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Behavioral Sciences Board presents steady fee‑funded budget, plans $50 fee cut for many licenses
Summary
The Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board told the Committee on Higher Education Budget it oversees nearly 17,000 permanent licenses, is fee funded (no SGF), and has proposed temporary and permanent fee reductions that the board expects will lower revenue by about $75,000 annually while drawing its fund toward a one‑year expenditure target.
The Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board told the Committee on Higher Education Budget on Jan. 0 that its operations remain fully supported by licensure fees and that it expects modest fee reductions to lower its fee‑fund balance toward a one‑year reserve.
Executive Director David Fye said the board currently oversees about 16,928 permanent licenses across seven professions including psychology, social work and counseling. "Those are permanent licenses. In addition to that, we have a number of individuals that have temporary licenses," Fye said. He told the committee the growth in licensees—about 817 more than a year ago—has helped sustain revenue even after previous fee decreases.
Fye described a board vote to reduce original license and application fees by $50 for most professions for a five‑year period, and he estimated the most recent reduction under consideration would reduce revenues by about $75,000 per year. "We understand that if our fee fund balance continues to drop, at some point we will need to rebalance things," he said.
Dayton Lamonyan, a principal fiscal analyst with Legislative Research, walked members through the board’s budget book. He noted the BSRB is a small, fee‑funded agency with about 12 FTE and no state general fund appropriation; salaries and benefits account for roughly two‑thirds of operating costs. Lamonyan confirmed the committee will see a corrected FY27 pay‑plan adjustment (an upward technical correction of about $17,000) and that the agency shifted some spending into salaries to align with recent operations.
Members pressed the agency on details the document did not provide. Representative Wagner asked how many people the board licenses; Fye confirmed the 16,928 figure and said he included a 10‑year history in his written testimony. Representative Haskins and others asked about the effect of multistate licensure compacts, and Fye said their full impact on revenue is still uncertain.
The board also outlined operational changes designed to improve efficiency: migration to an enterprise licensing system (Accela) expected to be fully integrated by the end of calendar year 2026, a new Granicus website, and a voluntary CE Broker account for licensees to upload continuing‑education records.
The agency made clear that permanent cuts to fees are conditional on maintaining adequate reserves. Fye said the board’s goal is to draw the fee‑fund balance down to roughly one year of expenditures—about $1.1–$1.2 million—while retaining funds for litigation and disciplinary contingencies.
Next steps: committee staff will receive follow‑up data requested by members, including an eight‑year license count history and more detail on projected revenue impacts of the proposed fee reductions.
