REMINDER: Contact Your State Senator on the Budget
If you have not yet contacted your State Senator on the budget, there is still time.
The Kansas Senate is debating SB315 today, and it is critical that legislators hear directly from providers before and during floor discussion to help prevent any cuts to long-term care funding.
Please take one minute now to send your message.
Important: When submitting your message through VoterVoice, be sure to include your home address. This helps ensure your outreach reaches all appropriate legislators, including those representing where you live and where you work, if they are different. We need as many district touchpoints as possible.
We also encourage you to share this alert with your leadership team and staff. Reaching as many Senators as possible across districts is essential to helping lawmakers understand the real impact further reductions would have on providers and those they serve.
Your voice matters. Thank you for taking action and supporting long-term care across Kansas.
*Update for Senate Budget: We managed to keep our funding at $20/resident/day in the Senate budget bill! Thank you to all who sent emails or called.
Share Your Story on Medicaid Capacity Payment Impact
As you know, the $20 per Medicaid resident per day Capacity Payment that begin in July 2023 has been critical to stabilizing workforce and maintaining access to care across Kansas. As we work to protect this funding, legislators are asking for historical context and real-world impact – not just numbers, but stories.
We need your voice.
Please take 3-5 minutes to complete this short, anonymous Microsoft Form and share how this funding has impacted your facility, staff, and residents. Your feedback will help us demonstrate:
How the payment has supported staffing stability and wage growth
- The role it has played in reducing agency reliance
- What would happen if this funding were reduced or eliminated
- The impact on rural and small down access to care
Responses may be used in legislative materials (anonymously unless you indicate otherwise). Personal stories – even brief ones – are especially powerful in helping policymakers understand what’s at stake. You may share this link with your board, residents, and families if they would like to submit anonymous feedback as well.
We are collecting responses through Thursday at noon, so please complete the survey as soon as possible and consider sharing it with key team members, residents, or families who may wish to participate.
Thank you for your leadership and for helping us protect access to long-term care in Kansas.
Recap of Week 7 & Preview of Week 8 – March 3, 2026
Budget Update: House and Senate
The House passed its budget bill, HB2434, with no additional cuts to long-term care or aging services funding. Thank you to everyone who contacted your House Representative through VoterVoice or other outreach efforts — your advocacy made a difference.
Today, the Senate will debate its budget bill, SB315, beginning around 2:30 p.m. The current Senate position fully funds aging services for FY27. If no cuts are made, this sets up conference negotiations between the chambers with an opportunity to maintain the current $20 per resident per day Medicaid Capacity Payment for nursing homes.
If you have not yet contacted your State Senator, now is the time.
Policy Bill Updates
SB334 – Nurse Faculty Requirements
Yesterday, the House Commerce, Labor and Economic Development Committee held a hearing on SB334, which previously passed the Senate 38–2.
LeadingAge Kansas was the only oral proponent. Written proponent testimony was submitted by Larksfield Place, Bluestem Communities, and Meadowlark. The Board of Nursing submitted neutral written testimony.
One oral opponent, Kelly Sommers (retired former Executive Director of the Kansas State Nurses Association), raised concerns including:
- Alleging there is no faculty shortage
- Potential conflict with HB2528
- Lack of collaboration with nurses
- Claims that Kansas standards would become the lowest in the country
During the hearing, a committee member asked whether LeadingAge Kansas intended to open a private nursing college due to prior support of expanding Promise Scholarship eligibility to private institutions. We reaffirmed — as we did in the Senate — that LeadingAge Kansas does not plan to open a private nursing school.
The full hearing is available online for those interested in watching.
HB2528 – Board of Nursing Revamping
HB2528 originated from concerns raised by nurses who were placed on the “Unprofessional Conduct” list due to clerical errors. The Select House Government Oversight Committee held multiple hearings over the summer, and Representative Sandy Pickert worked with the Kansas State Nurses Association and testifying nurses to draft the legislation.
The bill passed the House 88–34.
LeadingAge Kansas has worked with proponents on potential amendments to clarify:
- The 90-day correction window
- Whether a nurse remains actively licensed and able to practice during that period
We have not taken a formal position on the bill but will continue monitoring it and will notify members if provider-related concerns arise.
If you have questions about HB2528, please contact Kylee Childs.
Stay Engaged
You can watch all legislative hearings on the Kansas Legislature YouTube page.
For a full list of bills we are monitoring, click here.
