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Legislative session update: Office of Early Childhood language moved into shell bill; budget passed with several early-childhood line items
Summary
John Wilson of Kansas Action for Children told the panel lawmakers folded Office of Early Childhood provisions into House Bill 2045, highlighted bills affecting child health, housing and tax credits, and summarized the budget that passed both chambers including some early-childhood line items and cuts.
John Wilson, senior policy advocate with Kansas Action for Children, told the panel the legislature adjourned until an April veto session and that some major early‑childhood proposals remain active. He said language to create an Office of Early Childhood (originally in Senate Bill 132 and House Bill 2294) was moved late in the process into an unrelated shell bill, House Bill 2045; that measure was in conference committee and subject to further negotiation. "If you're interested in the Office of Early Childhood, pay attention to 2045," Wilson said.
Wilson walked the panel through other bills and budget items that could affect children and families. He said discussions on CHIP eligibility (bills SB2386/HB2701 and provisions later considered in SB126) were unresolved in conference committee and will be studied further next session; a budget proviso was expected to extend current CHIP eligibility for another fiscal year. He noted Senate Bill 79 — a bill to bar SNAP recipients from buying soda or candy with benefits — had passed both chambers but could face a gubernatorial veto that the legislature might not override.
On tax and housing issues, Wilson said House Bill 2210 (a state child tax credit proposal) had not advanced and a bill to eliminate the affordable housing tax credit (21 19) had passed the House but lacked Senate support and remained in conference negotiations. He described the budget process this year as compressed and said the legislature largely wrote its own budget instead of adopting the governor's proposal.
Wilson listed early‑childhood–relevant line items in the budget: $2.5 million for a Blue Cross Blue Shield State of Kansas Child Care Center Partnership; funding for a child care accelerator in Dodge City; retention of funding for the Sunflower Summer program and summer EBT; and removal of workforce registry funding from the Children's Initiative Fund (to be absorbed by DCF). He also said parents/caregivers in KanCare would no longer receive 12 months of continuous eligibility under the enacted budget language.
Wilson encouraged panel members to continue advocacy during the April veto session and to track the conference committee actions that will determine whether the Office of Early Childhood language remains in HB 2045.
