Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has signed a bill to implement a balanced state budget for fiscal years 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The budget in House Bill 2184 will add $600 million to the state’s Rainy Day Fund to bring the total to a record $1.6 billion.   It also sets aside funds to pay off the remaining $53 million in reservoir debts for Milford and Perry Lakes, saving almost $30 million in future interest payments.

The budget also provides over $20 million in new funding for need-based scholarships to allow more Kansans to affordably attend college.   There is also $14 million to advance technical education and more than $150 million in new funding for state universities for initiatives critical to the Kansas economy and workforce.   This includes funding for the joint Wichita Biomedical Campus at Wichita State University and the University of Kansas.

The bill also invests over $17 million to increase placement rates for foster homes and to prepare foster children to become successful adults.  The bill also expands mental and physical health care services, providing over $100 million to the current KanCare program to eliminate disparities in services for low-income Kansas residents.

The governor noted that the bill fails to expand Medicaid, and she said in her budget statement that with 40 states expanding Medicaid coverage, Kansas will continue to pay for the health care of low-income residents of other states while refusing that same basic coverage to Kansans.   She said that will continue to put a burden on hospitals and other health care providers, and as a result that will continue to hurt Main Street businesses and rural and economically distressed communities in Kansas.

The governor also called on the Kansas Legislature to follow up on the budget bill by providing adequate funding for pay increases for state employees so that agencies can fill vacancies and deliver much-needed services.