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Attorney General budget grows; committee adds inspector general capacity and firearm‑detection funding
Summary
The Ways and Means executive subcommittee restored funding for the Attorney General’s Safe and Secure Firearm Detection Program, added positions to expand the Office of Inspector General, and drew questions over 14+ added FTEs and a CIF transfer not discussed by the subcommittee.
Senator Alley, reporting for the executive subcommittee, said the Attorney General requested roughly $90.5 million and 204.2 FTEs for FY2026, driven largely by opioid settlement pass‑through distributions. The subcommittee adjusted that request: it deleted and then added back certain reappropriations and included a $10 million SGF reappropriation for the Safe and Secure Firearm Detection Program and funding to expand the Office of Inspector General.
Senator Alley said the subcommittee added nine funded positions for the inspector general office and additional investigator positions to implement recent statutory work, including implementing the Kansas Land and Military Installation Protection Act and establishing a general regulatory sandbox function tied to 2025 legislation. Alley said some increases reflect pass‑through and statutory responsibilities rather than discretionary growth.
Several senators pushed back on the number of added FTEs. Senator Petty noted the subcommittee added about 14.5 positions above what the agency formally requested in its budget documents; vice chair Senator Owens said many of those positions were previously authorized by the legislature but had not been funded because leaders had planned a separate omnibus bill last year. Owens said the subcommittee was honoring prior legislative authorizations when adding the positions now.
A separate, brief remote presentation preceded the AG discussion. Luke Heller, director of government affairs for Starkey Hearing Technologies, asked the committee to consider a one‑time grant to provide active hearing protection for law enforcement officers. Heller said the company proposed "$2,100,000 which would cover almost 6,000 local across the state" and additional funding to cover officers in the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Highway Patrol under an RFP process.
Senators approved the AG executive subcommittee recommendations by voice vote and asked agencies to return with granular validation on staffing and budget lines during next week's budget work.
(End note: Senator Alley and other members also described adjustments tied to opioid settlement distributions and victim‑services database costs; the transcript shows the subcommittee added targeted reappropriations and supplemental SGF to implement earlier legislative directives.)
