TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly announced Friday that her administration has secured an agreement from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that protects Kansans’ personal private data from being shared with foreign governments and complies with state and federal privacy laws related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), according to a media release from Kelly's office.
The agreement also ensures that after the data is shared, USDA will cancel its disallowance letter, ending USDA’s efforts to disallow Kansas’ SNAP funds.
“The USDA’s decision to adhere to the DCF’s terms ensures that Kansans’ private, personal information, including full social security numbers, will not be shared with foreign governments,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “Kansas has complied with federal and state laws throughout this entire process and all we have wanted is for the USDA to do the same. In reaching this agreement, we have successfully preserved Kansans’ privacy against the threat posed by the USDA’s initial request that amounted to federal overreach and violation of data protection laws.”
From the onset of the USDA’s far-reaching data request, Governor Kelly and her administration have remained consistent that until concerns about data protection were addressed, Kansas could not legally turn over the data. Now that these concerns have been addressed, data sharing is possible.
The USDA initially demanded that DCF turn over the private, legally protected, personal information of all Kansans and members of their households who have received, or applied for, SNAP benefits in the last 5 years. The USDA’s request included provisions allowing for Kansans’ personal information—which includes full Social Security numbers and dates of birth—to be shared with foreign governments.
After the USDA rejected DCF’s Corrective Action Proposal in response to the data request in September 2025, DCF swiftly filed an appeal with the USDA. The filing of that appeal immediately prevented the USDA from withholding $10.4 million in administrative funding for SNAP. The State of Kansas has not lost any SNAP administrative funding, and the program continues to operate as usual.
DCF has complied with state and federal law at every stage of this process and has maintained the confidentiality of thousands of Kansans whose personal information would be at risk. Protection of this personally identifiable information is legally required by both the Food Nutrition Act (FNA) and the Kansas Cybersecurity Act (KCA).