Kansas Commerce reports $3.5 billion in 2024 capital commitments; committee asks for fiscal-impact and program-level details

The Legislative Post Audit Committee on [date not specified] heard a presentation from Joshua, Director of the Business Development Unit at the Kansas Department of Commerce, who reported 269 successful attraction or retention/expansion projects in 2024, more than 399 active opportunities in the pipeline, over 5,000 committed new and retained jobs and $3.5 billion in committed private capital investment.

Joshua told the committee that the average salaries tied to those projects were 115% of the state median wage and that the department has improved its public transparency database with district-level search and new browse features. He said Commerce added 34 new PEAK (Promoting Employment Across Kansas) agreements in 2024 and now manages more than 200 active PEAK agreements, which allow qualifying employers to retain withholding taxes generated by new employees.

The committee pressed Commerce for more fiscal detail and operational data. Members asked for a 2024 fiscal-impact accounting that compares the state's incentive costs with generated revenues, a program-level breakdown of incentives, the number of recruitment (inbound) projects versus expansions of in-state firms, details on HPIP tax-credit transfers, a complete list of Star bond projects, and the RAS rural recruitment program’s waiting-list status. Joshua and Commerce staff agreed they would provide the requested breakdowns and additional documentation for committee review.

Commerce highlighted several statutory and programmatic tools it uses to recruit and retain employers: PEAK (Promoting Employment Across Kansas), HPIP (High Performance Incentive Program), the Job Creation Fund (deal-closing fund), workforce training programs (KIT and Kansas Industrial Retraining), apprenticeship tax credits and grants created under the Apprenticeship Act provisions and the Apex incentives package enacted in 2022. Joshua said the Apex program currently lists Panasonic as the only active Apex employer and that some local infrastructure and public-safety investments in DeSoto are already complete or in process; he added that Panasonic had not yet claimed its investment tax credit.

On HPIP, Commerce said the program provides a 10% tax credit for qualifying capital investment (with a $50,000 minimum in nonmetro counties and a $1,000,000 minimum in specified metro counties) and that fiscal-year 2024 saw 63 initial project certifications and 362 certifications issued with estimated capital investment of about $7.3 billion. Joshua noted HPIP tax-credit transfers have grown since the program allowed transfers beginning in fiscal year 2020; committee members asked Commerce to provide the specific amounts issued and transferred.

Committee members also questioned the Rural-targeted recruitment assistance described in the presentation (described in the slides as offering either an income-tax credit or student-loan repayment assistance). A committee member reported a waiting list figure of roughly 142 applicants on the sheet provided; Commerce confirmed there is a waiting list and agreed to provide updated sponsorship and eligibility detail and the current list status.

Members raised questions specific to large projects tied to Apex and CHIPS Act funding. Joshua confirmed the Integra Technologies Apex agreement (approved by the State Finance Council on Feb. 2, 2023) was contingent on CHIPS Act funding; Commerce said it continues to work with Integra and federal officials but that the CHIPS process is ongoing. When a committee member asked hypothetically what would happen if Panasonic’s project became nonviable, Joshua said Commerce would continue to support Kansas business but did not provide a contingency plan in the meeting.

Committee members asked for a clearer fiscal accounting across all incentive programs, and requested that Commerce provide program-level fiscal impact data, project counts distinguishing out‑of‑state relocations from in‑state expansions, HPIP transfer totals, a complete Star bond project list, Apex community impact details (including local costs such as utility or infrastructure impacts) and the current status of the rural recruitment waiting list.

The committee moved on after the question period; Commerce staff affirmed they will deliver the requested data to the committee for follow-up review.