Appropriations Committee advances House substitute for HB 24-34 with targeted provisos; several contested amendments draw lengthy debate

The Committee on Appropriations advanced a substitute version of House Bill 24-34 — the state’s fiscal year budget bill — on Feb. 14, approving a slate of provisos that alter funding and reporting requirements across education, housing, justice and health programs.

Representative Getz, who carried several education-related amendments, secured a proviso requiring the Kansas State Department of Education to add a special‑education funding line to school district financial accountability reports and made a proposed $10 million FY2027 increase contingent on those reports being produced on schedule. "So tying the new $10,000,000 to just the accountability of produce these reports and the money follows," Representative Getz said, framing the change as a transparency measure.

The committee also approved a proviso to shift part of the $6,000,000 state assessment contract toward KSDE’s pilot of "innovative assessments," a move supporters said would give teachers more real‑time feedback while preserving longitudinal cut scores. Representative Turk and others questioned how cut scores would be defined and compared; proponents said the pilot includes districts such as Dodge City, Olathe and Kansas City USD and that early feedback has been positive.

On housing, Representative Tarwater secured funding to revive the Moderate Income Housing…