MESSAGES FROM THE GOVERNOR
Substitute for House Bill No. 2731
An Act concerning public assistance; requiring the department of health and environment in coordination with the Kansas department for aging and disability services to seek federal approval to establish continuous medicaid eligibility for certain individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities who are receiving services through a home and community based services waiver; requiring the secretary for children and families and the secretary of health and environment to enter into data-matching agreements with state agencies to verify eligibility for food and medical assistance; directing the department of health and environment to submit certain data to the centers for medicare and medicaid services; prohibiting certain public assistance program waivers or exemptions without legislative approval; prohibiting self-attestation for purposes of determining eligibility for public assistance programs; limiting retroactive enrollment in the medical assistance program; requiring immediate termination of eligibility for medical assistance upon confirmation of death of the enrollee; increasing the age limit for able-bodied adults without certain dependents; prohibiting certain exemptions from work requirements under the food assistance program; amending K.S.A. 2025 Supp. 39-709 and repealing the existing section.
Message to the Legislature of the State of Kansas
Substitute for HB 2731 adds unnecessary costs and bureaucracy in our human service and health agencies. These agencies already exchange data with each other and engage in rigorous oversight to reduce fraud and ensure that only eligible persons receive public assistance and health benefits. This bill does nothing new other than increase costs to the state by nearly $4 million, necessitate the hiring of 44 more employees and add unnecessary additional processing steps. Those additional steps will likely cause our processing error rate to increase, resulting in federal penalties costing millions of dollars. I don’t believe this was what the Legislature intended but will be the result if HB 2731 becomes law.
Therefore, pursuant to Article 2, Section 14(a) of the Constitution of the State of Kansas, I hereby veto Substitute for House Bill 2731.
Laura Kelly, Governor
Dated April 8, 2026.
