Senate committee continues confirmation hearing for acting Wildlife and Parks secretary; presses on budget, parks and hatchery water use

Acting Secretary Kennedy appeared before the Kansas Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources for a continuation of his confirmation hearing, where senators pressed him on agency budgeting, staffing and infrastructure needs and questioned water use at a proposed Mead Lake fish hatchery.

The committee focused on three priorities Kennedy said he set when he took leadership of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks: fiscal responsibility, public engagement and improved communication within the agency. Kennedy told senators he had “held back 20% across the agency within our budget” to avoid overspending while staff adapt to new internal scrutiny and procurement controls.

Why it matters: the department manages state parks, fish and wildlife programs and millions of dollars in federal and state funding. Senators said infrastructure and staffing shortfalls — and how the agency spends fee revenue — directly affect public access and safety in parks and the department’s ability to maintain fish and wildlife resources.

Kennedy described immediate budget problems he found on arriving: multiple, inconsistent answers from staff about the department’s total funding across eight or nine divisions. “That gave me…