Committee approves five LBC budget recommendations, adds $2 million for statewide school mapping

The special committee on state budget adjustments approved the Legislative Budget Committee's recommendations (HB 2434) for five public-safety agencies Tuesday and added $2,000,000 to the State 9-1-1 Board's FY2027 budget for a critical mapping program to expand GIS data for emergency response.

Nicole Rincher, a fiscal analyst with the Kansas Legislative Research Department, told the committee that the 2025 special budget committee adopted several "global motions" that shaped the shorthand summary the committee reviewed. "Delete any requests by agencies to restore the 1 and a half percent operating reductions, contained in the 2025 Senate Bill 125," Rincher said, and outlined additional actions such as removing requested salary increases, deleting reappropriations from appropriated funds (with specified exclusions), and deleting enhancements and supplemental requests for FY26 and FY27.

Those global motions left the committee to vote on baseline recommendations for agencies heard in the panel. The committee approved the LBC recommendation for the Kansas Commission of Peace Officers for FY2026 and FY2027 after brief procedural checks and a request by Representative Ford for distribution of hearing documents to members who did not have them.

The State Board of Technical Professions's shorthand entry reflected deletions the committee had made; Rincher said an FTE position and a furnishing/equipment enhancement were removed. Representative Hoye, while voting for the baseline recommendation, said she would have supported retaining the assistant executive director position because of increased caseloads for architects and geologists: "I would support having that position," she said, but added she did not want to derail passing the baseline budget.

On the State 9-1-1 Board, the committee approved FY2026 by voice vote and then approved FY2027 with a $2,000,000 addition for the mapping program. The chair described the three-year plan as $2 million per year to reach $6 million statewide and said many schools sought the mapping assistance last year. Chris, committee staff, summarized the grant's priorities: "The priority would be first, any public or private elementary school or secondary school; second, any public post-secondary state educational institution; third, government buildings; fourth, mass gathering sites; and fifth, health care facilities," he said. Any Kansas public safety answering point (PSAP) may apply to develop GIS data under the program.

Representative Hoyt noted the program's popularity and a remaining funding gap: she said 100% of submitted K-12 mapping applications had been awarded last year but that demand exceeded the awards, and she estimated it would cost about $4.5 million to cover the remaining schools. "We did not provide enough funding for all schools to have the same safety measures in place," Hoyt said, urging the committee to revisit the program next year to expand coverage.

The committee also approved the LBC recommendations for the Emergency Medical Services Board and the Abstractors Board of Examiners for FY2026 and FY2027; members indicated there was little or no discussion on enhancements for those items. Rincher also explained how some SGF reappropriation lines appear to have been added back in the shorthand to avoid double-lapsing lapsed reappropriated funds when the agency itself had lapsed those amounts.

Two budget hearings are scheduled for the next day, and the chair said the committee expects to finish and report out to full appropriations by Feb. 5. The committee adjourned.