Senate Majority Leader Chase Blasi wants a potential special session to include discussion on how to handle federal rural health care funding allocated to the state of Kansas.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed by Congress earlier this year included the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, of which as much as $1.5 billion could come to Kansas over the next five years, and according to the Sunflower State Journal, lawmakers want controls to oversee how the money is spent.
“They don’t want to see the money doled out the same way that federal COVID relief money was distributed, coming under criticism in state audits and later becoming embroiled in controversy involving a former — and now dead — Commerce Department staffer.
According to the Journal, Blasi is proposing the creation of a six-member committee, made up of the majority leaders of both houses of the legislature, minority leaders of each chamber, and the chairs of the House and Senate budget committees, to oversee how the money is spent.
The governor would need to get a “sign-off” from the committee on any rural health care expenditures from the grant and would have the power to amend spending proposals as needed.
“It’s just to ensure that the money is going where it needs to go,” Blasi told the Journal. “This is a simple check and balance.”
According to the Journal, the proposal would extend beyond the term of Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly, who is term-limited and has about a year left in office.
Lawmakers should have a role in overseeing how the federal health dollars are spent, chair of the House Health Committee, Republican state Rep. Will Carpenter, said, the Journal reported.
“I do believe there needs to be legislative oversight,” Carpenter said. “If we didn’t learn anything from the COVID money, we should have learned that.”
Reportedly, Senate President Ty Masterson initially wanted to limit the special session to two topics — redistricting and banning transgender Kansans from changing their gender marker on driver’s licenses.
However, according to the Journal, Masterson has backed off a little bit to include property taxes and some other “time-sensitive” issues.
“It was a move that some in the Senate believe encouraged senators to sign the special-session petition, which requires signatures from two-thirds of the Legislature,” the Journal reported.
However, House Speaker Dan Hawkins has yet to commit to opening up the session to more than redistricting and gender markers on driver’s licenses.
The Rural Health Transformation Program calls for distributing $50 billion nationally with $10 billion each fiscal year from 2026 to 2030, half of which would be distributed equally in the approved states, with the other half to be allocated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services based on a variety of factors including rural population, the proportion of rural health facilities and the financial wellbeing of rural health centers.
Kansas could see an estimated $500 million over five years from the sum that would be allocated equally among the states — and another approximately $1 billion to be distributed from the discretionary pot of money based on various factors.
According to the Journal, approximately two weeks ago, Kelly announced 14 appointments to the Kansas Rural Health Innovation Alliance, a group of stakeholders tasked with overseeing the application for the money and implementation of the Rural Health Transformation Program — but no lawmakers are on that panel.
“The Kansas Rural Health Innovation Alliance will play an instrumental role in ensuring that Kansas communities receive the maximum support and funding for their rural hospitals and health care facilities that stand to lose so much from federal funding cuts,” Kelly said.
The application for the funds must be submitted by Nov. 5, making a move by legislators particularly time sensitive.
