By Morgan Chilson, Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Kansans who receive food assistance or are furloughed from federal jobs are scrambling to pay bills and feed their families as the federal government shutdown drags on.
Tuesday was the deadline for the federal government to reopen so that November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments could go out to beneficiaries. It takes 72 hours for the payments to process, according to the Kansas Department for Children and Families.
More than 93,000 Kansas households — nearly 188,000 Kansans — use SNAP benefits to put food on their tables, DCF said in a press release. The bulk of those using SNAP are children.
As politicians on both sides exchange barbs on social media and in news releases about who is at fault for shutting down the government, Kansans like Daniel Scharpenburg, of Overland Park, are carefully tracking their bank account balances. He’s worried about a teenage son with a big appetite and the possibility of empty kitchen cabinets.
Scharpenburg, 45, is furloughed from the Internal Revenue Service office in Kansas City, Missouri. He worked the first five days of the shutdown, leaving Oct. 8 and receiving a paycheck in mid-October for those days of work.
“I have to be very careful with my bills, because I have now missed a paycheck,” he said. “I’m having to rely on food banks and things like that to make sure I have food. If I start thinking about my car payment and my phone bill and my rent, I’m gonna go crazy. I really do have to focus on the next bill that’s due and hope for the best.”
Scharpenburg is applying for jobs in the Kansas City area but isn’t having much luck. He said all furloughed workers in the area are competing for jobs.
The IRS location employs about 6,000 people, and reports from the federal government indicate about half of IRS workers have been furloughed, he said. Housing and Urban Development also has a Kansas City office, and those employees are affected by the shutdown too, Scharpenburg said.
Scharpenburg’s ex-wife is also a furloughed IRS employee, and he worries that his 15-year-old son at home will eventually be affected by the situation.
“I really thought it would be over before now,” Scharpenburg said. “In another week, it’s going to break the record for longest shutdown if it keeps going, and that’s not a record I want to see broken. So, yeah, I am worried that it will go on longer.”
Scharpenburg is first vice president in the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 66, which covers Kansas City, Missouri. In that role, he’s hearing daily from furloughed employees who are scared and frustrated.
The union put together lists of food banks and other local resources, he said.
“But you know, it’s hard times for a lot of people, so it seems like the resources we lean on to help us are being stretched thin, just like just like our dollars are,” he said.
Scharpenburg said union members tell him that landlords and bankers have been willing to work with furloughed employees, knowing that eventually they’ll get back pay. The idea floated in Washington of withholding back pay was like a “slap in the face,” he said.
“When a politician says something like that, it feels like, oh, they don’t respect our work at all,” he said. “I am nervous. The law is clear that we will get paid at the end of this, but that being said, if Congress could pass something to change that … I don’t know what will happen if the executive branch were to decide just to not pay us. They’d have to go to court, but I don’t know if that would be resolved quickly.”
Many pantries statewide are stretching to meet community needs generated by rising prices and furloughed employees. Now, missing SNAP payments are expected to intensify the situation, said Debbie Johns, director of the Geary County Food Pantry.
Located in Junction City, the food pantry has been adding 12 to 15 new families each time it has a food distribution, Johns said. Typically, the organization sees just three to five new families each time it opens its doors, she said.
“It’s a little scary,” Johns said. “We’ve got a pretty good stock but you just see it go each time. If they clear the shelves, how long are we going to be able to keep up with this?”
Johns said the food pantry adapted its guidelines to make sure they are able to serve furloughed federal employees. Many of them work at Fort Riley and would exceed income guidelines.
Johns is grateful many in the Geary County area are donating food and holding food drives to help out. The county has the highest child food insecurity rate in Kansas, she said, so all of the challenges this year have made the problem worse.
Gov. Laura Kelly added food drives to the remaining stops on her statewide “The People’s Budget” listening tour because of the widespread need. Working in partnership with the Kansas Food Bank and Harvesters — The Community Food Network, she encouraged anyone attending the town hall events to bring nonperishable, nonglass food items.
“As the federal government shutdown continues to drag on, Kansans who are furloughed, and especially those who receive SNAP and WIC benefits, are caught in the crossfire,” Kelly said.
Kelly also announced this week that she joined a coalition of 22 states and two governors in suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Secretary Brooke Rollins for “unlawfully suspending” SNAP funds during the government shutdown.
“States cannot, and should not, take on the federal government’s responsibility to fund SNAP,” Kelly said in a news release. “Cutting off SNAP payments is an unprecedented choice made by the Trump Administration and Congress that will harm millions of families across the country. I joined this lawsuit to protect Kansans, because the federal government has a legal and moral responsibility to fund this program, not to take food out of the mouths of Kansas children.”
Grocery stores are planning for changed buying patterns as SNAP funding cuts off, said Jon McCormick, president and CEO at Retail Grocers Association, Kansas and Missouri.
SNAP benefits put nearly $33 million each month into the Kansas economy, according to the USDA.
The effect on grocery stores of missing SNAP payments will be “immediate,” McCormick said, although multiple factors determine the effect in specific stores.
“A store in Lenexa is going to have minimal SNAP recipients shopping,” he said. “A store in the urban core of Wichita is totally different.That could be 40% of the business. It certainly is going to affect the urban core stores and the very small rural stores.”
McCormick serves on the National Grocers Association government relations committee, and he visited Washington, D.C., last week to discuss resolutions to continue SNAP funding.
“For us as an industry, including all food manufacturers and providers, it is disruptive for the customer. It’s disruptive for the supply chain. It’s disruptive for the retailer,” he said, adding that he’s confident retailers will be able to manage through this challenge.
“The independent retailer is rather resilient and creative when it comes to adversity,” McCormick said.
Grocery store owners and managers across the state are unsure exactly how they will be affected when SNAP payments stop. Some, like Pam Budenbender, owner of Onaga Country Market, don’t expect to see many changes because her store doesn’t serve many people using SNAP.
However, she said she’s worried about a customer who is deaf and needs the benefit to buy food. Budenbender already helps her out as much as she can.
Scott Bird, co-owner of Family Market in Quinter, said his store definitely will be affected, as it participates in eWIC, part of the Women, Infant and Children’s program that offers supplemental nutrition for mothers and infants.
“It definitely will have an effect on small-town stores and people who need those services,” he said.
He isn’t yet adapting inventory but is in a “wait-and-see” mode, Bird added.
Others affected by the federal government shutdown include banks, mortgage companies and property management companies that rent apartments.
“Kansas banks and bankers stand ready to work with and support their customers who may be facing any hardships due to the current federal government shutdown,” said Doug Wareham, president and CEO of the Kansas Bankers Association.
In a statement, he encouraged federal employees to reach out to their banks as soon as possible to discuss their personal situation and see what help may be available, including potential fee waivers, payment deadline extensions, or other accommodations.
“The banking industry will continue to support Kansans through major challenges such as this shutdown just as we did during the pandemic and previous interruptions in government operations,” Wareham said.
Gary Olds, with the Geary County Landlords Association, said it is early in the shutdown to determine how landlords will manage missed rental payments. The Junction City area is military-dependent, he said.
“I think in general, landlords are going to try to work with military with regards to the rent, but that’s a broadbrush statement on my part,” he said. “Most landlords can probably weather about 30 days because they have the security deposit. Hopefully at least some of the tenants that are military have some level of savings that can make a payment or make a partial payment.”
