TOPEKA — U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids said ahead of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday she was concerned about his promises of lower costs, stability and support for American families.
“Instead we are seeing the opposite of that,” the Kansas Democrat said during a virtual press conference. “We’re seeing rising grocery bills. We’re seeing tariffs that have forced small businesses to close. We’re seeing cuts to health care that are, frankly, going to devastate families.”
Davids said her State of the Union guest, Nick Levendofsky, will bring Kansas voices to the forefront. Levendofsky, the executive director of the Kansas Farmers Union and secretary of the Minneapolis-based research nonprofit Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy, has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s tariff policies and advocate for broader protections for Kansas farmers.
Davids said she is hoping for solutions from Trump rather than partisan rhetoric.
“I have to be honest here. I am not necessarily holding my breath for that,” she said.
THE STATE OF the Union address follows Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision, which deemed certain tariffs illegal.
Trump’s tariffs have been detrimental to Kansas farmers, according to Levendofsky.
He said farmers across the country have lost tens of billions of dollars because of tariffs, and crop markets have become stressed or entirely lost. When farmers aren’t making money, they aren’t spending money, he said.
“I hate to say it, but we’ve become less reliable when it comes to trade and what we can offer to the world,” Levendofsky said.
He believes that Congress should address tariffs by exerting its checks and balances authority and intervening in the ongoing trade war.
ALSO TOP OF mind for Davids and Levendofsky while in D.C. this week is a farm bill that will govern agriculture and food issues for the next several years.
Davids wants to see amendments to the bill that end current trade war policy, protect food assistance programs and address adequate staffing at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan.
She said she will not support a final product that ignores what Kansans need to stay competitive.
Levendofsky favors updates to the legislation that address climate change issues, attracting new farmers to the profession, supporting underserved farmers, boosting research, promoting rural mental health services and establishing food assistance programs.
“If you eat, you are involved in agriculture,” Levendofsky said.
KANSAS IS THE country’s eighth-largest agriculture producer, exporting more than $7 billion in beef, wheat, soybeans and other grains.
