Commerce seeks $3 million reappropriation restoration, proposes budget shifts and program trims

Rachel Willis, a representative from the Kansas Department of Commerce, presented the department’s proposed changes to its FY2026 budget and asked the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee to restore $3,000,000 of previously reappropriated funds from a total $5,900,000 in reappropriations. Willis said the department has already spent portions of those reappropriated dollars and wants them restored in the FY2026 baseline.

Willis told the committee the department is not asking for additional total spending above what the committee’s bill proposes; instead, Commerce proposed shifting existing amounts among program lines so funding better aligns with agency priorities. She said the agency’s bottom‑line dollar amount would be nearly the same as the bill’s current total under that approach.

Major specific proposals Willis described included: restoring broadband funding to prior levels (she emphasized the broadband office’s staff role in writing and administering federal grants such as BEAD), reducing the Love Kansas marketing campaign by $500,000, returning Build Up Kansas to full prior funding (an increase of $625,000 relative to the committee bill), shifting public broadcasting to a $500,000 steady allocation (the legislature’s bill had $700,000), restoring tourism funding, proposing a $1,000,000 FY26 request for the Sunflower Summer tourism reimbursement program with possible shortening of its season and limiting companion admissions, eliminating a $500,000 emergency HEAL program (to instead use the main HEAL program), and reducing the small business research & development program by $500,000 as a pilot scaled to staffing capacity.

Willis repeatedly warned that reducing the dedicated broadband office risks jeopardizing the state’s ability to administer federal broadband grants. She said the broadband staff were initially hired to pull down federal dollars and now provide “boots on the ground” support: writing applications, hosting office hours for applicants, reviewing BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment) applications, and monitoring awardees once grants are made. “If we lose these dollars, we're gonna really put all of our federal funding in great jeopardy,” she told the committee.

Committee members asked about program specifics and metrics. Representative Alcala asked about the public broadcasting cut; Willis said the governor’s approved FY26 base is $500,000 and that $700,000 was what was placed in the legislature’s budget bill. Representative Curtis and others discussed the Kansas Arts Commission (formerly CAIC) funding and noted that federal matching dollars had required building the program to $1.5 million in past years. Willis said Commerce considers Advantage Kansas its top State General Fund priority out of three small SGF categories (Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, Advantage Kansas, and the micro internship program). Willis also pointed committee members to the green sheet and EDIF ending balance information for running totals on Economic Development Initiatives Fund (EDIF) balances.

Willis said Commerce’s FY2026 reallocation plan keeps the department’s proposed spending within the committee bill’s overall dollar amount while shifting line‑item priorities. The committee did not take a formal vote; members said they would consider these requests when they begin working the budget tomorrow.