Ways and Means panel restores juvenile and corrections funding, advances agency budgets

The Senate Committee on Ways and Means voted to restore multiple previously lapsed appropriations and advance several state agency budgets, with committee members saying the moves preserve programming and staffing while consolidating certain debt-service items.

The panel voted to return $10,000,000 that the House had lapsed back to the juvenile justice Evidence-Based Program Fund, to restore $4,084,496 lapsed from the Department of Corrections for fiscal 2025 and $906,795 for fiscal 2026, and to return $1,300,000 lapsed from the Kansas Sentencing Commission. The committee also advanced budgets for the Kansas Corporation Commission, the Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board, the Department of Administration and the Kansas Department of Transportation.

The restorations were introduced in separate motions. Senator Owens moved to return the $10,000,000 to the Evidence-Based Program Fund, arguing the fund supports community programming created after prior juvenile justice reforms. "My first motion, as it relates to the JJOC fund, is to return the 10,000,000 that was lapsed in 2025 back to the JJOC evidence based program fund," Senator Owens said during debate.

Senator Owens also moved to restore the lapsed Department of Corrections amounts, citing staffing shortages the department experienced during the COVID-19 period and the state's prior use of…