Op-ed: Let’s tackle food insecurity together

“Southeast Kansas has the highest rate of food insecurity in the state of Kansas.”

I share this statement at every presentation and every meeting I have with partners across the state because here's what I know: the difference between telling someone from our area this statistic as opposed to someone outside of Southeast Kansas is that SEK residents aren’t surprised. We know we are hungry.

Working for Kansas Appleseed isn’t the first time I noticed a need in the area. In my early twenties, I helped establish a local soup kitchen to serve our community, advocated locally to make utility payments more affordable, and currently serve on the board for a local food pantry that helps make lives a little easier every day for Southeast Kansas families.

There are countless people just like me working hard in our community to provide relief to those struggling with food insecurity. But to make this work sustainable we need policy change. We need those with the power, those with the authority to make real, systemic change to take up this cause. And who better to do this than our elected officials?

Since the start of this year's legislative session, many of us have heard the great news about the state’s financial position: by the end of June 2024 we'll have a projected $3.2 billion in surplus cash in our state's treasury. With that good news comes a lot of ideas on how to spend it. And the phrase that is first to come up in those discussions? Tax cuts.

Through my work, I spend time at the Statehouse and monitor policies that impact Kansas families, and the number of bills aspiring to alter our tax structure is staggering. Tax credits and altering the income tax code to benefit those in the upper tax brackets seem to be the favored strategies. Conversely, tax policies that would benefit hard working Kansans are placed under a microscope with insinuations that low income Kansans might not be able to manage their own budgets if given tax relief.

Even bills that have already been signed into law to help all Kansans, like last year’s “Axe the Food Tax,” have been under attack this year, with threats to repeal them in favor of a more burdensome sales tax policy.

With just a month left in this year's legislative session, Kansans must join together and fight for tax policies that would benefit all of us. Fortunately, there are plenty of bills to fight for.

There are bills that would:

• Eliminate the sales tax on diapers and feminine hygiene products, which are both considered a "luxury" in our tax code.
• Provide a sales tax holiday on school supplies, ensuring families don’t have to break the bank to send their kids back to school with the supplies they need to thrive in the classroom.
• End the sales tax on food and food ingredients this year, instead of a gradual elimination over the next two years.

Sales tax relief helps every single Kansan, but it will particularly help those in need the most, like those in poverty or facing food insecurity. It is time the legislature starts thinking about what is best for every Kansan, and not convincing themselves that helping the wealthiest will somehow trickle down to the rest of us. History has proven this never works.

Our legislature has the opportunity to help families who are struggling, who are stretching every single dollar to keep up with rising costs caused by inflation. The legislature must do what is right and come together in support of a tax plan that will put money back in our pockets, address food insecurity, and ease the financial burden that so many families are facing.

This article was originally published in the Iola Register. ›