Sen. Dennis Pyle, R-Hiawatha, expressed his shock at the fact that House and Senate budget negotiators did not include a provision that would require lawmakers to vote on a plan for a 93% salary increase in 2025, while simultaneously approving 5% to 10% raises for other state government employees. The bill was approved by both the House and the Senate. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)
The Kansas Legislature united across party lines on Friday to pass a budget bill that provides funding for 5% to 10% salary increases for the majority of state employees. In a show of bipartisan support, they also avoided a separate vote on the 93% raise proposed for legislators by a special commission. The bill will now be sent to Gov. Laura Kelly for approval.
The contents of Senate Bill 28 present a range of provisions that have not been previously considered by either the House or Senate. Among these provisions are allocations of $17 million towards enhancing services for individuals with disabilities, $80 million for improving the rates paid to hospitals and physicians who serve Medicaid patients, and a substantial $900 million investment in state transportation projects. Additionally, the bill proposes to grant the state treasurer the authority to invest half of the state’s $1.8 billion rainy day fund, aiming to secure a more favorable return on investment.
The $25 billion bill did not incorporate Kelly’s suggestion for broadening the eligibility criteria for Medicaid. Additionally, it left out the governor’s proposal to allocate a portion of the substantial budget surplus towards reducing the debt of the state government.
According to Rep. Troy Waymaster, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, the bill proposes a budget that is $900 million lower than the one endorsed by the governor earlier this year. Waymaster mentioned that the House negotiators largely stuck to the House’s positions, even when they differed from the Senate’s perspective on the budget. During the discussion on the House floor, the chairman faced both supportive and critical remarks from representatives scrutinizing the specifics of the spending agreement. Ultimately, the bill passed with a vote of 78-44.
“We’re allocating a significant amount of our funds,” expressed Representative Henry Helgerson, a Democrat from Wichita. “Our expenditure seems to be exceeding our financial capacity. It’s evident that we need to address our spending issue.”
In a different part of the Capitol rotunda, Senator Rick Billinger, who serves as the GOP chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, presented the same package to his fellow colleagues. Similar to his counterpart, he received both praise and complaints regarding the specific details of the budget. In the end, the package was approved by a vote of 26-12.
Senator Rob Olson, a Republican from Olathe, expressed his disappointment at the allocation of only $23 million towards addressing the waiting lists for services provided to Kansans with intellectual and physical disabilities. These lists currently have a total of 7,500 names, which marks a 35% increase over the past five years. The budget bill aims to address this issue by setting a maximum limit of 6,800 names on the combined waiting lists.
According to Olson, the budget included an unexpected allocation of $1 million for the restoration of an opera house in Manhattan. This request was submitted by one senator and two representatives at the last minute.
Olson expressed his concern about including an opera house in the budget while there are children in need who are waiting for assistance. He stated, “I’d be ashamed to put something in the budget like an opera house, while there’s kids that need help that are on a waiting list.”
The salary debate
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Senator Dennis Pyle, a Republican from Hiawatha, expressed his confusion over the fact that Senator Billinger and the two other budget negotiators from the Senate did not push for the inclusion of a provision that would require a vote on the significant salary increase planned for 2025. This pay raise is scheduled to take effect after the House and Senate elections in November.
A commission of retired legislators has put forward a proposal that suggests a significant increase of 93% in legislative compensation. According to the plan, this increase would be implemented unless it is rejected by the Legislature. Pyle successfully persuaded the Senate to pass an amendment that calls for a vote on the $3.5 million increase in legislative compensation.
According to Pyle, there seems to be an unfair distribution of funds between state employees and legislators in Kansas. He highlighted that state employees receive only five percent, while legislators receive a whopping ninety-three percent. Pyle expressed his concern, stating that this situation is deeply troubling and reflects a problem that needs to be addressed.
Billinger explained that pushing for a vote on salary increases for legislators would have been pointless as the House negotiators had made it clear that this issue was not up for discussion.
The proposed legislation sent to the governor includes a provision for a 5% increase in pay for state government workers. However, it also addresses the issue of approximately 900 state employees who currently receive below-market salaries by granting them a higher pay raise of 10%.
Billinger, who expressed his dissatisfaction with the recommended pay increase for legislators, wants to emphasize that all employees will receive a raise under this plan.
Fighting cancer
Rep. Linda Featherston, a Democrat from Overland Park, successfully advocated for the inclusion of $75,000 in the budget. This funding ensures that state employees enrolled in the state’s health plan have access to comprehensive testing for potential breast cancer. The passage of her amendment was celebrated as a remarkable display of bipartisan cooperation.
The bill underwent revisions during negotiations in the House and Senate, resulting in the removal of a small portion of the budget.
“This was stripped for some reason,” she exclaimed. “Was it politics? Was it special interests? Was it sexism? Was it spite? Or was it simply a complete disregard for women’s healthcare? The fact that we cannot come to a consensus on prioritizing women’s health is truly disheartening.”
Helgerson, a Democratic representative from Wichita, expressed his surprise at the omission of funds for breast cancer screening. He found it peculiar considering that the conference committee had approved a budget of $49,893 for a bus tour by legislators from the House and Senate budget committees.
Waymaster, who was in charge of leading the House negotiations on the budget, explained that the decision to remove the breast cancer funding was based on the belief that it should be addressed during the next round of contract negotiations for the state health insurance plan. He emphasized that he found suggestions of sexism or spite behind the removal of the budget item offensive.
He expressed his personal connection to the issue, stating, “If you truly knew me, you would understand that my grandmother and two aunts are breast cancer survivors. Therefore, I took offense to certain remarks that were made.”
Texas border fight
Billinger, the Senate budget chairman, expressed satisfaction with the inclusion of $15.7 million in the bill to fund the deployment of the Kansas National Guard to the southwest border with Mexico.
The governor was required to take action and utilize state resources to combat drug and human trafficking, as well as other crimes like illegal immigration, that were exacerbating the emergency situation.
Billinger criticized the Biden administration for its alleged role in promoting drug trafficking. He expressed concern about the significant influx of drugs into Kansas, which he believes is resulting in the tragic loss of young lives.
Kelly, who recently reminded legislators that she held the position of the commander-in-chief of the Kansas National Guard, has the authority to veto that specific line-item in the budget while still giving her approval to the bill. However, she has not indicated any intention to deploy troops to the U.S. border with Mexico.
In the 2024 legislative session, both the House and Senate passed resolutions to show their backing for Texas Governor Greg Abbott in his ongoing clash with President Joe Biden over immigration policies.
State lawmakers have allocated $28 million in the budget to provide subsidies for the upcoming 2026 World Cup soccer competition in the Kansas City area. Additionally, the budget bill also includes $36 million for the construction of aviation hangers at local airports in Salina and Topeka, which will be used for commercial aircraft repairs.
The Kansas Supreme Court’s computer system suffered a ransomware attack, resulting in the shutdown of online operations for several months. To cover the costs incurred, the budget allocated $4.5 million. Out of this amount, $1 million was designated for providing one year of credit monitoring services to those affected by the security incident.
