Kansas Appleseed

ICYMI: SUN Bucks, or Summer EBT, helps families fill summer grocery gaps by providing a one-time benefit of $120 per year for each eligible child in the household. Income-eligible families can apply online on the DCF Self-Service Portal. Applications are open until 5:00 p.m. on August 31, 2026.

Learn more and apply here: https://www.dcfapp.kees.ks.gov/apspssp/sspNonMed.portal

We are currently looking for Election Mobilizers, and we want to hear from you! This is a valuable opportunity to organize within your network and receive compensation for it. The final training session is on June 30, so we need your commitments by the end of this week. If you are interested in participating, please email us at [email protected]

Senior Campaign Director of Kansas Appleseed, Haley Kottler, spoke with White House correspondent Bart Jansen of USA Today about expanded federal work requirements for SNAP that went into effect under the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act', or H.R. 1. Since the enactment, more than 21,000 Kansans have lost SNAP assistance, including over 10,000 Kansas children.

"I think it’s incredibly alarming that we’re seeing so many people come off the program," Haley Kottler, who works on hunger issues at the advocacy group Appleseed Center for Law and Justice in Kansas, told USA TODAY. "People are already jumping through hoops to get the food that they need... Any more restrictions or requirements on the program really do create hardships."

Read the full article here: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/06/19/snap-food-stamps-work-requirements-fraud/90521556007/

Upcoming dates for the primary election! There are plenty of ways to make your voice heard through advance ballots, early voting, and in-person on Primary Election Day.

** IMPORTANT: Voters do not need to have a party preference to participate in the August 4 constitutional amendment vote. ••

Here are your important dates to remember for the Kansas primary:
• June 20: Deadline to transmit UOCAVA ballots
• July 14: Deadline to register to vote or update party preference to participate in the primary election
• July 15: First day of advance voting. Advance ballots by mail are transmitted.
In-person advance voting may begin. Check with your county election office for specific times and locations
• July 28: In-person advance voting must begin for all counties
• August 4: Primary election day! All mail ballots must be received ON Election Day!

Register to vote or check your registration here: https://www.ksvotes.org

The 1956 "Triple Play" scandal exposed how the practice of electing judges enabled backroom deals, eroding public trust. Kansans immediately demanded a change and chose merit selection. Electing Kansas Supreme Court justices doesn’t put power in the hands of the people. Instead, it would take us back to the days of 1956. Justices will have to campaign like politicians—raising money, running attack ads, and courting wealthy donors. And who will the justices listen to once they're on the bench? The law? Or the megadonors who funded their campaigns?

Voting NO on August 4 means rejecting the idea of allowing party politics to dictate the Supreme Court's decisions. It says NO to shifting the justices' focus from upholding the Kansas Constitution to prioritizing re-election. A NO vote stands against the influence of money and partisan politics in the courtroom.

Learn more about the history of our courts here:https://www.kansasappleseed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/PDF_Kansas-Supreme-Court-Power-Purpose-and-Impact.pdf

Thank you to all who attended our Justice for All panel event in Topeka on Tuesday! Over 100 attendees engaged in our discussion, led by Sherman Smith of the Kansas Reflector, about what's at stake with the August 4 ballot amendment. A special shout-out to our amazing panelists for joining us: Natalie Haag, a board member of Kansas Appleseed and former member of the Supreme Court Nominating Commission; former Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss; and former two-term Governor of Kansas John Carlin! We're grateful to do this work with so many incredible Kansans.

We're coming to Wichita and Emporia next week for more panel events! Visit the website below to register and learn more about the upcoming ballot amendment: https://www.kansasappleseed.org/our-courts-are-not-for-sale/

📣 JUSTICE FOR ALL IN WICHITA! PANELIST ANNOUNCEMENT! 📣

Join us for an educational panel event to help Kansans understand what's at stake in the August 4 ballot amendment! Moderated by Sherman Smith (Editor at Kansas Reflector), our panelists include:
• Carol Beier, former Kansas Supreme Court Justice (2003-2020)
• Brandon Johnson, community activist and former Wichita City Council member for District 1
• Jay Fowler, attorney and former member of the Supreme Court Nominating Commission

📆 Wednesday, June 24 | 6:00 - 7:30 PM
📍 Groover Labs, 334 N. St Francis Ave, Wichita, KS

Register here: https://secure.everyaction.com/rcwiRqIc5E-joG6VM6dEVg2

The cost of healthcare impacts more than our ability to live healthy lives. For millions of Americans, affording medical care means purchasing less food, skipping rent, or coming out of retirement. There shouldn't be a trade-off between seeking treatment and being able to afford life's other necessities. If we work together, we CAN be a nation where healthcare is affordable. Where we all enjoy a healthcare system that puts people first. And where unchecked healthcare corporations are held accountable by those in power.

Read more: https://time.com/article/2026/06/11/what-working-in-a-grocery-store-taught-me-about-american-inequality/

Join the movement for a better healthcare system: https://secure.everyaction.com/23omSN-sqU2h8RqZuL2Lww2?utm_source=ksapple

What Working in a Grocery Store Taught Me About American Inequality "While the affluent are living longer, healthier lives and retiring with a nest egg and their dignity, low-income workers are facing destitution," writes Ann Larson.

A Letter to the Editor by Dick Seaton, Board Member of Kansas Appleseed, featured in the Manhattan Mercury on Saturday: "At the August 4 primary election, we will vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to change the way we select our Supreme Court justices. The amendment would abolish the merit system we have had since 1958, widely admired across the country, and replace it with elections for all new justice positions... This attempt to politicize our court deserves to be defeated. As the old saying goes, 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'."

Read the full letter to the editor here:https://www.kansasappleseed.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/20260609082928-1.pdf

ICYMI: Kansas Appleseed will be in Topeka next Tuesday for our Justice for All panel event! RSVP today and learn more about the August 4 ballot amendment.

Register here: https://secure.everyaction.com/i5SxIXWAKkKdG7ZGS_ajWg2

📣 JUSTICE FOR ALL IN TOPEKA! 📣

Join us for an educational panel event to help Kansans understand what's at stake in the August 4 ballot amendment, moderated by Sherman Smith of the Kansas Reflector. Our panelists include:
• John Carlin, former two-term Governor of Kansas and former Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives
• Natalie Haag, former member on the Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission
• Lawton Nuss, former Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court

📆 Tuesday, June 16, 2026 | 6:00 - 7:15 PM
📍 Washburn University's Bradbury Alumni Center, 1700 SW College Ave, Topeka

Please register to attend and invite your friends and neighbors to come learn about this monumental ballot amendment that all Kansas voters should be informed of!

Register here: https://secure.everyaction.com/i5SxIXWAKkKdG7ZGS_ajWg2