Staff outlines reporting requirements included in House Bill 2,007 budget language

Jesse, an assistant revisor with the Office of the Revisor of Statutes, told the Senate Ways and Means Committee the memo he prepared summarizes reporting requirements that agencies must provide under House Bill 2,007, the introduced budget bill.

The memo is organized to follow the budget bill. It lists agency‑specific reporting requirements — for example, the Real Estate Appraisal Board (section 22(c)) must submit a report on practical applications of the appraisal program; the Secretary of State (section 36) must report costs of publishing information about proposed constitutional amendments "in a newspaper in each county"; and the Department of Commerce must report expenditures from the publication and other sales fund and from a World Cup ARPA fund, Mr. Jesse said.

Why it matters: the reports identify how agencies used monies appropriated in the budget bill and route information to committees and the Legislature for oversight. Several provisos require after‑the‑fact accounting on spending and on program implementation that lawmakers may use in future budget or policy decisions.

Jesse listed multiple health and human services reporting requirements in the bill, including extensive items for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS). Among KDADS items he cited are reports on Mental Health Intervention Teams for the prior school year, summaries from area agencies on aging showing kinds of services and numbers served, and detailed provider‑level accounting for substance‑use disorder funds that must include "the name of each provider and the dollar amount received by such provider during fiscal year 2025 and fiscal year 2026 to date," he said.

The memo also lists reporting duties for the Department for Children and Families (the Hope Ranch program evaluation), the Department of Education (reporting on the virtual math education program for the 2025–26 school year), Kansas State University’s Water Institute (plan and return‑on‑investment report), Board of Regents institutions (reports on savings from energy and conservation projects), Department of Corrections (evidence‑based juvenile justice projects to the Kansas Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee), EMS revolving fund accounting, and Wildlife and Parks reporting on expenditures from the parks fee fund tied to federal aid requirements.

Committee members asked procedural questions about the submissions. Senator Peck asked whether reports are oral or written; Jesse replied, "a majority of them are going to be written reports. I don't remember any of the language saying anything about an oral presentation, or an oral report being given." Senator Alley asked whether reports are audited; Jesse said agencies must send reports to the Legislature and committees but that he did not know of a formal statewide audit mechanism beyond committee staff tracking receipt.

On the Secretary of State proviso about publication costs, committee staff member David read the statutory language in K.S.A. 64‑103 and noted it requires publication "in 1 newspaper in each county of the state where a newspaper is published" once a week for three consecutive weeks prior to the election. Jesse observed that the budget language reads "a newspaper in each county pursuant to KSA 64103" and that the Secretary of State’s process for selecting which paper to use is governed by that statute.

No formal committee action was taken on the memo itself; the committee proceeded to the next agenda item after questions. The memo and the list of reporting provisos as presented will serve as a reference for committee staff and members when they review agency submissions required under House Bill 2,007.

Ending: Committee members signaled interest in the practicality of delivery (paper versus internet) and in whether committee staff should treat some reports as audited or as raw submissions; staff did not identify additional procedural changes at the meeting.