Attorney General Kris Kobach says Kelly is breaking state, federal law
By TIM CARPENTER
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a lawsuit Monday against Gov. Laura Kelly to force disclosure to federal officials of names, Social Security numbers, birthdates and home addresses for everyone enrolled in SNAP.
Kobach said he filed a motion in Shawnee County District Court to compel the Democratic governor to comply with his interpretation of state and federal statute on sharing information sought by the federal government. The Republican attorney general said he chose to act before a Sept. 19 deadline that could lead to loss of $10.4 million in federal aid to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
SNAP serves 188,000 Kansans and makes use of $400 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture funds annually.
Kobach said it was rare for an attorney general to directly file suit against a governor, but he felt compelled to do so for the second time in three years because “when a governor flagrantly violates the law it is necessary for the state, represented by its attorney general, to take action.”
“She appears to be playing a game of chicken, apparently unaware of her obligation under Kansas statute and perhaps also unaware that federal law requires her to provide this information,” Kobach said.
Kobach said he didn’t have a personal conversation with the governor in an attempt to resolve the conflict prior to filing the suit. He was joined at the news conference by House Speaker Dan Hawkins, who advised the governor capitulate to the Trump administration’s requests.
“Attorney General Kobach and Speaker Hawkins are engaging in what can only be described as low-rent political theater,” the governor said. “We learned last week that the attorney general made vague statements about suing me in Alaska. My chief of staff made requests to both the attorney general and speaker for meetings to discuss this issue on Friday, and both declined to meet.”
“Now, in a rushed press conference rife with false statements and incorrect law, we learn there is going to be a lawsuit filed. A copy of which my office has yet to receive,” said Kelly, who is chair of the Democratic Governors Association. “The attorney general is known for not doing his homework or placing priority on protecting Kansans’ private data. I have always worked to protect Kansans, especially from federal overreach, and I will continue to do so.”
For several months, USDA has applied pressure on Laura Howard, secretary of the Kansas Department for Children and Families, to divulge all personal data in its possession on SNAP recipients. USDA indicated the information could be used for about a dozen purposes, including an attempt to figure out why about 10% of the people awarded SNAP benefits in Kansas might not be eligible.
Howard, who also was named in Kobach’s lawsuit, told the USDA the state was leery of contributing to a federal database that could be shared with entities not “legally allowed to access that information.”
Kobach said existence of a California lawsuit challenging a federal data request shouldn’t be used by Kelly to justify refusing to cooperate in Kansas. The Kelly administration also endorsed a multistate lawsuit in Massachusetts challenging demands placed on states by the administration of President Donald Trump.
“The idea that a random lawsuit of dubious merit in a distant jurisdiction … somehow allows a governor in another state to refuse to follow the law — that’s crazy,” Kobach said. “Her argument is lawless and absurd.”
Kobach was joined at a news conference by Senate Majority Leader Chase Blasi and Hawkins, both Republicans from Wichita.
“The Department for Children and Families must comply with the law and cooperate with the federal government,” Blasi said. “The governor’s refusal to comply with this law jeopardizes benefits for our most needy Kansans.”
Hawkins said he was confounded that the Kelly administration had an elevated error rate in distribution of SNAP benefits.
“The governor is stonewalling,” Hawkins said. “When the secretary refuses to provide the data, she is not only dodging accountability but also breaking the law.”
Kobach said he wanted a district court judge in Shawnee County to expedite the lawsuit to prevent interruption of federal funding earmarked for SNAP. He said the petition submitted to the district court pointed to state law requiring the governor to cooperate in the administration of food stamps and to comply with requests for information on the program. U.S. law sets a system for penalizing states for noncompliance.
“For anyone thinking that the Trump administration is doing this because they just got a wild hair and decided, ‘You know what, let’s go after the states on this.’ No, this is required by federal statute,” the attorney general said.
He asserted Kelly was on the verge of committing a constitutional violation by inviting an avalanche of financial penalties that could eventually deny Kansans access to SNAP.
“It is unclear to me why the governor thinks it’s okay to take food off the table of needy Kansans so that she can demonstrate to the world that she is opposing the Trump administration,” Kobach said. “She has a First Amendment right to say all she wants about the administration in Washington, D.C., but she cannot violate the law and she should never place her desire to perform political theater over the livelihoods of needy Kansans.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Ron Estes and U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, both Kansas Republicans, sent a letter to Kelly urging her to surrender information to USDA about SNAP.
“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,” Estes said.