Kansas Commerce budget hearing spotlights MRO reappropriation, EDIF balance and program enhancement requests

The Agriculture and Natural Resources Budget Committee reviewed the Kansas Department of Commerce budget in a hearing that centered on timing‑driven reappropriations, the state’s EDIF balance, personnel vacancies and several enhancement requests.

KLRD fiscal analyst Jacob Crespi told the committee that the Department of Commerce’s FY2026 approved budget included approximately $202,000,000 in total expenditures, about $16,700,000 in state general funds and an approved 317 FTE positions. "The agency has $51,000,000 of SGF, which makes up less than 1% of all state spending in SGF," Crespi said. He also reported that the Department’s all‑funds total was about $226,000,000.

Crespi said large peaks and valleys in the agency’s all‑funds spending history were driven by grants, including federal and ARPA awards, not recurring administrative costs. He identified reappropriations that were temporarily frozen by the legislative budget committee: a reappropriation figure cited in the packet appeared at times as $34,500,000 and at other points as $34,000,000; Crespi emphasized these represent encumbered or previously approved funds shifted by contract timing rather than new spending.

Committee members pressed for specifics behind the spending spikes and a capital 'blip' in FY2023; Crespi and Commerce agreed to retrieve and provide the grant names and the capital detail to the committee. On vacancies, Crespi said the agency had "approximately about a dozen" current vacancies concentrated in workforce centers and confirmed the agency was keeping the 317 approved FTE count while removing funding for some vacant positions.

Reappropriation and MRO projects: several members and airport representatives questioned a one‑time MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) line item that appeared in FY2026 and not in the FY2027 baseline. Crespi explained the FY2027 summary uses the FY2026 approved amount as its starting point, so one‑time FY2026 expenditures show as a decrease in 2027 if not planned again. Paul Davis, representing the Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority, told the committee that contracts for the Salina and Topeka projects have since been signed and asked the committee to reauthorize the reappropriated funds so projects may proceed.

Commerce witness Rachel Willis clarified the MRO allocations and identified an apparent typo in the packet: she said the correct breakdown was $33,000,000 for Salina and $1,000,000 for Topeka, not $35,000,000 and $10,000,000 as some materials suggested. The committee asked Commerce to provide a written breakdown of the full $44,000,000 package and where each dollar is allocated.

EDIF balance and operating funds: Crespi and Willis said EDIF (Economic Development Initiatives Fund) supplies a large share of Commerce’s operating budget. Crespi stated EDIF totals available for the Department in the FY2026 approved amount were about $49,800,000 after transfers and beginning balances.

Enhancements and program requests: Rachel Willis reviewed enhancements Commerce plans to seek or restore, including $1,000,000 for the Creative Arts Commission to meet grant demand, $500,000 for public broadcasting, roughly $2,600,000 to expand the 'Towns' program for small‑scale community placemaking, and $500,000 in reappropriations to support home‑based childcare technical assistance (to be administered by Child Care Aware of Kansas). "We would like to see [the Towns program] done on a much larger scale," Willis said of the pilot’s results.

LevelUp Kansas and budget status: Bailey Ramsey, representing LevelUp Kansas, described the program as a statewide navigation service that connects adult learners to existing training and services and asked for maintenance of funding at $2,000,000 after a 20% cut last year. Jacob Crespi told the committee that while LevelUp was removed as a one‑time item in Commerce’s base for FY2027, the Senate Committee on Commerce recommended restoring $2,000,000 in SGF and that recommendation had proceeded through Senate Ways & Means but was not yet decided in the House.

What’s next: Members requested follow‑up materials: detailed lists of the grants behind the 'all funds' spikes (including ARPA awards), a precise breakdown of the Salina/Topeka MRO allocations, capital itemization for the FY2023 blip, and current vacancy lists. The committee recessed the commerce budget work to continue work the following day and scheduled a presentation on dams by Chief Engineer Earl Lewis.

Ending: The committee closed the Commerce budget hearing after the requested follow ups were recorded; no committee votes were taken during this session.