The Senate Ways and Means Committee heard a briefing on a modified budget process Thursday in which Legislative Research staff said a Legislative Budget Committee position — not agency enhancement requests — will be the starting point for legislative deliberations.

"That legislative budget position was largely based upon the agency request, but there were several major adjustments made to those agency requests," Dylan Deere, assistant director for fiscal affairs at the Legislative Research Department, told the committee. "All enhancements, and supplementals were removed, from that request." Deere said the Legislative Coordinating Council directed a 2024 special committee on the legislative budget to develop that position.

The change means the House will take the first pass at the budget. Deere said House members will begin hearings immediately; the budget bill (HB 2007) will be referred to the Senate Ways and Means Committee most likely in mid-February. "The budget bill will then be referred to Senate Ways and Means, sometime in the middle of February, most likely," Deere said.

Deere and other staff described specific adjustments incorporated in the legislative budget position: removed one-time enhancements and supplementals, removed certain State General Fund reappropriations at the direction of Chairman Windmiller, and reduced projected expenditures in fiscal 2026 for the Economic Development Initiatives Fund to address a negative balance shown in agency requests. "There was also adjustments made to the economic development initiatives fund removing some EDF reappropriations and also reducing expenditures in FY 2026, because the balance...was negative, based upon the agency request," Deere said.

Committee members asked how the governor's recommendations will fit into the expedited schedule. "As soon as we have a full copy of the governor's recommendation, we have been asked to identify those places where the governor's recommendation differs from the legislative budget committee recommendation, and come up with a list of those," Deere said. He said staff will present that list for the House Appropriations Committee and Senate Ways and Means "for your consideration and incorporation at your discretion." Deere said staff will proactively identify "big items" (he cited a proposed new prison in Hutchinson as an example) and brief the committee while the House is working HB 2007.

Stephen Wu, fiscal analyst with the Legislative Research Department, described changes to the committee's budget summary publication under the expedited process. "Whereas in previous years we included the governor's recommendation as a distinct line, here instead because of the expedited process, we have included the legislative budget committee's recommendation instead," Wu said. He also noted the summary is more condensed this year and that detailed program-level information remains available on request. "If you are curious about program spending on a particular agency, feel free to reach out. Any of our analysts would be happy to help with that," Wu said.

Committee members sought additional materials and historical tables. Wu confirmed the document set will still include 10 years of expenditures and FTE tables in the back of the summary and that performance-based budgeting submissions would be posted to the department's interface during the week.

The committee did not take formal votes on the process in this meeting. Members and staff agreed to continue work while the House proceeds, to compile differences with the governor's recommendation once received, and to prioritize briefing on major proposed changes ahead of the bill's arrival in the Senate.

Ending: The committee adjourned with staff available for follow-up questions; staff said they will supply the list of governor/LBC differences and make underlying program detail available on request.