[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6366838,"mediaKeyId","2159313-8089413014cdd897d2e70509817397ec","parentId",2159313,"title","Budget committee adopts a slate of agency budgets; CURB, KCC, legislature and others advanced to Appropriations","audioSeconds",719,"startMs",41000,"endMs",760000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2159313-8089413014cdd897d2e70509817397ec&start=41&end=760","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2159313-8089413014cdd897d2e70509817397ec/thumbnail_41000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6366838/Kansas/Budget-committee-adopts-a-slate-of-agency-budgets-CURB-KCC-legislature-and-others-advanced-to-Appropriations","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6366838-77e7c0a06014ea6e42997c4a3c994f2d/orig.mp4?Expires=1770442667&Signature=DJTbVugakauZbF6Iz9wgY5yLMQA85LYUA1NyIJNZtVOSxOn3TZBdkEJpEhqHA0KarQAkLNDos3ZceltA4gucGxuTWdf0~VgC10b~AxzlrQdPWYhBBlJivlWkXyCBVQncscmoornO9m0-qTFlM6L1XXXbJATdgkRI9sVxjdsSFqChXQTdRmpLnb2dkauYsBbKbGc1ITKcg~2JusNTwYG8w05wGpr5RUAl~mXcw5cMSp63sMkTrfFyG90CeMYlb9nzeyo81K5xf671Dp3wlS1cQF2bpd8OqklhRgIwv8CQzUjpyswWMgzIuLDQcc-GXzw40TueqScz7Li87zR48Imeqw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author"," Committee on Appropriations, KS","date","2025-01-28T00:00:00Z","article","The committee reviewed and adopted budget recommendations for multiple agencies and legislative entities and forwarded them under the committee’s recommendations to the House Committee on Appropriations, as provided in HB 2007.

Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board (CURB): Chairperson Mosier presented the agency’s fee-funded budget. The board requested $1,400,000 from the utility regulatory fee fund and 9 full-time equivalent positions; the committee concurred with the recommendation and voted to advance the ANR committee’s recommendations to Appropriations. Chairperson Mosier summarized the agency’s role: \"The Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board acts as an advocate for residential and small commercial utility rate payers in Kansas in order to protect their interest,\" and noted the agency is fee funded by quarterly assessments on utilities.

Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC): The committee reviewed the KCC request, which the presentation showed as $92.7 million in special revenue funds and 204.3 FTEs for FY25, a decrease from the prior approved amount driven by reduced federal receipts (including inflation-reduction and infrastructure funding). The agency’s FY26 request rose in part because of federal grants estimated to continue; committee members asked for clarification about the federal grants and were told funds include IRA and BIL receipts and grants for orphan well plugging and energy-efficiency home rebate programs.

Legislative branch budgets: The committee took up several legislature-facing budgets and adopted them as recommended. Highlights included a request of about $38.4 million for the Legislature in FY25 (including roughly $33.4 million SGF and $5 million in ARPA for a CALIS modernization project) and staffing and systems requests the committee reviewed; the Legislative Coordinating Council, Legislative Research Department, Office of Reviser of Statutes and Legislative Division of Post Audit were each reported and advanced with committee concurrence and some line deletions or technical adjustments.

Other items: The Social Services Budget Committee advanced the Healthcare Stabilization Fund budget (fee funded, no SGF). The committee also reported on Osawatomie State Hospital’s budgets, adding a partial FY25 contract-nursing add-back and discussing capacity and unit staffing; members noted Adaire Acute Care opened with new single-room beds and that total certified beds across both Osawatomie units are 206 with an estimated average daily census of about 103.

Votes at a glance (committee actions forwarded to Appropriations):
- Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board (CURB) budget — advanced (motion adopted)
- Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) budget — advanced (motion adopted)
- Legislature (FY25–26) budget recommendations including ARPA funds for CALIS — advanced (motion adopted)
- Legislative Coordinating Council (LCC) — advanced (motion adopted)
- Legislative Research Department (KLRD) — advanced (motion adopted)
- Office of Reviser of Statutes — advanced (motion adopted)
- Legislative Division of Post Audit — advanced (motion adopted)
- Healthcare Stabilization Fund — advanced (motion adopted)
- Osawatomie State Hospital budgets — advanced as amended (motion adopted)

Committee members asked staff and agencies for follow-up information on multiple technical points including federal grant purposes for KCC receipts, implementation timing for personnel costs and reappropriation details. Most adoption motions were passed by voice vote with no recorded roll calls in the transcript.

Ending: Committee chairs said the committee had completed its agenda and would reconvene the following day; the committee’s recommendations will be reflected in its formal report to the House Appropriations Committee.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Committee on Appropriations 01/28/2025","oneSentenceSummary","The committee advanced a slate of agency and legislative budgets — including the Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board, Kansas Corporation Commission and several legislative branch budgets — forwarding recommendations to the House Committee on Appropriations.","taxTitle","Committee on Appropriations, Standing, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committees, Legislative, Kansas","taxId",18782,"location","Kansas","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6366843,"Lawmakers set July 1, 2026 deadline to end contract nursing at Larned State Hospital after debate on costs, staffing and fire services",3425,1675000,5100000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2159313-8089413014cdd897d2e70509817397ec&start=1675&end=5100","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2159313-8089413014cdd897d2e70509817397ec/thumbnail_1675000.jpg","/articles/6366843/Kansas/Lawmakers-set-July-1-2026-deadline-to-end-contract-nursing-at-Larned-State-Hospital-after-debate-on-costs-staffing-and-fire-services","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6366843-6b1b7305f57b664447681381a0598918/orig.mp4?Expires=1770442667&Signature=nc~h02SB6Pq6nbYR7uoIrMdNOIUsYPBBAfomvqjppZ4ciF-vf2JwxIIZ8ovhZjOWhQPC-DO8-Agejg5~Ib7RoA~L-6wsrARG~VUy7x3pZxiifMkVEErDtF9F0HDmUwOss92L1-Y5ahV5BykdQsM6tI4~OCXzy6Z0UyGDY8dV6CPMFQE5qYsG-Ctv2Tyo3rR2a9EWOvTzab-PpXu7qRRlrzX1hPWizs2kQ27QUf9zPRDdn~RvV2OQLv4ezqlLz4OsICH1kS~rVAA3ZNj9MG8ZDAd7CK71DoP8XAAztTniXzlx33VruC3Ub2sFaXGxy9Yd8GSr~8gvgz7ZnLCrmM9dTQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Social Services Budget Committee voted to end the use of contract nursing at Larned State Hospital effective July 1, 2026, following an extended discussion about staffing shortages, high contract rates and program risks. The division recorded a 12-5 roll-call vote in favor of the deadline.

Committee members said the decision was intended to force the hospital and state leaders to develop long-term, locally based staffing solutions after years of rising contract nursing bills. Representative Carpenter, speaking during the debate, cited pay differentials between state-employed nurses and contract nurses and argued for higher state pay to retain staff. \"If we raised it to 50 or $60 an hour, we would still save $30 an hour,\" Representative Carpenter said.

The vote capped a lengthy hearing in which committee presenters and members described a persistent staffing shortfall at Larned and a heavy reliance on contract nurses. Committee notes and presenters said the hospital has a budgeted capacity of 520 beds and that a specialized program on the campus — referred to in testimony as a predator-treatment program — serves about 280 people. Committee members reported a roughly 69% vacancy rate for nursing positions during the discussion.

Members debated several related budget moves. For fiscal year 2025 the committee recommended adding $30,000,000 in state general fund (SGF) support for contract nursing to cover bills already incurred, while for fiscal 2026 the committee and the Legislature’s budget panel proposed deleting about $32,600,000 in SGF that the agency had requested for ongoing contract nursing expense. That FY26 deletion formed part of the rationale for setting a deadline: committee members said they did not want to continue the escalating, year-to-year contract nursing expenditures without a firm plan to replace them.

Committee members also debated a separate supplemental request to pay the City of Larned $275,825 to provide fire services to the Larned campus under a memorandum of understanding that presenters said took effect July 1, 2024. Representative Hawaii moved to add that appropriation; Representative Amick seconded the motion, but the amendment failed on a voice vote after extended comment and questions about whether the campus or other county entities already had obligations for fire response. Committee members said the MOU assigned immediate response responsibilities to the City of Larned, but they disagreed about whether the city would be reimbursed or whether operational savings could cover the cost.

Proponents of ending contract nursing said the move is necessary to stop escalating costs that undermine morale for state employees and to force a focused, cross-agency study of recruitment, housing and pay. Opponents warned the deadline could force service disruptions. Representative Carpenter told colleagues that without a managed transition the hospital could be forced to close certain programs, saying the facility had already been financially stressed by repeated contract-nursing expenditures. Representative Ballard and others urged a structured interim study that would gather data from corrections, higher education and local governments on recruitment, housing and training.

The committee asked the Legislative Coordinating Council to consider forming an interim or multi-day study group to examine contract nursing across state hospitals, including recruiting, housing and pay strategies and whether consolidation or other structural changes would reduce costs. Several members recommended collecting data on where contract nurses live and which companies supply them; Representative Sutton asked for city- and state-level breakdowns of contract nurses’ home locations to examine whether the workers are local or travel labor.

After the contract-nursing deadline passed, committee members approved the remainder of the hospital’s budget as amended. The committee also asked staff to follow up with the Department of Corrections about whether the correctional facility on the Larned campus will share in any fire-service obligations.

The committee’s actions leave a clear deadline to eliminate contract nursing at Larned State Hospital; whether the facility and state agencies can assemble a viable replacement plan — higher state pay, local recruiting, housing incentives or other steps — now becomes a policy and budget question for the interim and next session.

Ending: The committee’s order to end contract nursing is a procedural lever that puts the hospital and state policymakers on a fixed timetable. Lawmakers directed staff to gather data and to explore cross-jurisdictional solutions in the coming months; how the hospital and related agencies respond will determine whether patients or programs face service impacts before July 1, 2026.","The Social Services Budget Committee voted 12-5 to end the use of contract nursing at Larned State Hospital effective July 1, 2026, after extended testimony about high contract rates, chronic vacancies and a separate dispute over a $275,825 fire-services contract with the City of Larned that failed in committee.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Budget committee adopts a slate of agency budgets; CURB, KCC, legislature and others advanced to Appropriations

Lawmakers set July 1, 2026 deadline to end contract nursing at Larned State Hospital after debate on costs, staffing and fire services