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Committee adds local health departments to fentanyl education bill, strikes duplicative grant section

Committee on Education · February 11, 2026

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Summary

The committee amended House Bill 2489 to explicitly allow school districts to work with local health departments on fentanyl education and naloxone stocking, and accepted the Attorney General's recommendation to strike section 3 to avoid duplicative grant procedures; members raised outstanding funding questions and paused further work to gather fiscal details.

House Bill 2489, which would require school districts to provide fentanyl abuse education, maintain naloxone stock supplies, and allow grants for naloxone purchases, was the subject of detailed committee discussion and amendments.

Representative Steele proposed adding local health departments as a listed partner for districts delivering education and prevention programs; Representative Goetz seconded and the committee adopted an amendment to add the words 'local health department' to the delivery partners list. Later, Revisor Long explained that the Attorney General’s Office had advised striking section 3 in its entirety because grant awards of that character already fall under the existing Kansas Fights Addiction Fund procedures and duplicative language could cause confusion about where applications should be sent and who approves awards. The committee accepted the recommendation and struck the section.

Members asked whether the Attorney General's fund could meet anticipated demand; fiscal staff said grant awards would be subject to the availability of the Kansas Fights Addiction Fund and did not provide a full balance on the record. Committee members expressed concern about potential unfunded mandates if grant funding is insufficient and paused the bill for additional information to be gathered and considered at a future meeting.

The committee’s changes aim to broaden partnerships for delivering education while avoiding statutory duplication of grant procedure, but funding uncertainty led the chair to defer final action pending further fiscal detail.