Senate panel reviews House adjustments to aging and disability budget; adds and amends several program allocations

The Senate Ways and Means Committee on Monday reviewed House adjustments to the Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) budget, including restorations tied to federal FMAP changes and multiple new one-time and ongoing additions.

Dayton, legislative staffer presenting the green sheet, told the committee the House additions include a $45,000,000 restoration tied to HCBS FMAP savings and a $140,000 addition for in-home care for low-income seniors. For fiscal year 2026 the House added roughly $75.5 million in new appropriations, including a nursing-facility add-on payment set at $20 per Medicaid day, and funding to add new IDD waiver slots from the wait list.

Why it matters: The package targets both immediate pandemic-era funding reconciliations (FMAP-related restorations) and ongoing provider and service-rate changes for long-term care and behavioral health. Committee members probed the sources, locales and programmatic details of several House additions before voting on a series of amendments.

Most substantive House/committee items discussed

- HCBS FMAP restoration: $45,000,000 added to restore funding tied to FMAP increases during the federal public health emergency (House adjustment). Dayton said this restores funding related to FMAP increases.

- In-home care pilot completion: $140,000 to continue a pilot program serving low-income seniors.

- FY2026 additions: roughly $75.5 million total including $29.3 million from state general fund to support a $20-per-day nursing facility add-on; new IDD waiver slots funded (22,400,000 with $8.7 million SGF to add more than 320 individuals from the IDD waiver wait list, per the green sheet); a $6,000,000 one-time CMHC grant; $12.4 million to fully rebase nursing facility rates; workforce and training dollars; and a specialized medical care rate increase for certain waivers.

- Targeted pilots and smaller items: a $3.9 million pilot behavioral-health add-on for nursing facilities (proposed at $175 per Medicaid day), $1,000,000 SGF to offset federal senior nutrition cuts, $830,000 one-time for a homeless shelter renovation in Liberal, and a $1,000,000 increase to brain-injury waiver rates (raising unit rates to $20), among other items.

Committee amendments and votes

- Meals on Wheels: Senator Klooz moved to increase the House’s $1,000,000 adjustment for senior nutrition (often called Meals on Wheels) by $2,000,000 to bring the total on the Senate side to $3,000,000. After discussion about baseline funding and prior-year COVID supplements, the committee approved the amendment (motion seconded; committee voice vote recorded as aye).

- CMHC grants: The committee debated a House-added, one-time $6,000,000 supplement for community mental health centers (CMHCs). Senator Peck moved to delete that $6,000,000; a substitute to reduce it to $3,000,000 was offered and defeated; the committee ultimately adopted the deletion motion (motion carries) to establish a conference position with the House.

- IDD wait list slots and cap: Senator Alley successfully moved to add $5,000,000 SGF to add an additional 80 IDD waiver slots (increasing total new slots to 500), and to lower the proposed wait-list cap from 4,000 to 3,800. The motion carried.

- Brain injury waiver rates: Senator Erickson moved to add an additional $3,500,000 to augment a $1,000,000 House addition for brain injury waiver rates; the committee approved the motion.

- Homeless shelter funding: Senator Peck moved to delete the House’s $830,000 appropriation intended for a shelter renovation; after discussion the committee voted to delete that line for the Senate’s conference posture.

What the committee did not decide

Committee members frequently said the Senate position is meant to be “conferenceable” with the House. Several motions were adopted to create negotiating positions rather than finalize long-term program changes — for example deleting or reducing House additions to push items to conference for further review.

Speakers (selection)

- Dayton — Legislative staff (presenter; identified presenting green sheet page 10). - Chair — Committee chair (generic reference in transcript). - Senator Peck — Senator; asked questions on multiple KDADS items. - Senator Klooz — Moved Meals on Wheels amendment. - Senator Fagg — Seconded and spoke during several votes. - Senator Owens — Moved repurposing of CCBHC planning funds for SUD block grant increases. - Senator Holscher — Offered HCBS waiver funding amendment. - Senator Erickson — Moved additional funding for brain injury waiver rates. - Senator Alley — Moved additional IDD waiver slots and a lower wait-list cap.

Clarifying details extracted from the hearing

- HCBS FMAP restoration: $45,000,000 (House item 1 on green sheet p.10). - In-home care for low-income seniors: $140,000 (House item 2). - FY26 additions total (selected): $75.5 million including $29.3 million SGF for the nursing facility $20/day payment. - CMHC grants: $6,000,000 one-time (House addition; committee debated deletion or reduction). - Homeless shelter renovation request: $830,000—location specified in committee discussion as Liberal, Kansas. - IDD wait-list cap (House language): cap set at 4,000 for IDD; committee reduced proposed cap to 3,800 via amendment.

Community relevance and implementation risk

The items affect long-term care providers, nursing facilities, CMHCs, IDD waiver recipients, senior nutrition programs and one local homeless shelter in Liberal. Several items are one-time supplements; others change recurring rate bases and therefore carry implementation and budgetary risk in subsequent fiscal years. The committee frequently framed adopted changes as conference positions for negotiation with the House.

Searchable tags: KDADS, HCBS, IDD, nursing facilities, Meals on Wheels, CMHC grants, brain injury waiver, homeless shelter, Liberal, budget

Provenance

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topfinish: {"block_id":"segment_32","local_start":0,"local_end":17,"evidence_excerpt":"And those are the KDADS items on, that the house adjusted.","reason_code":"topicfinish"}