TOPEKA — A renewed effort by Gov. Laura Kelly to form a single Kansas agency overseeing social welfare programs by combining two state agencies was rejected Tuesday on the House floor.
The governor’s reorganization would have merged services provided by the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Aging and Disabilities into the Kansas Department of Human Services. These services include oversight of the state’s long-suffering foster care system and four state hospitals. Laura Howard already serves as secretary of both DCF and KDADS.
Howard has said combining the two agencies would allow them to modernize systems and make it easier for people to access the help they needed.
The proposal would have reversed an initiative by former Gov. Sam Brownback, which split an agency into two separate departments. Opponents to Kelly’s idea said they did not see how undoing Brownback’s initiative would address any issues in either department.
“No cost savings. No efficiencies. It’s only a bigger agency with more bureaucracy and less accountability,” said Rep. Will Carpenter, an El Dorado Republican.
Howard has said combining the two agencies would allow them to modernize systems and make it easier for people to access the help they needed.
The House voted 84-38 on a resolution to disapprove of the order, largely along party lines. In January 2020, the governor proposed similar legislation, which the House voted down 82-35.
Carpenter said DCF and KDADS could collaborate if they desired without combining the agencies or their budgets.
“I’ve asked the secretary numerous times, who is over both agencies, what barriers exist in these agencies to keep them from working together. No answer,” he said. “I maintain she has the authority to do many of these collaborative efforts.”
Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, noted the removal of the juvenile services division of the Department of Correction from the proposal, a provision that sunk the effort in 2020. If other governors’ reorganization efforts have been successful, why not Kelly’s, she asked.
“We had explanations from the secretary about why they wanted to change these names, why they would abolish KDADS and why they thought it would be more effective,” Ballard said. “I will simply say this is disappointing.”
The House also approved a Senate bill touted by lawmakers and entrepreneurs alike as a key item to getting more people to start a business in Kansas.
Senate Bill 66 would extend the angel investor tax credit, scheduled to sunset this year, until 2026. The bill gives private investors an incentive to invest in new businesses.
“The bill will revise the Kansas angel investor tax credit by amending applicable definitions, removing certain program restrictions and increasing program tax credit amounts and annual program limits,” said Rep. Stephen Owens, R-Hesston.
The legislation would increase the single-year tax credit amounts for a Kansas business from $50,000 to $100,000 and for any qualified investor from $250,000 to $350,000. It also changes the annual tax credit limit to $6 million in 2021 and 2022, with a $500,000 increase each year after until the program sunsets.
