30 January 2026 | Health Economic Security Tax and Budget Federal

2026 Statehouse Snapshot: Week 3

Kansas Action for Children | January 30, 2026

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Windows of Opportunity

As the 2026 legislative session progresses, we’re starting to see greater themes emerge. One is the impact of federal decisions on the state – and how a few lawmakers are aligning with the federal government’s changes to make public assistance programs more burdensome to access by the people who need them the most.

With H.R. 1 passed by Congress last year, the state is beginning to see how those changes play out in reality, such as budget impacts or further complicating already-complex state programs. What is being framed as cost-saving or efficiency-driven at the federal level – and SB 363 and SB 387 at the state level – will actually translate into higher implementation costs, longer processing times, and additional barriers for residents trying to access basic support.

But even though some lawmakers are doubling down on narrowing eligibility and tightening rules, we’re seeing opportunities to work across the aisle to make Kansas a better state for kids and families. We’re hearing about bipartisan proposals to address housing protections for renters, movement on fixing a long-time error in state law regarding the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), restricting student cell phone use in K-12 schools, and listening to promising conversations in budget committees about children’s programs.

While bipartisan policy items don’t negate the harmful policies we are all advocating against this session, they indicate a meaningful window of opportunity. The challenge before lawmakers is what they’ll plan to prioritize – costly and punitive rules to access food and health care assistance or policies that strengthen Kansas families. As the legislative session continues, we hope they’ll choose to focus on the good we can do.

Free School Meals Scrutinized by COGE

The Senate Committee on Government Efficiency (COGE) held a hearing on SB 387, a bill that would make it more difficult for Kansas kids to qualify for free lunches at school. Kansans made themselves well heard on this bill, with 39 opponents submitting testimony compared to just three proponents. K-12 advocates across the state consistently pointed out that the bill violated federal law and would be prohibitively expensive to implement.

Conversation during the hearing suggested that the underlying reason for bill is that the at-risk funding formula for schools is tied to the free meal headcount, and there was discussion about future possibilities of tying at-risk funding to a different metric. We’ll keep an eye on this one to see if there’s appetite to work the bill – and how lawmakers could be convinced this isn’t efficient or helpful in more strictly limiting who has access to free or reduced-price school meals.

Housing Bills Becoming a Legislative Priority?

There are some exciting developments this week in the housing space, with the introduction of SB 415 (Residential Landlord and Tenant Act) and SB 416 (code inspections), and a hearing announced next Tuesday for SB 369 (fee disclosures and restrictions for renters). These bills provide fairness and transparency for Kansans who rent. Too often, renters are put in a position where they are unable to get health and safety issues addressed by unresponsive landlords, and the threat of eviction looms over their sense of secure housing.

To level the playing field and restore dignity to renters, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and advocates have been working together to craft legislation with this goal in mind, and these three bills are beginning to move through the process as a result.

Unfortunately, there was also a hearing announced for next week for HB 2504, which would create barriers to tackling these same sets of issues by prohibiting cities and counties from passing laws banning landlords from not accepting certain types of income like Section 8, Social Security, or veterans’ benefits. We’ll be watching closely to see how lawmakers talk about these bills, with hopes that renters come out victorious in this policy battle.

Health Issues We're Tracking

Besides large Medicaid changes we’re tracking in SB 363, bills related to health haven’t gained much fanfare so far in 2026.

On a positive note this week, the Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare heard SB 328, which would make a simple change to state law to allow schools to stock any FDA-approved epinephrine delivery system, including newer nasal spray options. The bill will give schools more options to deploy epinephrine for emergency allergic reactions. We are hopeful this bill will be worked next week and will quickly move toward becoming law.

The House Committee on Appropriations heard HB 2555, which would require significant reporting to the State Finance Council and legislative budget committees relating to the state’s $222 million grant awarded from the federal Rural Health Transformation Program. The committee held a good discussion on the need for legislative awareness of what is coming from this funding to transform the state’s rural health care system in a sustainable way.

The House Committee on Welfare Reform heard from state agency staff at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to learn more about how Medicaid data checking works, which is a lengthy and complex process. The Committee also learned about how the DCF Fraud Investigative Unit works. Hopefully, more information about what steps state agencies already must take to prevent and investigate fraud will give lawmakers pause before attempting to completely overhaul the complex systems in operation.

Budget Committees Beginning to Make Funding Recommendations

This week saw several important budget hearings. The House and Senate both held hearings on important budgets that can impact children’s issues, such as KDHE and the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. Overall, there were more than 20 stakeholders providing testimony on the KDHE budget and more than 40 providing input on the KDADS budget. It was inspiring to see interested parties taking time out of their day to advocate for vulnerable Kansans.

As the budget committees continue with their review of state agency budgets, next week will be one to watch how the Legislature’s priorities take shape. We’re expecting to see initial budget approvals for DCF, KDHE, and KDADS throughout the week.

One budget item we’re watching is DCF’s requested funding for the agency to meet new federal requirements for SNAP. Currently, the Senate’s version doesn’t recommend this funding, and it’s not in their funding plan – yet. This includes around $12 million for a larger portion of SNAP administrative costs. While there are still opportunities for the funding to be added in the Senate, it will be important for the funding to be added by the House to keep it in play as the budget process continues.

Immigration Implications

SB 254 passed the full Senate this week. This is a bill we began monitoring last year, when a tense and heated hearing thrust it into the news. It would prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving any state or local public benefits, including in-state tuition for public universities.

Another bill was just introduced this week and now has a hearing date set. SB 428 would require the Department for Children and Families (DCF) to comply with the federal government’s request for SNAP data.

The data request sent by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in March 2025 went beyond the scope of data that state agencies typically share with federal authorities. It asked for personally identifiable information, such as addresses and Social Security numbers of SNAP enrollees and applicants.

Federal Shutdown Update

It’s looking more and more likely that parts of the federal government will briefly shutdown this weekend if Congress doesn’t agree to outstanding funding plans by midnight tonight. The departments impacted include the Departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Financial Services, National Security, State, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Homeland Security. Updates are likely to be coming in by the hour today, and you can read this tracker for more information as the day progresses.

A deal is very close (and initially was reached last night), but there’s a few last-minute hurdles for Congress to still jump across, including likely needing the House to return over the weekend to vote again on spending packages. However, unlike last fall’s shutdown, several federal agencies – including the Department of Agriculture that oversees SNAP funding – are already fully funded through the end of September so impacts won’t be as severe as November, if not minimal, if the partial shutdown is brief.

What to Expect in Week 4

Committees are really getting deep into their work for the year, especially as they run up against legislative deadlines next week to request bill drafts and introduce new bills. Here’s what we’re watching as far as hearings going into Week 4:

We’ll submit testimony on items in the Office of Early Childhood budget on Tuesday in the House Committee on Social Services Budget and the Senate Committee on Ways and Means.
On Tuesday in the Senate Committee on Education, we’ll provide proponent testimony on SB 304, which would require state agencies to more closely collaborate to ensure new parents are sent information about children’s investment accounts.
On Wednesday in the Senate Committee on Financial Institutions and Insurance, we’ll provide proponent testimony on SB 330, which would limit when insurers can use prior authorization and ban such requirements for childbirth and neonatal care to ensure timely treatment. .
On Thursday in the Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare, we’ll provide proponent testimony on SB 271, which updates Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility.

Hearings and bill workings may still shift at a moment’s notice, so we’re staying ready to testify on other bills, like SB 363, the mega public assistance bill that will make it more burdensome for Kansans to access food or health care assistance.

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