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Committee opens hearing on House Bill 2027 to reorganize public-assistance statute
Summary
A Public Health and Welfare Committee hearing reviewed House Bill 2027, a technical reorganization of K.S.A. 39-709 that groups public-assistance provisions by program and standardizes cross-references; the bill contains no substantive policy changes and would take effect on publication in the statute book in July 2025.
The Public Health and Welfare Committee opened a hearing on House Bill 2027, a technical reorganization of K.S.A. 39-709 that rearranges existing public-assistance provisions by program rather than changing eligibility rules, a presenter told the panel.
“this bill looks pretty long because it is, but only contains 1 statute,” Jenna said as she described the measure, which would reorganize the statute into subsections organized by program (general eligibility; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; food assistance; childcare subsidy; fraud investigations; drug screenings and convictions; assignment of support rights and limited power of attorney; and electronic benefits card provisions).
The bill’s sponsor or presenter said the reorganization is intended to make the statute easier to navigate and that the office drafting the bill checked to ensure no material was omitted. “If it was in the statute it is still in the statute,” she said, noting an accompanying two-column reorganization outline that maps current subsection locations to the proposed locations.
Jenna said the bill does not amend Medicaid provisions except to correct internal references created by the reorganization. She also said the House committee previously adopted a technical amendment to standardize references to TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) within the statute. The presenter told the committee the bill would go into effect on publication in the statute book, which she said will be July 2025.
Senator Pettee asked whether struck language in the bill simply reflects relocated text. “So when I see, a lot of the strikeouts that’s because things have been moved to other locations. Would this be correct?” she asked. Jenna confirmed and explained the two-column outline shows where each current subsection would appear in the reorganized statute.
Committee members offered praise for the work on the reorganization. The committee chair closed the hearing after brief discussion and thanked staff and drafters for their work on the cleanup bill.
No formal motion or vote on the bill is recorded in the transcript provided.
