Kansas House, Senate budget panel launches exploration of ‘questionable’ university spending

Bunker Hill Republican Rep. Troy Waymaster, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, is pressing House and Senate members to closely examine expenditures by state universities in the Kansas Board of Regents system for possible wasteful spending. In this image from 2024, Waymaster speaks during an appropriations committee meeting in Topeka. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — Rep. Troy Waymaster says a preliminary review of state university spending in Kansas exposed a curious $99,000 expenditure for an economic development program in Colorado.

“Which I have to say is questionable,” said Waymaster, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “We have a Main Street program in Kansas, so why aren’t these dollars being utilized in Kansas?”

A joint House and Senate budget committee Wednesday examined documentation on dozens of expenditures during fiscal year 2024 that were red-flagged as possible misappropriations. The roster included $37,485 for a Kansas State University subscription to Grammarly, $8,350 to Kansas Golf and Turf for a cart to provide tours of K-State’s aerospace campus, $40,000 spent by Pittsburg State University for consulting by former U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, and billing by Wichita State University for limousine services.

Rep. Kristey Williams, the Republican chair of the House Select Committee on Government Oversight, said she was puzzled by expenditures of $65,250 for a jazz performance and $40,000 for “Jesus Christ Superstar.” But it was a Wichita State line item connected to a tanning salon that left her perplexed enough to seek an explanation from Blake Flanders, president of the Kansas Board of Regents.

“This one just popped out — Caribbean Sun Tanning. Do you know what that is?” Williams said. “It has a description, but it’s not particularly helpful. Very curious.”

“Well, I would image it’s to tan,” Flanders replied. “It may have been some kind of vendor. I would just have to take a deeper dive.”

It’s possible the tanning salon was part of a four-week training program for small businesses that relied on federal funding originally allocated to the city of Wichita.

Flanders, who answered the Legislature’s request for details on expenditures with information provided by the six state universities, said the public higher education system was prepared to conduct a thorough analysis of past spending. The work so far by the Board of Regents stemmed from a spreadsheet of questionable spending generated by staff working for Rep. Blake Carpenter, R-Derby, and Waymaster.

Information on university spending during 2024-2025 released during the committee meeting at the Capitol wasn’t uniformly presented. While Emporia State University, Pittsburg State and K-State linked specific dollar amounts and background details to specific expenditures, there were no dollar figures in summaries shared by Fort Hays State University, the University of Kansas and Wichita State.

Waymaster said he expected multiple House committees to dig deeper into past expenditures by the universities during the 2026 session starting in January. He said the legislative oversight effort would venture into numerous state agencies, but the most poignant items uncovered so far had to do with the state universities.

“The main objective is to see whether or not these carry through from year to year,” Waymaster said. “Or, were these just one-time expenditures that happened to happen in 2024 and they’re done.”

Sen. Pat Pettey, D-Kansas City, said the list of university expenditures drawing legislative scrutiny could have involved state tax dollars as well as federal appropriations, tuition and fees or endowment funds. She said some spending highlighted in the preliminary review of budget records was tied to routine operating costs, including electricity purchased from Evergy and telephone service from Verizon Wireless.

“It seems that some of these are mandatory expenses that are going to be incurred by the universities,” Pettey said. “I applaud your office and others for digging down into it, but … I’m not sure what we’re digging for.”

“What we’re digging for is just cost savings,” Waymaster said. “This money is already out the door. We really can’t pull it back.”

Williams said the Legislature’s objective went deeper: “The reason we’re going through these is to also look for waste, because most of these dollars are taxpayer dollars. That’s an accountability process that’s beneficial to all. As I go through here, there are so many questions.”