Committee rejects change to meat-and-poultry proviso; backs recommendation to seek FFA director raise from education agency

Senators on the Agriculture and Natural Resources committee voted on two separate recommendations affecting the Department of Agriculture budget: they voted down a proposal to remove language that would lapse $350,000 if federal funding became available for meat and poultry inspection costs, and they approved asking Ways and Means to consider funding a proposed $40,000 pay increase for the FFA state director through the Kansas State Department of Education instead of State General Fund.

The most contested item came from Senator Francisco, who asked that the committee "include a recommendation to strike this proviso that talks about funding by a federal act including, the farm bill, monies from the farm bill if it's approved for expenditures budgeted for meat and poultry inspections and then they could, lapse the sum of $350,000." Francisco said she did not think federal funds would be available for state meat-and-poultry inspections and called the wording "superfluous." She told the panel she preferred removing the wording so the $350,000 would remain in the base budget.

Senator Shane sought clarification on how the provision would operate, asking if federal funding arriving would make the state's $350,000 unnecessary. Francisco replied she did not expect federal funding to cover state inspections, saying, "I don't think there are any federal funds that would come to the state for state inspections." She added the language was difficult to draft and likely unnecessary.

The committee treated Francisco's suggestion as a recommendation to amend the House substitute for House Bill 2,007. After members voted, the chair recorded what he described as a 3–3 tie, meaning the recommendation to strike the proviso was not adopted and the proviso language would not be included as a committee recommendation.

Separately, Senator Blue raised a personnel funding item affecting the FFA state director, saying the position "has not had a pay raise in years" and asked that Ways and Means consider funding a $40,000 raise plus fringe benefits through KSDE rather than using SGF. The committee added that recommendation to its report to Ways and Means by unanimous consent.

The committee chair said members who wished to discuss the meat-and-poultry language with Department of Agriculture staff should do so directly, because the committee would not hear agency testimony during these budget deliberations.

Ending: The committee completed its Department of Agriculture business and moved on to other agencies on the agenda.