LegislativeSessionUpdate-FB

Out of legislative session update

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Even though both the Kansas and Missouri legislatures are out of their regular sessions for the year, there’s still a lot happening in both states. Not to mention that the work at the local level continues year around — so we have some more updates to send your way.  

Our team at Health Forward works every day to support and build inclusive, powerful, and healthy communities characterized by racial equity and economically just systems.    

In addition to this update, we will soon release an advocacy toolkit available on our website including templates for written testimony, public comment, lobbying tracking, and other issue educational materials to better support our partners’ advocacy efforts. 

And during this critical election year, Health Forward is happy to have supported the non-partisan KC Voter’s Guide provided by a media collective of local news outlets. It includes a comprehensive guide to all the elections in the Kansas City region.  

Here’s what we’re watching and advocating for in Kansas and Missouri: 

What’s going on statewide in Kansas

 Right at the end of May, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) formally announced that services from Community Health Workers (CHWs) reimbursed through Medicaid would be more than doubled from their previous rates. This is a significant win outside of the legislature. 

 CHWs are an essential member of a comprehensive care team. They address social drivers of health such as better access to nutritious foods, housing supports, and transportation, among many other things. On top of improving patient outcomes, CHWs provide a return on investment of nearly $2.50 for each dollar spent to support them. Health Forward and more than 30 organizations working in Kansas sent a letter to the KDHE Secretary Janey Stanek thanking her and the entirety of KDHE for adopting the change.  

 Just because the legislature is out of session doesn’t mean legislators aren’t looking at some of the bigger issues affecting us in the region. Kansas will be hosting a special interim legislative committee on Available and Affordable Housing. At this point, there is not much official information available, but the general understanding is that the committee will convene on Nov. 20-21 of this year.   

 If you are unfamiliar with interim committees, they are important to keep an eye on because they can provide a preview of what will likely be prioritized in the next session, as well as potential policy approaches. Additionally, they give a chance for Health Forward and our partners to provide information to legislators and build relationships that could move the needle on advocacy in the upcoming session. If you’d like to learn more beforehand, please review the resources – including candidate surveys on housing – from the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition.  

 

What’s going on locally in Kansas

On a local level, municipal governments have been busy over the summer months considering legislation that will impact access to affordable housing. Here’s what they’ve been working on:  

Johnson County 

  • The Housing Choice Voucher Program, formerly known as Section 8, opened their waitlist on July 31 to accept new applicants. As a result, they accepted 600 first-time applications. The program is part of the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development’s efforts to support people who aren’t paid very much with housing and economic security. Enrollment in this program provides access to resources such as the Family Self-Sufficiency Program, which participants use to increase their earnings while building financial capability and assets through two key features: escrow savings accounts and case management. 

Allen County  

  • Thrive Allen County hired Pempho Moyo to assist with their advocacy work on the local and state levels. Thrive Allen County is a key service provider and convenor that supports and encourage programs, policies, and resources that promote access to healthcare, healthy lifestyles, and positive community conversation to improve the well-being of residents of Allen County, Kansas.  
  • The Iola School board voted to extend an agreement with development firm BNIM, allowing more time to secure funding through historic and low-income housing tax credits from the state of Kansas to convert three former elementary schools into housing. The conversion of these schools by BNIM will help address the need for affordable housing in Allen County.   

Wyandotte County  

  • The nine members of the Wyandotte County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to not raise property taxes for next year. This means the Unified Government will operate with a revenue neutral budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year. This decision was made after many residents appealed to the commissioners citing the financial challenges many community members are facing given the steady rise in property taxes over the last five years (increased by almost 41%). 
  • The Kansas Black Leadership Council will host a series of brunches across the state throughout the end of 2024 to inspire civic engagement, gather community champions and celebrate achievements across the state. On Aug. 24, they convened in Wyandotte County to engage with residents on advocacy and policy issues at a local and state level. Issues covered included affordable housing, high-speed internet connectivity, and economic development. For more information and to register for their final two brunches in Manhattan and Topeka, visit their website.  

What’s going on statewide in Missouri

This past June, Missouri began to send out notices to the last batch of people who needed to reapply for Medicaid after the federal government ended the COVID-19 public health emergency. This allowed for people to stay continuously enrolled, but with the ending of the public health emergency the state began to reach out to individuals to reverify their eligibility in the program.   

Last year, Health Forward provided supports for the outreach effort to keep people enrolled. 

Overall, the unwinding, as it’s known, has been a bit of a rough road. As of July 2024, there are around 236,000 fewer people on Medicaid — including around 137,000 children – than in June 2023. Nearly 80% of people were disenrolled from the program due to processing issues, not because they were ineligible, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. What’s more, there is uncertainty about whether the Medicaid budget will be fully funded to get through the next year’s legislative session.  

Gov. Mike Parson signed SB 895 and HB 2062 into law on July 12, both of which ban local governments from placing a moratorium on evictions. Health Forward testified against HB 2062 as it takes away a tool for local communities to make their own decisions on how best to meet the needs of their residents, especially during a public health crisis. While we are disappointed that this legislation passed and was signed into law, we will continue to work with partners to ensure that people and families are able to find and maintain quality, safe, and affordable housing to meet their needs. The bill took effect on Aug. 28.

An important aspect of the Missouri legislature is that they prefile bills starting Dec. 1 prior to the official legislative session start date of Jan. 8, 2025. Prefiling simply means that legislators submit legislation they’d like to see considered, beginning Dec. 1. Typically, bills are heard in committees and worked through the legislative process in the order they are filed. This also gives Health Forward and partners a chance to review legislation and begin planning our advocacy work for the session.  

 

What’s going on locally in Missouri

Kansas City  

  • In July, KCMO passed a local ordinance that prohibits acts that interfere with election workers performing their official duties. As we enter the thick of this election season, this is an important and welcomed piece of legislation.  

Jackson County  

  • The Jackson County legislature approved an ordinance that will create a senior services fund for older adults; this fund would be supported by a property tax levy that would take 5 cents for every $100 assessed in value for real and personal property. Jackson County residents will have the ability to vote whether to support the “Jackson County Seniors Count” during the upcoming November election ballot. Health Forward is evaluating the equity impacts of this fund on our prioritized communities of focus.    

Cass County  

  • Cass Community Health Foundation broke ground on the new home of its safety net dental clinic. The clinic was the first full-time safety net clinic to open in Cass County. The safety net dental clinic provides comprehensive oral health services for children and teens ages 0 to 20 years who are insured by Medicaid or who are paid low wages and lack access to health insurance. The new site will increase capacity to treat youth in Cass County and allow for expansion of services to adult family members of the children currently being treated.   

Lafayette County  

  • On Nov. 5, Lexington residents will host a special election to determine the three-way race for mayor; this is the first time in the city’s history there will be three candidates on the ballot for mayor.