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Conference panel tweaks economic-development offers: KC Biohub funding, Sunflower Summer reimbursements and other EDIF items
Summary
Members negotiated package B economic-development items, moving KC Biohub funding from EDIF to ARPA interest/ARPA and restoring or adjusting several EDIF grants including the Sunflower Summer reimbursement rules for small counties and junior achievement funding.
Conference negotiators reviewed a large economic-development package (Package B) and agreed to several edits while discussing how to source and prioritize EDIF and ARPA-interest dollars.
KC Biohub and ARPA interest: Members discussed moving a $1,000,000 KC Biohub allocation from EDIF to ARPA (or ARPA interest) in one offer; negotiators noted that one side had included the KC Biohub in its package and the other side did not accept it until the funding source was shifted.
Sunflower Summer program: Committee members clarified two edits to the Sunflower Summer program. One change limits reimbursable venue admission costs to counties with populations under specified thresholds (members referenced populations less than 15,000 or under 30,000 in different exchanges) and allows reimbursement for venues that charge no admission in very small counties. Members also discussed eligibility language limiting reimbursement for accompanying adults to “one parent or guardian” per visit even if multiple adults accompany several eligible youth.
Other EDIF and economic items: negotiators listed multiple EDIF items they proposed to fund at various amounts, including small-business R&D, public broadcasting grants, Build Up Kansas, HEAL grants, registered apprenticeships, Kansas Arts Commission funding with a 60/40 split favoring counties under 85,000 population, and rural opportunity zone funds focused on counties under specified population thresholds. Junior Achievement funding of $300,000 was added back in one side’s offer and later accepted in conference discussion.
Budget source and targeting: participants repeatedly discussed population thresholds for targeted reimbursements and the intended reach of county-level reimbursements; they also asked staff to add county lists and to ensure funding allocations are targeted to smaller counties and volunteer-run venues.
