K-12 committee advances bill to tie State Board of Education daily pay to legislative rate

The Committee on K-12 Education Budget voted to pass out House Bill 23-82, a measure that would change state law to set the daily rate of compensation for State Board of Education members to an amount tied to the daily session pay of members of the legislature. The committee acted during its regularly scheduled meeting and approved procedural motions to consider and advance the bill.

The bill would replace the current statutory daily rate for State Board members—currently set at $88.66 per day—with a formula that uses the legislature’s base salary and the portion of that salary paid during session. According to the presenter’s memo, the formula multiplies the legislature’s base salary by the percentage paid during session (60.03 percent), then divides that amount by 90 session days to produce a daily rate. Using the legislative compensation commission’s schedule, that calculation yields a daily rate of $286.81 for State Board members until the indexing schedule changes in 2026.

Nick (staff member), who briefed the committee, described the bill’s mechanics and the statutory background. He said the change is intended to tie State Board pay to the new legislative salary structure established after the Legislative Compensation Commission’s 2023 recommendations. "This bill would establish the daily rate of compensation to an amount that corresponds to the daily amount that you all are paid, as members of the legislature," Nick told the committee.

Under current law cited in the committee discussion (KSA references provided in the presenter’s memo), State Board member pay is statutorily linked to legislative compensation. Committee members and witnesses said the legislature’s 2023 actions moved legislator pay to a different statutory section, leaving the board’s statutory cross-reference outdated; HB 23-82 would update the reference and apply the legislative formula to board members.

Committee members and staff discussed the fiscal impact. Representative Seth Hill noted a fiscal-note calculation based on 59 paid days per year that yields roughly $16,900 per board member. Dr. Hartwood (State Board of Education representative), who provided additional cost detail, said the agency uses 78 average paid days to prepare its budget estimate and that applying 78 days produces a higher annual cost; the agency’s approach produced a fiscal estimate of about $170,000 in total costs to the agency (including fringe), with the direct salary portion closer to that figure when shares and other factors are included. "If you apply it by day, 78 days times the increase in daily rate, you actually get over $200,000," Dr. Hartwood said, adding that fringe and other adjustments change the net agency cost to about $170,000.

Dr. Hartwood also described how the State Board allocates paid days: regular members receive one "share," the chair and vice chair receive two shares, and legislative liaisons receive a half share; that system affects how many paid days the agency budgets for different members. Committee members asked for clarification on how many official meeting days the board typically records; Dr. Hartwood said the agency’s historical average was used to generate the fiscal estimate.

Other specifics discussed in the committee: legislators’ current base salary was stated as $43,000 per year under the compensation commission’s schedule; the bill includes indexing so that, starting in January 2026, the base amount would adjust annually based on changes in wages for all Kansas employees as reflected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bill’s effective date, as read to the committee, is July 1, 2025, and it contains no retroactive pay provision.

Committee members also discussed process: the chair and members approved suspending rules to consider the bill on the same day, and the bill was reported out of committee with a technical amendment to add the phrase "and amendments thereto" in two statutory cross-reference locations. Committee members noted that any appropriation or PAYGo implications could be addressed later in the appropriations or trailer-bill process. Representative Johnson moved the committee to pass out HB 23-82 as amended; Representative Estes seconded the motion, and the committee approved it by voice vote.

The committee record shows debate over the appropriate day-count used for the fiscal estimate and a request that the State Board or agency provide more detailed day-count documentation to reconcile the differing estimates. The committee also received a supporting letter from Kathy Hopkins (signed with Danny Zack) that the clerk included in the packet.

The bill will proceed to the House floor schedule; committee members indicated the majority leader had been informed and that the bill was likely to be scheduled for floor consideration. The committee did not record a roll-call tally in its minutes; actions passed by voice vote were recorded as "motion carries."