Kansas Legislature passes state budget

A look at key education investments
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School Finance
Inside the dome at the KS statehouse

This analysis originally appeared in Aligned’s weekly newsletter, where we track key education and workforce policy developments across Kansas and Missouri. Subscribe to get these updates delivered directly to your inbox.

Late Thursday night into earlier this morning, the Kansas Senate (23-16) and House of Representatives (67-53) respectively passed the budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 (HB 2513). 

A bill of this size and scope was the culmination of months of work and rounds of conference committee negations earlier this week.

The overview of the bill puts Kansas’ fiscal policy in context. 

  • Legislators approved state expenditures totaling $26.8B across all funding sources.
  • Total State General Fund (SGF) expenditures made up about $10.7B.
  • The state’s rainy day fund would retain nearly $2B by the end of FY 2027.

FY 2027 will see an SGF decrease of $186.4M, or 1.7% compared with the approved FY 2026 budget. 

Education budget line items

Education spending continues to dominate the state’s budget, representing $11.16B of all funds or (42% of all spending) or $6.16B from the SGF (58% of all SGF spending). Human services spending ($10.48B) is the second largest category of spending, projected to gain as a percentage of all funds spending by the end of the decade.

  • From all funds, K-12 public schools will receive $7.32B.
  • The state will increase special education funding by $6M ($617M total SGF), with newly required spending reports due this summer.

Earlier this year, lawmakers built in a roughly $119.1M all funds / $97.1M SGF decline tied to lower student enrollment. This is not a per-student funding cut — the formula simply produces less funding with fewer students. As enrollment declines in Kansas and nationally, this will be an issue to watch.

The bill also rolls back to prior assessment cut scores and requires the state to move forward with the innovative assessment pilot we covered earlier.

Higher education funding reflects a more targeted approach, with a $20.7M increase for community and technical colleges and continued investment in workforce-aligned programs. 

Institutional base operation funding remained relatively stable, including:

  • $160.5M SGF for the University of Kansas
  • $115.3M for Kansas State University
  • $78.2M for Wichita State University
  • $43.4M for Emporia State University
  • $163.7M for community and technical college operating support

At the same time, lawmakers paired that stability with clearer expectations around outcomes, including program reviews tied to high-demand careers and tighter limits on certain CTE and student aid funding

Other notable highlights from the budget include the following:

  • Blueprint for Literacy: +$2.7M SGF (lapses if agency doesn't conduct teacher coaching)
  • Excel in CTE: -$10M SGF, restricted to juniors/seniors without prior failures, future years capped at $50M SGF
  • Kansas Promise Scholarship: +$10M SGF
  • K-State Nuclear Research Accelerator: +$5M SGF (lab facilities, nuclear energy research)
  • KU Alzheimer's research: +$5M SGF
  • Safe and Secure Schools Grants: +$2.5M SGF reinstated for school districts
  • Virtual math program: -$2M SGF, eliminated entirely

This piece reflects legislative action as of final passage. We will update this analysis when Governor Laura Kelly takes action on the bill, including any vetoes or subsequent override efforts.