Capitol Comments Articles
Next Week's Schedule

Schedule (Jan. 26, 2024) – The health care budget discussions kick off next week, with the state hospital budgets and health professional licensing agencies.

Monday, Jan. 29
Senate Transparency and Ethics – 9:30 a.m. – Room 142S
Hearing and deliberation: Agency budget – Kansas Board of Pharmacy, Kansas State Board of Healing Arts, Kansas State Board of Nursing, Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board

House Appropriations – 10:00 a.m. – Room 112N
Presentation: Kansas Department of Health and Environment laboratory construction status 

Senate Ways and Means Subcommittee on Executive –10:30 a.m. – Room 548-S
Hearing and deliberation: Agency budget – Office of the Attorney General, Kansas Insurance Department, Office of the Secretary of State

House Health and Human Services – 1:30 p.m. – Room 112N
Presentation: Vaccinations by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Hearing: House Bill 2596 – Adding and removing certain substances in schedules I, II, IV and V of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act and making conforming changes to the criminal code definition of "fentanyl-related controlled substances"

House Child Welfare and Foster Care – (Mon-Wed) – 1:30 p.m. – Room 152S
Presentation: Kansas Child Death Review Board, Sara Hortenstine, executive director, Office of the Attorney General and Jane Weiler, assistant, Office of the Attorney General

House General Government Budget – 3:30 p.m. – Room 218N
Budget recommendations: Kansas Dental Board, Kansas Department of Labor

House Social Services Budget – 3:30 p.m. – Room152S
Hearing: Budgets for Kansas Guardianship Program and Health Care Stabilization Fund informational briefing: Interim committee recommendations for nursing facility reimbursement rates by the Kansas Legislative Research Department

House Transportation and Public Safety Budget – 3:30 p.m. – Room 118N
Budget hearing: Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services and Office of the State Fire Marshal

Tuesday, Jan. 30
Senate Public Health and Welfare – 8:30 a.m. – Room 142S
Presentation: Foster care update – Kansas Department for Children and Families

House Federal and State Affairs – 9:00 a.m. – Room 346S
Hearing: House Bill 2358 – Permitting mid-level practitioners to provide medical certification to attest to an individual's cause of death to file a death certificate

House Appropriations – 10:00 a.m. – Room 112N
Hearing: Senate Bill 307 – Adding for-profit private entity to the definition of "Qualified applicant" in the Kansas Fights Addiction Act

Senate Federal and State Affairs – 10:30 a.m. – Room 144S
Hearing: House Bill 2446 – Prohibiting cities and counties from regulating plastic and other containers designed for the consumption, transportation or protection of merchandise, food or beverages

Senate Judiciary – 10:30 a.m. – Room 346S
Update: Senate Bill 228 – Requiring the secretary for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services to reimburse counties for certain costs when a person is in county jail awaiting examination, evaluation or treatment for competency, modernizing statutes concerning county jails, removing the requirement that every county shall have a jail, modifying procedures used when district courts commit prisoners to jail in another county and when counties contract with city jails to keep prisoners and requiring a medical examination before certain United States prisoners or city prisoners are taken into the custody of a county jail – Ed Klumpp, Kansas Sheriffs Association; Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police; Kansas Peace Officers Association

House Health and Human Services – 1:30 p.m. – Room 112N
Hearing: House Bill 2547 – Authorizing schools to maintain certain emergency medication kits and to administer such medication in emergencies
Hearing: House Bill 2578 – Providing that programs and treatments provided by a certified community behavioral health clinic be granted a renewal certificate if such programs and treatments have been previously certified or accredited

House Social Services Budget – 3:30 p.m. – Room 152S
Hearing continuation: Recommendations for Kansas Guardianship Program and Health Care Stabilization Fund
Hearing: Budgets for Larned and Osawatomie State Mental Health Hospitals

House Transportation and Public Safety Budget 3:30 pm 118N
Budget recommendations: Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services and Office of the State Fire Marshal

Wednesday, Jan. 31
Senate Public Health and Welfare – 8:30 a.m. – Room 142S
Hearing: Senate Bill 363 – Amending statutes regulating the practice of barbering regarding licensure, examination and fees

Senate Assessment and Taxation – 9:30 a.m. – Room 548S
Hearing: Senate Bill 377 – Increasing the extent of property tax exemption for residential property from the statewide school levy, decreasing the normal rate of privilege tax, increasing the household and dependent care expenses income tax credit amount, exempting all social security benefits from Kansas income tax, increasing the Kansas standard deduction, providing for an annual sales tax holiday for certain sales of school supplies, computers and clothing, providing sales tax exemptions for children's diapers and feminine hygiene products and reducing the state rate of tax on sales of food and food ingredients to 0 percent on Apr. 1, 2024

Senate Transparency and Ethics – 9:30 a.m. – Room 142S
Update: Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, Mark Skoglund, executive director

Senate Ways and Means – 10:30 a.m. – Room 548S
Budget reports: Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services and Office of the State Fire Marshal
Update: Docking State Office Building and Kansas Department of Health and Environment Laboratory, Kansas Department of Administration

House Health and Human Services – 1:30 p.m. – Room 112N
Hearing: House Bill 2579 – Authorizing the Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services to distribute non-prescription, over-the-counter medications

House Child Welfare and Foster Care – 1:30 p.m. – Room 152S
Hearing: House Bill 2580 – Including mental, emotional and behavioral health treatment to medical services that may be provided to a child alleged or adjudicated to be a child in need of care

House General Government Budget – 3:30 p.m. – Room 218N
Budget hearings: Kansas Insurance Department

House Social Services Budget – 3:30 p.m. – Room 152S
Hearing continuation: Budget recommendations for Larned and Osawatomie State Mental Health Hospitals
Hearing: Budgets for Parsons and Kansas Neurological Institute and Intellectual Disability State Hospitals

House Insurance – 3:30 p.m. – Room 218N
Presentation: Kansas Pharmacist Association, Jessica Lucas
Hearing: House Bill 2478 – Adding "maternity center" to the definition of "healthcare provider" for purposes of the Healthcare Provider Insurance Availability Act

Thursday, Feb. 1
Senate Local Government – 9:30 a.m. – Room 142S
Hearing: Senate Bill 384 – Allowing ambulances in rural communities to operate with only the minimum personnel required by state law

Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Services – 10:30 a.m. – Room 548-S
Hearing: Agency budget  State institutions for mental health state institutions for intellectual disabilities

Senate Education – 1:30 p.m. – Room 144S
Presentation: Technical Colleges By the Numbers

House General Government Budget – 3:30 p.m. – Room 281N
Budget hearings: Kansas Insurance Department

House Social Services Budget – 3:30 p.m. – Room 152S
Hearing continuation: Budget recommendations for Parsons and Kansas Neurological Institute and Intellectual Disability State Hospitals

Friday, Feb. 2
Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulations – 8:00 a.m. – Room 159-S
Hearing: Office of the State Fire Marshal, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Kansas Department of Revenue, Kansas Board of Accountancy, Kansas Department for Children and Families, Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services

Robert G. (Bob) Bethell Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services and KanCare Oversight – 9:00 a.m. – Room 112N
Written-only testimony: KanCare from individuals, providers and organizations; mental health intervention team, program overview, funding and billing
Overview: Medicaid program expenditures
Presentation: KanCare Ombudsman; Office of Medicaid Inspector General; Kansas Department of Health and Environment updates
Update: Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services updates; Managed care organization updates
Responses: State agencies on unresolved issues spreadsheet