Kansas governor’s legislative priorities in 2026 center on budget, water and children

Gov. Laura Kelly, a term-limited Democrat, said her priorities in the 2026 legislative session will be development of a reasonable state budget, launching the new Office of Early Childhood and locking down a statewide strategic plan for use of water resources. In this Dec. 16, 2025, image, Kelly speaks during an interview with Kansas Reflector. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly approached the final year of her second term with a familiar plea that the Kansas Legislature pass a reasonable budget and a bleak realization the state wouldn’t be able to compensate for federal reductions in spending on health care and food programs.

The bell tolls 2 p.m. Jan. 12 on the annual legislative session in Kansas with the term-limited Democratic governor and a Republican supermajority in the House and Senate. As Kelly moved closer to departing the office, Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, would continue his campaign for governor and House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, would be occupied with a campaign for state insurance commissioner.

Kelly, scheduled to deliver the State of the State address on Jan. 13, said developing a budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 would be her primary quest.

“No. 1 is always the budget,” she said in an interview with Kansas Reflector. “That the Legislature pass a balanced, reasonable, sane budget that funds the important responsibilities of state government.”

Kelly said it wasn’t possible for the state to fill in for slashed federal appropriations to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“We are not really taking that approach. That’s the way we’ve been since these cuts started coming down,” the governor said. “One, we don’t really have the money. Where do you stop on those kinds of things? Can we backfill the cuts to Medicaid that are coming? Absolutely not. SNAP? We cannot.”

The U.S. Congressional Joint Economic Committee estimated the “One Big Beautiful Bill” signed by President Donald Trump would eventually strip Medicaid coverage from 90,000 Kansans, place rural hospitals across Kansas at greater risk and prompt Affordable Care Act premium increases. Changes to the ACA compel higher personal insurance premiums after Dec. 31, but Medicaid cuts would be staggered during 2026, 2027 and 2028.

Overall, Kelly said, Kansas could lose least $150 million through federal reductions to health care programs.

The federal government has funded about two-thirds of the annual cost of Medicaid in Kansas, and covered all but administrative expenditures for emergency food aid under SNAP.

“Kansas is not alone,” Kelly said. “These programs like SNAP and Medicaid were really built on the premise of a partnership.”

Kelly said another objective was to sustain the push for economic development. The state’s commitment to financially support relocation of the Kansas City Chiefs to a stadium in Wyandotte County and a headquarters in Johnson County was a “game-changer for our state,” she said.

The governor said the process of recruiting the NFL franchise was an example of what Republicans and Democrats at the local and state levels could accomplish through collaboration. Masterson and Hawkins, as well as Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, and House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard, D-Lenexa, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Kelly and Lt. Gov. David Toland for the announcement Monday in Topeka.

“You don’t often see this type of bipartisanship in our politics today, but that’s how we do things in Kansas, especially when the stakes are high,” Kelly said.

In the 2026 session, Kelly said she also would focus on finalizing a long-term plan for preserving and enhancing the state’s water resources.

“We are on the cusp of coming up with that strategic plan that I’d like to see in place before I’m out of office,” Kelly said. “As I’ve said before, I don’t expect to solve the water problem by the time I leave, but I would like in place a structure and a funding source that will insure that we can address water.”

In addition, the governor said she was committed to standing up the new state Office of Early Childhood by July 1. The goals would be consolidation of programs housed in a cluster of state agencies and the upgrading of services beneficial to children.

“We will spend and invest a lot of energy to make sure,” Kelly said. “Part of the point of the Office of Early Childhood is to be more efficient, so I’m hoping that we won’t be looking at needing money.”