Kansas Reflector staff recap 2026 legislative session
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What did the Kansas Reflector staff say about the 2026 budget and its overspending?
Like a semi-truck crashing into the side of a concrete building, the Kansas legislature wrapped up its main session the early morning hours of March 28th. That was a Saturday. Welcome to the Kansas Reflector podcast. My name is Clay Weierstone. I'm the opinion editor here and I am joined with everyone. I'm joined by everyone on staff to recap what happened. So from my left, we have a reporter, Anna Kaminsky. Hello, Anna.
Hello.
We have senior reporter Tim Carpenter. Hello, Tim. It's my pleasure to be here. We have senior reporter Morgan Chilson. Hello, Morgan. Hello. And we have editor-in-chief Sherman Smith. Thank you for that glorious introduction. I am always happy to give glorious introductions to everyone. You may have seen Sherman and I for doing weekly recaps of the session on video, but now we're all together in the medium of audio. offering a feast for your ears as we talk about what happened so starting with tim the big thing that every legislature has to do the thing that they're statutorily required to do they have to pass a budget did they pass a budget
It sure did, and it's not exactly like a truck hitting a wall, but the expected happened. They spent billions of dollars and made a lot of people unhappy. So the budget for the fiscal year starting on July 1 went to Governor Laura Kelly. It's a 500-pager. It's like reading a novel except an extremely boring book. And it overspends in the next fiscal year by about $475 million. That is, overspends more than the revenue taken in during that year. That's a 1.7% reduction in the overspending because in the current fiscal year, they spent $700 million more than they took in. So over a three-year period, one way to look at this is to say that they've been burning through cash reserves on a three-year pace of over $1 billion.
Key points, this cuts 1.5% across the board from about 20-some state agencies, while leaving others exempt from this, such as the Highway Patrol and the Attorney General Chris Kobach's office. It offers a 1% raise to thousands of state workers. despite an inflation rate of about 2.5%. And the 4% raise automatically granted to legislators, the same people that got about a 90% raise a couple years ago. And at the meantime, the people working in the statehouse for the legislature, they received 10% raises. So in reaction to this budget, various people had comments.
How did legislators address election‑related bills and voting restrictions?
Adam Proffitt, the governor's budget director, says it's the worst budget he's ever seen. Rick Billinger, a state senator who runs the Senate Budget Committee, says, well, gosh darn, it's really hard to satisfy people. Virgil Peck, another state senator, very conservative fella, said this budget once again proved that the fundamental problem in the GOP-led legislature was overspending. John Carmichael, a Democrat House member from Wichita, says once again the budget proved that lobbyists carry the day and they get almost exactly what they want out of things.
Now, basically every budget, Tim, there's a few little strange things that sneak in there, little gremlins that show up in the dead of night. So were there some quirky things that you noticed in looking through the budget?
Well, just flipping through the document, you can see on page 132, there's $10 million earmarked for a mystery project in the Kansas Department of Commerce. It's an undisclosed economic development business deal. We're appropriating for something that most people, unless you're in the know, have no knowledge about. Page 85, there's a provision that says House and Senate members can park from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. in any state lot or garage not controlled by a gate or a barrier arm. Apparently, this stems from at least one legislator getting their car towed. Page 160, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is directed to comply with the U.S. federal vaccination recommendations for students attending schools in Kansas.
And this is going to require three vaccinations to be dropped and one added that they don't even offer these days. Another missing element made Senator Joe Claes, a Wichita Republican, angry was that he had figured out a way to take a half a million dollars from public broadcasting to help fund in his backyard in Sedgwick County a special pilot program to help people with disabilities get reliable transportation to work.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What did the Kansas Reflector staff say about the 2026 budget and its overspending?
0:00–2:45
2
How did legislators address election‑related bills and voting restrictions?
2:45–6:33
3
What were the controversial property‑tax proposals and how might they affect local voters?
6:33–11:21
4
How was the Kansas Prisoner Review Board restructured and why did it spark criticism?
11:21–14:05
5
What is SB 244, the anti‑trans law, and how did it become law despite a veto?
14:05–18:27
6
How will the new limits on pharmacy benefit managers change drug pricing for Kansans?
18:27–23:03
7
Which vetoes were overridden in the final week and what issues did they involve?
23:03–26:33
8
What’s next for the Kansas Legislature after the two‑day veto session?
26:33–29:01
Speakers
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