Alice Fitzgerald | April 30, 2024 Last week, the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Ways and Means met to discuss omnibus items.   An omnibus bill is a single bill that combines multiple items or policies. In the Kansas Legislature, the omnibus budget bill is a large bill that comes after the mega budget (SB 28 this year) to tie up loose ends before the legislative session ends.   ..read more

By Emily Barnes | March 28, 2024 House Sub. for House Sub. for SB 96, amended by the House of Representatives, showed the power of Kansans’ ability to use their voices and collaborate across the political aisle. Initially set to recklessly deregulate child care and restructure the proposed Office of Early Childhood, it now sets a path in the right direction for the early learning system ..read more

(Photo: Committee rooms were overflowing with supporters during Medicaid expansion hearings.) By Heather Braum | March 28, 2024 On March 20, after multi-year delays, the Legislature finally publicly listened to Kansans speak in support of Medicaid expansion. Backing up verbal conferees’ words were more than 400 proponent pieces of written-only testimony who submitted their perspectives to both the House and Senate.   ..read more

Alice Fitzgerald | February 22, 2024 In early January, Governor Kelly released her proposed FY 2025 state budget. In her State of the State address, she highlighted economic growth, tax cuts, and the historic investments in child care and rural infrastructure. The budget proposes total expenditures of $26.5 billion, with $11.2 billion of that from the State General Fund (SGF).  ..read more

Jessica Herrera Russell | February 21, 2024 We’re now in week 7 of the 2024 legislative session, with Friday marking an important deadline before lawmakers move into the second half of their work for the year. Known as Turnaround, the Legislature must consider and vote on bills classified as “non-exempt” in their originating chamber (House or Senate).   ..read more

John Wilson | February 8, 2024 On February 1, 2024, we introduced SB 436 in the Senate Committee on Assessment and Taxation and an identical bill (HB 2687) in the House Committee on Taxation. This bold proposal would establish a universal state child tax credit, giving all Kansas parents and caregivers between $25-$600 for each child back on their tax returns ..read more

October 26, 2023 As the budget for FY 2024 (which began July 1, 2023, and ends June 30, 2024) was being created, state revenues were stronger than ever. This resulted in an almost $2.3 billion surplus in FY 2022 ..read more

Heather Braum | October 12, 2023 As reported in late September, thousands of Kansas kids lost their KanCare coverage due to a systems “glitch.” Additionally, according to data available through August 31, 2023, almost 36,000 children lost their coverage due to procedural reasons – not because they no longer met income eligibility guidelines ..read more

Erin Melton | October 11, 2023 More than just hunger, food insecurity captures the economic, social, and psychological causes and consequences of “limited or uncertain access to adequate food.” Hunger is a physical condition that is often caused by food insecurity, which also causes psychological and emotional distress and economic strain ..read more

Heather Braum | August 22, 2023 The state released the third set of data for the KanCare unwinding process. As we previously said in June and July, we continue to be alarmed that far too many children are losing coverage because their renewal forms aren’t successfully returned or received, or other paperwork glitches are occurring. At an early August meeting of the legislative KanCare Oversight Committee, the state announced several changes that they have implemented, some of which we advocated for ..read more