[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6372733,"mediaKeyId","2147267-eb27ce7b5149871d7e617e2c344902d3","parentId",2147267,"title","Committee concurs with Secretary of State budget; office flags fee reductions and a separate SGF request for e-rulemaking","audioSeconds",2070,"startMs",2103112,"endMs",4173925,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2147267-eb27ce7b5149871d7e617e2c344902d3&start=2103&end=4173","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2147267-eb27ce7b5149871d7e617e2c344902d3/thumbnail_2103112.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6372733/Kansas/Committee-concurs-with-Secretary-of-State-budget-office-flags-fee-reductions-and-a-separate-SGF-request-for-e-rulemaking","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6372733-f9dfb3e8e5ae605884da93fed9f916b6/orig.mp4?Expires=1775460430&Signature=JihQVVRo9ZzmoQ7RgiOL7aypLc50Vz028ka2NTwdsmJfN76mrqznI3fBju5Pv3-FHFKB~RsdWD0znb6V--ryJTwTNhA7CdaCvaNdgcVii2-GmobfaRq340z0dNgl1wuc-LtfJJuQeMKqUpORkEYQ3KnbvPWTf9uXowXxYzYTyRMIRKU6FVAWTWxZGrrz-vO4EGaO1-R7pk5-5K4OvJu6JQ4Mi2GoUdJ2ijdntCx0D1CVSVd4wahBIK4rd-OcBeqNjAevALQIHEZebFBuUGHFvvy43MSQrF70OWFuSFWkGDJjtjPOofDPMUWQhlcChoZeqzjST0BAN0ITH7i52eYPKg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Committee on General Government Budget , KS","date","2025-01-23T00:00:00Z","article","The Committee on General Government Budget voted to concur with the Legislative Research Department's recommendations for the Kansas Secretary of State's FY2025 and FY2026 budgets after hearing agency staff describe a fee-funded operating plan and several election and technology initiatives.

Arianna Waddell, fiscal analyst for the Legislative Research Department, summarized the Secretary of State's budget request: the agency seeks about $8.6 million and 42 FTE for FY2025, an increase of roughly $1.5 million (21.8 percent) over the 2024 approved amount. Waddell said the budget is funded primarily through the information and service fee fund, the technology communication fee fund and federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) grants; the FY2025 submission included a revised estimate that adds federal HAVA election-security grant spending and increases contractual services and salary costs.

Jennifer Cook, assistant secretary of state, said the agency is 100 percent fee funded for routine operations and that the largest single revenue source is an online biannual report filing fee. To reduce growing fee balances, Cook said the agency proposes cutting the portion it retains from $20 to $10 for the online biannual filing, which she estimated would reduce fee revenue to the agency by about $1,000,000 annually. \"We're proposing to reduce that fee that we receive for online biannual filings from $20 to $10. So that would be a cut of a $1,000,000 per year,\" Cook said.

Cook and staff described recent HAVA grants used for county election security and training. Waddell and Jennifer Cook said the agency has spent HAVA funds on cybersecurity, software maintenance and a one-time physical-security grant that helped 84 counties with improved locks, storage and cameras for election equipment. Waddell noted the statewide voter-registration database (ELPAS or the database used by counties) carries approximately $700,000 in associated expenditures and county officials perform the day-to-day roll maintenance.

Separately, the Secretary of State's office said it intends to seek a one-time State General Fund appropriation to modernize the state regulation-making process. Cook said an RFP for an electronic regulation-management system is under way and that the agency estimates a first-year statewide cost of about $1,500,000; the agency did not include that request in the base budget and said it would seek the appropriation through the appropriations committee if the committee wished. \"Our goal and what we're working toward is to create an electronic regulation process,\" Cook said, adding the RFP estimated the first-year cost at $1,500,000.

Representative Amick moved and Representative Riley seconded a motion to concur with the Legislative Research Department's recommendation for the Secretary of State budget. Representative Turk offered and the maker accepted a substitute that asked the House Appropriations Committee to consider the Secretary of State's separate SGF request for the regulation modernization project. The motion, as amended, passed unanimously.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Committee on General Government Budget 01/23/2025","oneSentenceSummary","The Committee on General Government Budget voted to concur with Legislative Research Department recommendations for the Secretary of State's FY2025 and FY2026 budgets after agency staff outlined fee-funded operations, HAVA-funded election-security grants and a proposed separate SGF request for an electronic rulemaking system.","taxTitle","Committee on General Government Budget , Standing, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committees, Legislative, Kansas","taxId",18816,"location","Kansas","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6372738,"Committee delays recommendation on governor's budget after nonprofits press for domestic-violence and child-victim funding",2057,21975,2079280,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2147267-eb27ce7b5149871d7e617e2c344902d3&start=21&end=2079","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2147267-eb27ce7b5149871d7e617e2c344902d3/thumbnail_21975.jpg","/articles/6372738/Kansas/Committee-delays-recommendation-on-governors-budget-after-nonprofits-press-for-domestic-violence-and-child-victim-funding","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6372738-bb6b6633d915d5943ff93fd1826ff2f6/orig.mp4?Expires=1775460430&Signature=mkTSshk1xE4x0O7joT44YJUZ99bnWIwpszL-vwv1JHGH0tvE3P3bFOZz6SDkD4pSw7WCk~JnnWaJUnVsJbMy~QBvt8BGZHK6Yl~5u6o197flOPfZQ2jlmpW9zRiJ4lW8RxaGft5pdATJuIzDnss7~vKyAz1mJqsTlln9sURMoO37DUd~lygoifnFVCenMjZeDcjk3GhW814ZP6hJpWt-TWFln62IeYdNyl968NSwtIDQB-TDtkPOEWrDugWXvHa7ICCOC2bUtWIXoFzRUpnRamAGp4iCPbOmgptNLPSy-omPg3XKJ9lWAqaLI5FHYNOEEOVr5YLHwqvVIhHEgQEhUA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Committee on General Government Budget voted to delay its recommendation on the Office of the Governor budget until 9 a.m. tomorrow after several nonprofit conferees urged increased state funding for domestic-violence intervention, child advocacy centers and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).

Legislative Research Department analyst Dylan Deer told the committee that the agency's FY2025 request totals about $67.2 million, roughly $3.8 million (6 percent) above the approved budget, and that there were no differences between the agency request and HB 2007. \"There is no yellow sheet with this budget because there are no differences between the agency request and the, HB 2007,\" Deer said. He explained a $1.9 million State General Fund reappropriation and itemized timing-related carryovers: roughly $1.1 million for domestic-violence prevention grants, $337,000 for child advocacy center grants, $109,000 for CASA grants and about $367,000 for governor's office operations.

Deer and agency witnesses also described federal grant timing and a federal funding spike in FY2021 tied to ARPA money that flowed through the governor's grants office. Deer said the governor's grants office's revised FY2025 federal estimate adds about $3.8 million and one FTE to manage grants, and that the office is beginning to wind down the Office of Recovery, deleting five Recovery FTEs in 2025.

Will Lawrence, Governor Kelly's chief of staff, told the committee the governor's main office sought a flat operating budget and no enhancements. \"We've tried to keep this as simple as possible over the years,\" Lawrence said, adding the recovery office still contains several million dollars in expenditures as it winds down.

A series of nonprofit leaders asked the committee to add state funds to replace declining federal grant dollars and to expand services. Michelle McCormack, Executive Director of the Kansas Coalition Against ****** and Domestic Violence, asked members to view the line item as supporting both prevention and essential crisis intervention services. \"These dollars actually are the most comprehensive dollars that support the intervention services as well as prevention,\" McCormack said, describing helplines, shelter, hospital response and long-term counseling supported by the grants. She requested a $2,000,000 state investment above the House recommendation to address unmet need; she said more than 4,600 Kansans were unable to access shelter in 2024 because programs were at capacity.

Jennifer Hecker, executive director of Options Domestic and ****** Violence Services in Hays, described the rural service shortage and asked for more funding for housing, mobile advocates and high-risk team protocols. \"In my community, in Ellis County, we have a shelter. We have 1 shelter bed for every 5,250 people in northwest Kansas,\" Hecker said, explaining how lack of shelter often forces survivors back to unsafe situations.

Casey Dahlke, executive director of Children's Advocacy Centers of Kansas, asked for a $3,800,000 increase: about $3,000,000 to expand services at existing centers and the remainder to establish new centers where none exist. \"In 2023, we're serving just around 4,000 children and their families,\" Dahlke said, and she said 32 percent of the state lacks access to a child advocacy center.

Dina Gage, state director for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Kansas, requested just over $1,200,000 to support CASA volunteers who provide one-on-one advocacy for children in the child-welfare system.

Committee members pressed staff and witnesses on the source and timing of federal funds, the mechanics of ARPA commitments and how long grant awards remain available. Representative Lynn Melton asked whether domestic-violence programs were being cut; Deer and witnesses clarified that available money had shifted between federal and state sources and that the legislature had increased SGF support as some federal funds declined.

After the conferee testimony, Representative Turk moved — and Representative Melton seconded — to postpone the committee's recommendation on the Office of the Governor until tomorrow morning so members could review the aggregate requests and related materials. The motion passed on a voice vote.

The committee did not adopt any appropriation changes on the floor; the action was a postponement to allow further review.

","After a review of the Office of the Governor budget, advocates representing domestic-violence shelters, child advocacy centers and CASA asked the committee for additional state funding. The Committee on General Government Budget voted to postpone its recommendation until tomorrow to allow further review.","actionData","errors"]

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Committee concurs with Secretary of State budget; office flags fee reductions and a separate SGF request for e-rulemaking

Committee delays recommendation on governor's budget after nonprofits press for domestic-violence and child-victim funding