Gov. Laura Kelly plunges into town halls to draw public input about Kansas budget priorities
Gov. Laura Kelly and Adam Proffitt, the state's budget director, gathered public ideas about shaping of the state government's next budget in 2026 during a town hall on Thursday evening at Salina South High School. The governor has scheduled seven more town halls through Nov. 12. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)
SALINA — Anna Pauscher Morawitz devoted her opportunity to directly lobby Gov. Laura Kelly to request more be done to help Kansas rise above 47th in the nation in state appropriations for the arts.
During the first of Kelly’s eight town halls devoted to seeking public input on the next state budget, Morawitz said the arts in Kansas represented a $5.5 million industry and supported thousands of jobs despite the Kansas Legislature’s decision to cut funding and place new grant restrictions on the Kansas Arts Commission. In the 2025 session, the Kansas Senate went so far as to consider deleting the state’s $1 million annual investment in the commission hosted by the Kansas Department of Commerce.
“I’d like to know how you will encourage legislative and bipartisan support for funding and improving access for the arts commission and other creative commerce initiatives that build on our shared history, support educational and social benefits that make our state a place that people want to invest in and live?” Morawitz said.
Kelly, who was a member of the Senate in 2011 when Gov. Sam Brownback issued an executive order that temporarily defunded the commission, said she pledged during her 2018 campaign for governor to restore the important role of the arts commission. That was accomplished, she said, but arts funding remained a political target.
“I’m a true believer in the value of the arts,” Kelly said. “Now, what can we do about the Legislature? Well, unfortunately not all of them share my appreciation for the arts. I will propose in my next budget to restore the funding to the levels before the cuts.”
Exchanges like that between Morawitz and Kelly were repeated about a dozen times as Kelly and Adam Proffitt, the state’s budget director, met Thursday night with more than 100 people at Salina South High School.
Topics ranged from issues related to special education funding, the overall K-12 funding formula, college affordability, residential solar incentives, economic development, court-appointed public defenders, Medicaid expansion, funding of county treasurer offices, support for nonprofit organizations and the potential of National Guard troops being deployed in Kansas.
Colin Burke, a student in Salina public schools, asked Gov. Laura Kelly during a town hall in Salina on Thursday to continue supporting state appropriations to K-12 public school districts and to strive to make a college education an affordable option for Kansans. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)
The first in line
The first person to address the governor was Justin Spiehs, who was irritated that he was arrested in June for criminal trespass at the Kansas Capitol during a political rally. He was repeatedly asked to move from a restricted space on the statehouse steps but declined. Speihs filed a lawsuit against members of the Kansas Highway Patrol and other officials, including Proffitt.
“I would say the worth of the state of Kansas depends on how much the government is willing to follow the Constitution,” Spiehs said.
“Sir, this is a forum on the budget,” the governor said. “Do you have a question related to the budget?”
“If you let me finish, governor, I’ll get to my question,” he said. “How much do you think that’s going to cost taxpayers to defend that lawsuit?”
“Sir, I’m going to cut you off,” Kelly replied. “If you want to go to the back of the line and formulate a question regarding the budget, we’ll be glad to respond.”
During a brief news conference after the town hall, Spiehs continued to toss questions at the governor about his lawsuit.
Jeff Hayes, executive director of the Central Kansas Cooperative in Education, which serves special education students in 12 central Kansas school districts, said it was important for the Legislature to comply with a state law to fully fund programs for disabled and gifted students in special education programs statewide. Currently, the Legislature doesn’t provide money to meet a mandate to cover 92% of excess special education costs otherwise borne by individual school districts.
“I know you’ve advanced in your budget a considerable amount of special education funding that has not been passed through the Legislature,” Hayes said. “Education isn’t fully funded until special education is fully funded.”
Kelly proposed a multiyear approach for Kansas to address its spending shortfall on special education. She said the federal government had also failed to deliver on an obligation to provide special education funding, which exacerbated the challenge for states.
“I bring this up regularly with our congressional delegation, hoping they will give it it’s due,” Kelly said. “I’m not optimistic given how things are right now at the federal level that we’re going to see that.”
Colin Burke, a student in Salina public schools, requested the governor work to concentrate her advocacy for continued funding of K-12 public schools and to make higher education affordable to residents of Kansans, which could include moderation of tuition rates and allocation of funding for scholarships.
Phil Black, a homeowner who has solar panels that produce more energy that needed for his residence, said Kansas ought to alter its net metering policy so those delivering energy to the grid receive more compensation from companies such as Evergy. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)
Solar power, National Guard
Compensation that Kansans with residential solar panels receive for pushing power onto the electric grid should be improved, said Phil Black, a homeowner who said net metering policy in Kansas was tipped in favor of utility companies. Existing standards in Kansas provide homeowners a dollar-for-dollar credit for solar energy production up to the amount consumed by that homeowner, he said.
He said he received only 3.5 cents per kilowatt hour from Evergy. The Kansas Corporation Commission wasn’t interested in modifying compensation to small producers, he said.
“Is there anything budgetarily that could be done to help offset what we’re not getting?” Black said.
Kelly, who has supported development of wind and other forms of renewable energy, said she would refer his inquiry to others in her administration.
“This is not something we’ve thought about before, but it’s something we will take back and we will talk with folks who know more about this that we do,” she said.
Shelby Hermosillo, who was among a group of women arrested in September during a protest in Washington, D.C., sought assurances from Kelly that she wouldn’t allow National Guard troops to violate civil rights if deployed in Kansas. President Donald Trump has argued National Guard troops should be sent to cities or states led by Democrats to quell protests, safeguard ICE personnel or quell protests.
“As an activist in the community who cares about the community safety but also our financial security, particularly for impoverished, marginalized people, how would you balance the financial and community impact if the National Guard were deployed to Kansas?” Hermosillo said. “What safeguards would you put in place to make sure that their use aligns with both fiscal responsibility and protection of Kansas’ civil rights?”
Kelly, who is chair of the Democratic Governors Association, said no one needed to worry about her deploying the National Guard to advance Trump’s agenda.
“I have been adamantly vocal about how inappropriate it is to use our National Guard to do law enforcement,” Kelly said. “That is not what they signed up for. That is not what they’re trained to do. That’s not what they’re budgeted to do.”
Kelly has scheduled comparable town halls between Oct. 29 and Nov. 12 in Hays, Garden City, Leawood, Emporia, Pittsburg, Wichita and Kansas City, Kansas. The objective, she said, was to gather insights from the public as she prepares budget recommendations for the 2026 Legislature.
“We’re going to take what we’ve heard here tonight, and what we’ll hear in the next seven stops that we make, and we really, truly will put that together … to put the budget together,” Kelly said. “We will do what we can to reflect the kinds of things that we’ve heard here and that we expect to hear across the state.”
She urged participants at the town hall to share their budget priorities with legislators representing the Salina area.
“Go where they are and express your concerns about this and anything else that you’ve got,” Kelly said. “It really is the responsibility of elected officials to be transparent, to be receptive to their constituents’ input.”