Posted by Jami Reever, Executive Director

Kicking Off the 2025 Session: Advocating for a Stronger Kansas

Kicking Off the 2025 Session: Advocating for a Stronger Kansas

The 2025 Kansas Legislative Session kicks off today! While today is the official first day, the Kansas Appleseed team has been preparing for this year’s session for the past six months. It is our belief that the next legislative session always begins the moment the previous session ends.

As per usual, Kansas Appleseed has a robust legislative agenda aiming to improve the lives of Kansans whose voices are too often silenced and whose lives would forever be altered if better laws and policies were in place to support them. Here’s what we’re working on this year:

Starting Strong

Last Friday, Governor Kelly signed her first Executive Order of 2025, ending the state’s practice of taking foster youth’s SSI and Survivor benefits and adding them to the DCF budget. With this change, these youth will now receive those benefit dollars as intended to support their needs, particularly as they transition out of the foster system and into adulthood. This is a fantastic win for Kansas foster youth! You can read more about the Executive Order here.

Supporting Justice-Involved Youth

We continue our multi-year effort to eliminate fines and fees for justice-involved youth. We are resolute in our belief that while children should be responsible for their actions, they should not be saddled with debt that prohibits them from rehabilitating their lives. We are also working to establish a presumption against youth shackling in court and protect youth justice reforms that reduce the use of incarceration through youth supports and programming, increasing access to juvenile expungements, and expanding jobs programs for justice-involved youth.  

Improving the State’s Foster Care System

As we continue to monitor the settlement of our 2018 lawsuit, McIntyre v. Howard, which focuses on increased placement stability and access to mental health screenings, we are working to reduce the use of secure care as a placement option for youth who struggle with elopement and chronic running behaviors, and focus efforts on nurturing placement options, and increase opportunities for foster youth transitioning out of care with the creation and expansion of job programs

Reducing Hunger in Kansas

With 1 in 5 Kansas kids facing food insecurity, we must do all we can to ensure Kansas kids can thrive – now and in the future. We continue to work to eliminate barriers that exist to ensure every child can eat while in school. We are working to end the practice of lunch shaming,  expand access to Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), a federal program that provides free meals to all students in low-income school districts, and eliminate co-pays for reduced priced meals, meaning states and school districts can subsidize a family’s cost of the reduced-priced meals so students who qualify for reduced-priced meals would receive meals free of charge. 

Protecting and Expanding Food Assistance Programs

In the breadbasket of the world, no Kansan should go hungry. We will continue our efforts to protect and expand the Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP) by working to end the lifetime ban on SNAP food assistance for persons with more than one felony drug conviction and advocating for less restrictive asset and income testing for SNAP applicants. Modest assets allow Kansans to navigate some of the curveballs that life often throws at us– car repairs, home repairs, unexpected job loss, and family funerals just to name a few. Broad Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE) is a policy that helps expand access to SNAP by considering a full picture of someone’s financial situation, rather than just looking at their assets. Unfortunately in Kansas, it is prohibited which prevents the state from simplifying eligibility requirements and helping more Kansans get the support they need.

To learn more about each of these issues, visit our website.

Your engagement and power are integral to our success. Your voice matters to legislators and hearing from their constituents will make all the difference. Throughout the session, I’ll be sending weekly updates on our work and sharing opportunities for you to take action.

If you have any questions about our work, don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly.  It is only through partnership and collaboration that we’ll be able to build a stronger home for every Kansan.

Best,

Jami Reever | Executive Director