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Committee advances bill to establish Kansas Technical College Operating Grant Fund; colleges seek permanent statutory fund
Summary
The Senate Ways and Means Committee voted to work and pass House Bill 2195, which would establish the Kansas Technical College Operating Grant Fund administered by the State Board of Regents; proponents said the permanent fund would stabilize a $1.5 million per‑institution operating grant provided in recent years.
Reviser Jesse Pringle told the Senate Ways and Means Committee that House Bill 2195 would create a Kansas Technical College Operating Grant Fund in the state treasury to be administered by the State Board of Regents; expenditures would support instruction and operations that meet target objectives established for each technical college’s region and the state.
Jim Gennant, president of the Kansas Technical Colleges and president and CEO of Manhattan Area Technical College, told the committee the seven technical colleges collectively enroll about 10,000 students and that the operating grant has been “a transformational difference maker.” He said five of the seven member institutions appear among the Aspen Institute’s top 150 two‑year colleges and that the group used Lightcast to estimate a nearly 7:1 return on investment from state appropriations in academic year 2023–24.
Gennant said that for the last two fiscal years each institution received $1,500,000 through the operating grant (a $10,500,000 total across the seven institutions). He told the committee the colleges seek a statutory place in the treasury so the funding does not have to be renegotiated each year. "This gives us a permanent placeholder for the operating grant within statute," he said.
Committee members asked about enrollment, program mix and whether the house appropriated the full amount requested; Gennant said the house appropriated $7,000,000, a reduction from the $10,500,000 the colleges had sought. Gennant and lawmakers also discussed the colleges’ limited access to local property tax revenue and how the grant helps leverage other local and federal funds.
Senator Claes moved to work HB 2195, amend the publication date to the register and pass the bill as amended; Senator Petersen seconded and the committee approved the motion by voice vote.
Written testimony was submitted by several supporters; no opponents appeared in committee.
