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Minutes for SB542 - Committee on Ways and Means
Short Title
Making appropriations for the Kansas department for aging and disability services for FY 2025 and creating a program for cities and counties to improve and develop infrastructure for homeless shelters.
Minutes Content for Tue, Mar 19, 2024
Chairperson Billinger opened the hearing on SB 542. Jessie Pringle, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, provided an overview of the bill and responded to questions from Committee members. (Attachment 10)
Representative Leah Howell, 82nd District, testified in support of the bill. This bill is not for Housing First initiatives but focuses on providing homeless shelter space to assist with wraparound services and addresses the proliferation of homeless encampments. This is her bill and noted that her intention is that the funds be used for permanent shelters, not temporary ones. We need to get the homeless back to being contributing members of society. She included some amendments in her testimony. Representative Howell responded to questions from a Committee member. (Attachment 11)
Troy Anderson, City of Wichita, spoke as a proponent of the bill. Existing homeless shelters play a pivotal role in providing essential services, however the demand for services far exceeds the current capacity. This funding would allow shelters to expand capacity and provide comprehensive support services such as mental health counseling and job training. Mr. Anderson responded to questions from Committee members. (Attachment 12)
Alan Howze, Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, stood in support of the bill. This issue crosses borders for counties and even states. The reason people fall into homelessness are varied and complex but the rapid rise has put a strain on resources. Wyandotte County does not have a permanent shelter but they do open temporary shelters when temperatures drop severely. Being able to apply for grants would allow them to provide more critical wraparound services. Mr. Howze responded to questions from Committee members. (Attachment 13)
Jessica Lucas, City of Liberal, testified as a proponent of the bill. There are few long-term shelters in southwest Kansas. Liberal's shelter provides housing for up to 90 days and they have a need for an expansion of an existing kitchen as well as roofing and HVAC repairs. This is an opportunity for smaller cities and she suggested adding language that would insure a portion of the funding goes to smaller communities. (Attachment 14)
Andrew Brown, Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, spoke in support of the bill. This is a multi-faceted issue as many who are homeless also have other issues such as disabilities or mental health issues. Shelters are important but there are also needs for transitional housing and he included recommendations in his testimony to broaden the scope of the bill to address this issue. Mr. Brown responded to questions from Committee members. (Attachment 15)
Written only testimony in support of the bill was submitted by:
Amy Campbell, Kansas Mental Health Coalition (Attachment 16)
Mental Health America of South Central Kansas and Mental Health America of the Heartland (Attachment 17)
Becky Gray, Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas (Attachment 18)
Jay Leipzig, Johnson County (Attachment 19)
Sedgwick County Commissioners (Attachment 20)
Jason Watkins, Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce (Attachment 21)
Kayla Knier, Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition testified as a neutral conferee as there are concerns with the limitations imposed by the bill. The one-to-one match needs to be changed to allow smaller communities to access these funds. Also, by tying this to enforcement of camping and vagrancy, they may lose their ability to access federal funds. If the bill is amended to include the changes proposed in her testimony, her organization would be in support. (Attachment 22)
Mathew Faulk, Kansas Balance of State Continuum of Care spoke as a neutral conferee. His organization represents mostly rural counties. It took decades to get us to this point and one-time funding will not solve it. Also, mandated law enforcement of camping and vagrancy fails to address migration issues. Additionally, funds need to be more flexible to align with local needs because rural areas have different needs than urban areas. (Attachment 23)
Andrew Wiens, Cicero Action, testified as a neutral conferee. While they support additional funding to address homelessness, but we must work on policy reform. The federal Housing First policy that has been in place for a couple decades has decimated shelter capacity. We must strengthen policy reforms and apply them statewide. There are proposed amendments included in his testimony. (Attachment 24)
Christina Guidry, United Community Services of Johnson County, spoke as a neutral conferee on behalf of Kristy Baughman. There are systemic reasons we have seen an increase in the number of homeless such as a lack of housing and high rental costs. There are proposed amendments in her testimony and, if these amendments are adopted, her organization would provide its full support. (Attachment 25)
Written only testimony neutral to the bill was submitted by:
Christy McMurphy, Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition (Attachment 26)
Rob Santel, Cross-Lines Community Outreach, Inc. (Attachment 27)
Coalition to End Homelessness in Wichita/Sedgwick County (Attachment 28)
Erin Melton, Kansas Action for Children (Attachment 29)
There being no further conferees, Chairperson Billinger closed the hearing on SB 542.
Chairperson Billinger adjourned the meeting at 12:05 pm. The next meeting will be March 20, 2024.
