(Jan. 26, 2026) - Budgets took center stage in many committees today, with the following topics slated for subcommittee and full committee discussions.

House Appropriations heard a report on the State Hospital budgets, discussing staffing and surveyors at the Kansas Neurological Institute. The committee also considered State Hospital expenditures of more than $30 million in contract nursing, and Vice Chair Kristey Williams (R-Augusta) suggested that all nursing service scholarships include a stipulation that they cannot be used for contract nursing.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee heard report-outs from the subcommittee on budgets for the State Fire Marshall, the Health Care Stabilization Fund and the State 911 Board. The Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Services is scheduled to discuss agency budgets, including those of the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services and the State Hospitals.

Testimony and report-outs will continue throughout the week, with legislators hoping to have a budget finalized by early February.