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Senate Ways and Means advances subcommittee budget recommendations across agencies
Summary
The Senate Ways and Means committee approved multiple subcommittee budget reports for FY2026–FY2027 covering the judiciary, veterans services, attorney general, human services (KDADS) and state hospitals; members questioned added FTEs, provider rate increases and contract nursing costs.
The Senate Ways and Means committee on (date) advanced a slate of subcommittee budget recommendations for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, approving funding adjustments for several state agencies and health facilities by voice vote.
Senator Titus reported the committee’s judiciary recommendations, removing $325,000 from the proposed interactive learning center at the Supreme Court Law Library while adding three full‑time positions to support specialty court operations. Senator Owens moved the judiciary report forward; Senator Petersen seconded and the motion carried.
Senator Owens also reported the Public Health and Welfare subcommittee’s actions on the Kansas Office of Veteran Services and the Human Services Subcommittee’s KDADS package. The KDADS adjustments included reappropriating unspent waiver funds for institutional and HCBS services and a FY27 package that adds provider increases and capacity funding.
On the Board of Indigent Defense Services, Senator Peck said the agency handles roughly 26,000 cases a year; the subcommittee added targeted funding for assigned counsel payments, IT security and partial pay increases for public defenders. The committee adopted that report by voice vote.
Other passed items included the Attorney General executive subcommittee recommendations; several state hospital budgets, including Larner State Hospital, Osawatomie State Hospital, Parsons State Hospital and funding for the new South Central Regional Mental Health Hospital. Most approvals were carried by voice votes after members flagged questions about FTE counts, potential underfunding of contract nursing and the timing of start‑up costs for new facilities.
Committee members repeatedly emphasized oversight and verification: in several cases, the subcommittee funded partial requests now and asked agencies to return with validated figures before releasing additional enhancements. Multiple senators said they expect more detailed budget work during the full budget markup next week.
The committee concluded its report outs and closed the session after approving the subcommittee recommendations by voice votes.
