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Board of Pharmacy budget: K‑TRACS grants offset fee‑funded operations; no immediate fee increases planned
Summary
Kansas State Board of Pharmacy staff presented a fee‑funded budget that expects federal grants to offset major software costs for the K‑TRACS prescription monitoring system, plans a vehicle replacement in 2027, and does not anticipate fee increases this cycle.
Megan, a Legislative Research analyst, and Alexandra (Alex) Blasey, executive secretary of the Kansas State Board of Pharmacy, presented the board’s budget to the Committee on Social Services Budget, describing a fee‑funded agency that licenses pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and facilities and that operates the state’s prescription monitoring system known in testimony as K TRAC/K‑TRACS.
Blasey said the board enforces the Pharmacy Act and the Controlled Substances Act and registers “about 8,400 pharmacists, 7,500 technicians, and 65,100 pharmacies or facilities,” and that the board inspects retail pharmacies roughly annually and certain manufacturers and distributors roughly every three years. She described K‑TRACS as the board’s costly, vendor‑hosted monitoring platform (the vendor also hosts systems for roughly 40 other states) and said the board has supplemented its expenditures by applying for and receiving federal grants for K‑TRACS projects since 2008.
Megan and Blasey told members the board’s spending projections fluctuate because federal grant awards can reduce the board’s need to spend fee revenue in a particular year; Blasey noted the board has not been denied a federal grant application to date. The presentation noted the board plans a vehicle replacement (a 2014 Impala) in fiscal year 2027 to support inspectors who are assigned agency vehicles because they work from remote offices. Blasey said vehicles are assigned and replaced based on age, mileage and repair history to limit replacement spikes.
On fees, Blasey said the board does not anticipate seeking fee increases this cycle; she reminded the committee that fee changes are limited by statutory caps and that any change within caps would require administrative rulemaking and oversight by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulations. Representative King asked how FTE counts appear in the budget tables; Megan explained the overview tables and where FTE changes would be shown. Representative Ballard praised the K‑TRACS program and emphasized the board’s long record of grant capture and stewardship.
Blasey also highlighted staff retention gains from recent cost‑of‑living and market‑rate adjustments and said the board is in a stable cash position, though projected balances depend on future, uncertain grant awards.
