Health at the Capitol - Episode 3: First Adjournment

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Health at the Capitol - Episode 3: First Adjournment

Join us for Health at the Capitol - a Kansas Health Institute podcast and webcast focused on health-related policy discussions and action at the Kansas Legislature.

Summary:

Kansas Health Institute Strategy Team Leader Linda Sheppard discusses First Adjournment for the Kansas Legislature. She talks about bills that made it to the Governor's desk and what's up next for this fast-moving session. Topics include child welfare, state budgets and federal health policy changes.

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Full Transcript

Voice over 0:00
Each legislative session, KHI is hard at work keeping you informed on the latest health policy discussions from across the street in downtown Topeka. Health at the Capitol is a KHI production, a monthly recap with our legislative monitoring team, offering you a closer look at policy work happening now in Kansas and coming up.

Theresa Freed 0:21
Thanks for joining us for Health at the Capitol. I'm your host, Theresa Freed, Director of Strategic Communication and Engagement for the Kansas Health Institute, and as always, joined by Linda Sheppard, she's our Strategy Team Leader, head of our legislative monitoring team. Thanks for joining us again, Linda.

Linda Sheppard 0:36
Thank you, Theresa.

Theresa Freed 0:37
Alright, it has been fast. Everything's moving quickly through the Legislature, and right now, no exception. So tell us a little bit about what's happening.

Linda Sheppard 0:45 |
No, fast is the magic word. Again, as we've talked about in the past, the Legislature started off at the beginning of the session with a plan to be 90 work days and to be done and be out of here. So last week, the week of the 24th, was the the week leading up to first adjournment, which is basically the end of pretty much everything, in terms of the work that gets done on passing bills, except for a few, a few bills that that are considered exempt. But they, but starting on last Friday on the 28th, they they were gone. The legislators left Topeka and went back, and they will not be returning to Topeka until April 10th. So there's, we have about a 10 day break here before they, for their return.

Theresa Freed 1:36
Okay, so anything happening during this time, or is it like a true break?

Linda Sheppard 1:41
Yeah, the thing, the main thing that happens during this break time now is, is again, as the Legislature worked really hard to pass bills and to get them enrolled and presented to the Governor before they left. This is the time that she has from, to consider those bills and then start making decisions about if she's going to sign them or veto them, or she also has the third option of allowing them to become law without her signature, and she's certainly done that a few times in the past.

Theresa Freed 2:09
Okay. And so tell me a little bit about what's, what's gotten through so far.

Linda Sheppard 2:14
So probably the most significant thing that happened last week was the, the Legislature coming to reach agreement, the chambers reaching an agreement on the budget bill. So this, again, this was one more of those things that they changed the procedure for that, starting at the beginning of the session. So the House worked their bill, got it through their side, and then things came over to the Senate side, and quick conference committees, and things got worked out. So that, that bill was passed. It's now Senate Bill 125, passed last Thursday night before they left. And so that is one of the things that, that has been presented to the Governor. And so it's on her plate to consider, for, for review. You know, I think, you know, when I look at the budget, I think one of the things that I notice for those things where significant dollars have been appropriated, you know, they it is certainly things related to, to programs, are things, benefits for children. Also a lot of dollars being put into, into focusing on training and education of health care providers. So there's a lot of, a lot of money going to that as well. And that, you know, those are the kinds of things that, I mean, there are a lot of different things that happened in the budget bill, but those are the, kind of the two things that stuck out for me. As far as other types of bills. Again, just like over the whole session, they, they have touched on a wide variety of topics. There are always child welfare bills that go through, and this year, one of the things that was worked on over the summer was to make a, make a change in the definition of abuse and neglect, again, to provide some more clarity for law enforcement who, who may be going into a situation where they're, they have to take protective custody of a child under the age of 18, or some guidance and direction for DCF, as well as trying to determine, you know, when, when the Secretary takes custody. So that was definitely something that we expected it, and certainly did happen. Also a lot of things related to workforce. So there were four inter-state compacts related to dietitians, school psychologists, physician assistants, that are, those all got passed and will be going to the Governor. And then also looking at scope of work, so expanding scope practice for some different provider groups. So that, again, this focus of recognizing the, the need for that workforce. One of the things I find, I think, is very interesting, and it's not something that we often talk about, but the, the Legislature did pass a bill that would create a Water Program Task Force. So this is the, this is a task force that's going to look, sort of at the future needs for water in Kansas, and figure out what, what needs to be done, what kinds of plans or funding needs to be put in place, to consider things like quality and supply certainly going forward to, for Kansas in the future. And obviously it out in western Kansas, that's a very significant issue for them. So I think it's great that we've got that, that task force that we'll be meeting soon.

Theresa Freed 5:35
Okay. And again, KHI defines health very broadly, so the environment certainly falls under under that. But water obviously relates to beyond the environment, just quality of life issues and other, other things too. So other, other health-related legislation and kind of where it's, where it's landing?

Linda Sheppard 5:56
Well again, right now, a lot of the bills that that were introduced early on came through. So one of the things that the Legislature did want to address this year was the, there have been these protests and appeals for the Managed Care Organizations that do not get selected for the new contracts for KanCare. And this has happened a couple of times. And so I think one of the legis- one of the things the Legislature did this year was to ask D of A to put some policies in place that would potentially help, so that that kind of thing doesn't happen. So things about records that are kept, information that's documented for those decisions, moving up to the selection of the of the MCOs for the next few years. Another thing was, you know, other, other things related to child welfare, again, that was something that we totally expected was going to happen. And also some, one, I think, pretty significant issue for, for the agencies, is the rule that's been put in place that would ask any agency that is seeking some sort of waiver or something from the federal government related to public assistance programs. And in specifically waivers that would increase the eligibility for those programs, or would increase the cost to the state, our state. So that is something that was, that is put into place, and so does require, for those types of waivers, will require legislative approval, or Legislative Coordinating Council can deal with those issues when the Legislature is not in session.

Theresa Freed 7:40
Okay. And you know, earlier, we talked a little bit about the state budget, but another issue, of course, is, is federal funding for state agencies. And that is a big question right now. So we monitor this happenings at the state level, but also the federal level, and especially right now, with so much activity, the latest news about Health and Human Services and some of the reorganization there. And so can you touch on a little bit about how what's happening at the federal level is coming down and impacting local organizations or affecting local organizations and state agencies?

Linda Sheppard 8:15
Yeah, Theresa, we, you know, KHI has historically monitored or tracked what's happening at the federal, at the federal level, because those policies that are made specifically for a lot of different types of health-related issues and programs, that all definitely flows down to the states. The Medicaid program is some- is something that's clearly a partnership between federal government and the states. And so anything that they do that affects funding there will affect states. You know, the federal government, again, on the health side, for research, for programs to improve, you know, the health of certain populations. That, those grant dollars come down from the federal government, and also the dollars that go to research, so health research as well. So it's, everything that is happening up there, and you know, you alluded to the budget. So right now, there's a budget resolution that has been being, has been worked over the past few weeks, and some indication that they may, that Congress may finish that up by the end of this week, or certainly will be spending some significant time on it between now and Friday. And so we, you know, we here at KHI, because, you know, it became very clear after Donald Trump had been sworn in, and we started to see very, very quickly, early on, some Executive Orders that were being issued and just some directives from his administration about some changes that were going to be made in a lot of different agencies and programs. I'm talking about federal agencies and programs. And so we are making an effort this year, because there, there are certainly enough information to, to follow, to really try to keep up with a lot of that, and look at those, those various orders that come out, any proposed regulations, any other kind of guidance that comes from federal government, to look at that, try to determine what if any impact it's going to have on the state. And again, as you said, we, we define health very broadly, so it can be a lot of different topic areas. And then we're going to work on continuing to provide some information to our audience about what those things mean. Sometimes the stuff that comes out of D.C. is a little complicated and hard to understand. And you know, we, we try very hard to figure out how to, how to bring that information in a way that, that is understandable so people know what, what's really going to happen.

Theresa Freed 10:48
It does feel like there's just a lot of information coming down, and it takes time to just decipher what's happening, but also what those implications are. But the other issue too is we're dealing with misinformation and disinformation, and sometimes it's not that it's necessarily ill intended, so the misinformation piece of that, but because there's so much information, and it really does impact a lot of organizations potentially with their funding decisions, staffing and things like that. You know, decisions are made and conversations are had. So really, KHI wants to be part of the conversation so that we can help keep facts in that conversation, lead to good decisions. So we have launched a product, or a campaign if you will, called Hill to the Heartland. And so that is weekly materials that provide information about what's happening at the federal level. So every other week, you'll get a blog from us that will have a little bit more depth. So we might be talking about SNAP, so Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or we might be talking about Medicaid or another topic. And then in the other weeks, those other by biweekly distributions that will include what we're calling a digest. So, do you want to talk a little bit about what we're going to be highlighting there?

Linda Sheppard 12:05
Yeah, and for the digest, you know, there again, there's so much information coming down from D.C., that potentially will, will impact various aspects of health for Kansans. And so we, on those alternative weeks when we're, when we don't do a full blog, we will try to put together really just sort of this list, this sort of running list of the things that have happened over the last week or two. It very short, brief descriptions along with links to additional information, so that if somebody wants to follow up on one of those. But it's just trying to figure out how to keep all of those things that are happening at the forefront for people to be aware. And there's, there's just a lot to keep up with.

Theresa Freed 12:51
There really is. Okay, well, bringing it back to the state level. So, so what's left for the rest of session?

Linda Sheppard 12:57
So again, they are, the legislators are gone at this time. Right now, the main thing that's happening is the Governor and her staff reviewing the bills that have been presented to her, and then making her decisions about how she's going to handle those. And then, as I mentioned, the veto session, legislators will come back to Topeka starting on April 10th, and will be, if any vetoes that the Governor has done, they will deal with those and try to see if there are ones that they want to try to override her decision. So that's what they'll be doing when they come back. You know, in, in past years, they've had to do a budget, or been working on a budget, but that's not something that they're going to be, they're going to have to deal with this time. So it's not clear. You know, there has some, been some suggestion that they'd like to be completely done by April 12th, so we're only talking about a day or two after they return. But again, as, as it's called the veto session, it really is to take a look at what the Governor has done and then to make their decisions about how they want to respond to that.

Theresa Freed 14:00
Okay, any predictions? I always ask for that.

Linda Sheppard 14:03
Predictions? You know, she has always, any budget that's ever been put through over the last 10 years that I've been aware of. You know, she always has a few line items in there, and so that, that's something that I think is always expected. And she has already, she's been presented with some, some bills, and I think, you know, she's, it's pretty clear. I think most of the time you can tell, you know, the things that, that she's in favor of, or things that she's concerned about, because she does communicate that pretty well. So, you know, a lot of cases, there's not a lot, a lot of guessing games to how she'll respond. I also mentioned, though, the fact that she does have that third option of allowing a piece of legislation to go into effect without her signature after the required days pass. So again, that's another option.

Theresa Freed 14:54
Okay. Well, we will, of course, keep an eye on that, and if you're interested in learning more about Hill to the Heartland or any of our other legislative monitoring resources, be sure to log on to our website at khi.org. Thanks for joining us.

Voice over 15:08
Thanks for joining us for Health at the Capitol. Sign up to receive our emails at khi.org to get a weekly recap of health policy activity during the Kansas legislative session. You'll also receive our latest publications and information about upcoming events.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Health at the Capitol Production Team

Theresa Freed, M.A., Host, Producer, Editor

Stewart Cole, Editor, Production Designer

Mikell Burr, Graphic Designer

Karsen DeWeese, Intern, Production Assistant