the sidelines in 2024

Despite producing wheat for the entire country, Kansas has consistently elected officials who allow residents to go hungry. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Political indifference will kill Kansans.

In 2024, 57.2% of Kansans voting in the presidential election cast their ballots for Donald Trump. At the time, commentators pointed out that a tidal wave of rightwing proposals would shortly swamp the United States, harming the most vulnerable.

Of the state’s 2 million registered voters, more than 700,000 abstained. They could have made a difference. Now that crimson wave has begun to hit, and Kansans are being harmed — including many who voted for Trump or decided against participating.

On Thursday, Kansas Reflector reported 21,900 Kansans have lost food assistance because of provisions in the president’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” That legislation, it must be noted, was supported by every Republican member of Kansas’ congressional delegation.

Of the 21,900 losing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, 10,000 are children.

Some will want to litigate this finding. Did those receiving food assistance actually deserve it? What role should the government play in helping those who cannot provide for themselves? Are families too lazy to fulfill paperwork requirements?

If you’re asking questions like that, I advise sequestering yourself in a room and ruminating on what life decisions led you to such shocking amorality. Many disputes can be swept under the rug by defining them as political bickering. Talking heads on cable fight ceaselessly about meaningless drivel.

But I can’t dismiss starving children.

Neither should Trump, neither should the Kansas Republican delegation, and neither should those 700,000 Kansas voters who chose to stay home rather than stand up for their family and friends and neighbors.

“In Kansas, this will mean more children falling through the cracks, more pressure on schools and food banks, and greater hardship for families already struggling with high grocery and housing costs,” said Kansas Appleseed’s Haley Kottler in a press release decrying the losses. “This has real implications for Kansas children to access the nutrition they need to learn, grow, and thrive.”

That wasn’t all that caught my attention this month. U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Democrat, is co-sponsoring a bill with Republican Rep. Tracey Mann and other House members to extend no-interest loans to rural hospitals.

You know what would have really helped rural hospitals in Kansas? Not cutting healthcare spending by $1 trillion in that same repulsive legislation. Lawmakers now recognize that those cuts are having serious, on-the-ground consequences for those in small towns across the nation who depend on rural healthcare providers.

The other policy that would help rural hospitals in the state is expanding Medicaid. Republicans in the Kansas Legislature have decided against even considering that change, so let’s drop the topic for now.

Those 700,000 registered voters could have stepped up and changed the course of national and state politics. They could have expressed their desires through their choices, selecting leaders who wanted to benefit the least among us, rather than padding the wallets of the fattest fat cats.

Here we stand. I don’t know when a majority of Kansans will add two and two together and realize that four is the inevitable result.

Cut funding for nutrition and healthcare, and people go hungry and fall ill. Elevate a would-be authoritarian who cares only about enriching himself, and the civic climate of this nation declines precipitously. Reject the privilege of voting and allow others to make choices that harm the most vulnerable among us.

Actions have reactions. Causes have effects. Political indifference charges a hefty toll.

In case you want to participate in the Aug. 4 primary elections, June 1 is the deadline to change your party registration, and July 14 is the deadline to register. You can learn more at the Kansas secretary of state’s website.

Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.