Senate’s COGE panel hears feedback about Medicaid expansion, Kobach’s performance and anti-trans bills
TOPEKA — A “defeated” single mother seeking health coverage, a disabled Navy veteran who wants to move to Kansas but can’t afford the taxes and a former state internal auditor fed up with corruption and bureaucracy were among the suggestions submitted to Kansas’ GOP-led Senate Committee on Government Efficiency.
The majority of submissions to the committee’s public suggestion portal, which debuted Jan. 31 and was the subject of public records requests, included complaints that do not align with the policy priorities of the majority party.
Instead, top suggestions included maintaining abortion rights, leaving school vouchers out of public education funding, critiques of leadership, expanding the state’s Medicaid program, focusing on substantial policy issues instead of legislation targeted at trans kids, and more than 60 references to legalizing marijuana.
Kansas Reflector obtained leaked copies of the more than 1,500 submissions sent to officials between Feb. 3 and March 28 containing specific public input from across the state alongside sarcastic replies, spam and suggestions in jest. A significant portion of those submissions showed a sense of disillusionment with Kansas politics, politicians and government. A few submissions contained personal stories of inefficiencies in state government. Even fewer included complaints or opinions in line with Republican policy.
Sen. Renee Erickson, a Wichita Republican and chair of the efficiency committee, has promised that the committee will meet outside of the legislative session to review the submissions. Republican leadership created the Senate Committee on Government Efficiency, or COGE, earlier this year in response to the similar federal effort from billionaire Elon Musk called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The committee sponsored 11 bills this session, many of which targeted public assistance programs, public employees or spending cuts. Little, if any, of the committee’s work this year aligned with what Kansans suggested.
Suggestions could be submitted in one of two ways: via email or a standardized form in a public portal that includes the submitter’s first and last name, an age range and their county, city and zip code. The form notes that submissions are public records. Kansas Reflector did not independently verify the names provided with submissions.
Kansas Reflector submitted a request for the public records to Erickson in February. Erickson said she would deliver them to journalists on April 9, even though she delivered them to a legislator on March 17 in response to his formal records request. Under the Kansas Open Records Act, public records are required to be provided as soon as possible.
One suggestion from Ben Carmichael, a Wichita resident in his 30s, detailed concerns that the Legislature has morphed into a “full-time machine, expanding its power and influence without corresponding checks in accountability, transparency, or fiscal restraint.” He pointed to continued meetings among legislators outside of the session and the consolidation of power within the Legislative Coordinating Council, which is made up of the governor and legislative leadership.
The line is blurred, he said, between “part-time service and full-time rule.”
“Instead of trusting Kansans to govern their own lives and communities, the state has taken on a paternalistic posture, eroding both personal freedom and local governance,” Carmichael wrote. “This is not only inefficient government — it is unjust government.”
Carmichael added that in times of national division and economic uncertainty, Kansans don’t need more laws, rules or interference.
“They need a Legislature that knows its limits and remembers its mandate: to serve, not to rule,” Carmichael wrote. “Shrink the footprint of government. Restore the citizen Legislature. Let Kansans live free.”
Attacks on health and autonomy
Around 300 submissions included mention of abortion. Most begged legislators to leave the issue alone, as voters made their opinions clear in the August 2022 primary, during which a constitutional amendment to eliminate abortion rights failed by a 59-41 margin.
Bethany Quesnell, a 30-something in Wamego, said elected officials could be most effective if they listened to the stories of the constituents in their districts.
“Don’t just stop listening after one person who matches your personal beliefs, either,” Quesnell wrote.
And if an issue has been voted on in recent years, Quesnell suggested officials refrain from bringing that issue up again.
“Abortion is a great example,” Quesnell said. “Kansans made their opinions known and we don’t want to hear about it anymore.”
Submitters characterized the Legislature’s continued focus on abortion regulation as a waste of time and money.
“The amount of times transgender healthcare and abortion have come up in this legislature is downright wasteful,” said Kat Stucky, a Cheney resident in her 30s.
More than 130 suggestions told lawmakers to stop legislating trans issues.
Stucky, and several other commenters, said trans people make up a tiny fraction of Kansas’ population but have received a significant amount of focus, particularly this legislative session.
Pamela Sturm, a septuagenarian from Kansas City, Kansas, said the state could save money if the Legislature focused on issues guided by voter’s actions.
“The legislature has decided that attacking transgender kids is a more legitimate target for their attention than dealing with real issues for Kansans, just as they’ve decided to deny Kansas residents legitimate access to cannabis and that it’s okay for rural hospitals to close because they refuse to honor the will of the people by expanding Medicaid in our state,” Sturm wrote.
Expanding Medicaid
A “very frustrated and defeated” single mother of three, Ashlie Bruner, wrote to legislators in February detailing a recent denial of health care coverage under the state’s Medicaid program. Bruner is caught in what is known as the Medicaid gap.
Her employer doesn’t offer health insurance. She said she earns $1,200 a month while the state Medicaid income cap for a household of four is $880 a month.
“This has left me in a position where I can not afford health insurance or do not qualify for lower rates or state insurance as my income is either too high or too low,” she said. “The system is flawed.”
Average rental prices, bills and necessities make up a majority of Bruner’s spending, and, as a single parent, she said she struggles to pay those costs.
“I know I’m not the only person with this problem,” she said. “And it leaves the question of what am I supposed to do?”
Bruner begged legislators for a solution because she cannot seek medical care without paying out of pocket, leaving her “suffering through illnesses or medical conditions unable to afford the help I need.”
The vast majority of the roughly 180 submissions that mentioned Medicaid supported expansion or opposed further cuts to the program. Kansas is one of 10 states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid. Roger Smith, a Wichita resident in his 70s, suggested the Legislature ensure Medicaid fraud isn’t taking place by reviewing and confirming that Medicaid participants are appropriately using allocated funds.
“Let us all be responsible for supplying the resources needed to those that truly need it,” Smith said. “Being a good steward at all levels is very important for everyone’s survival.”
Funding or dismantling education
Suggestions on education were varied. Legislators in recent years have attempted to impose influence on education typically reserved for the Kansas State Board of Education. The Legislature controls funding for public schools and has the ability to create voucher programs.
Sandra Kirby, a 40-something from Pittsburg, asked legislators to oppose any legislation that would eliminate the Kansas State Department of Education. Kirby said taxpayers shouldn’t support any religious institution or school.
“If a person wanted to send their kids to a private or religious school- so be it,” Kirby wrote, “but leave the rest of Kansans alone.”
Kirby added: “NO VOUCHERS.”
Ryan Patton, a Hutchinson resident in his 40s, said the Kansas education system costs taxpayers around $18,000 annually per student, which is true according to KSDE data. Homeschooling produces better results, he said.
“The Kansas education system is far beyond repair and needs to be dismantled,” Patton wrote. “There is extreme amounts of waste of these funds that never reach the teachers let alone the children.”
Rick Ruppe, who did not include an age or location in his email to the committee, applauded the Legislature’s proposal to shift the Kansas Supreme Court judicial selection process to a popular vote instead of the current nomination and appointment system.
It’s long overdue, he said.
State education funding, Ruppe said, is one area that has been part of a series of “bad outcomes in decisions being made by the court, which have been politically and ideologically slanted towards liberal and progressive viewpoints.”
The Kansas Supreme Court has repeatedly determined the Legislature is not adequately funding education. Ruppe characterized the wording of the Kansas State Constitution that has been used to determine funding requirements as vague.
“This has led to this issue becoming a political football, with the punting of a real solution, much like kicking a can down the road, with no clear criteria for what ‘sufficient or adequate’ funding is,” he said.
He added that the court also erred in ruling the state constitution includes implicit rights that allow legal abortions.
‘Frivolous lawsuits’
Nearly 60 submissions included criticism of the Kansas Attorney General’s performance. Many claimed Kris Kobach’s “frivolous lawsuits” have cost Kansas taxpayers millions, and others called for him to be fired.
Amy Warfield, a Hays resident in her 30s, said “a more efficient Kansas state government would better seek to reign in vanity lawsuits” from Kobach, which include banning abortion drug mifepristone, blocking immigrants without citizenship from being counted in the Census, and limiting Title IX protections for youths.
“In fact, the list of confrontations and lawsuits is so long and such a tangled web, it’s difficult to parse through what is even in the best interest of the people of this state and its funds, or just ideological check boxes,” Warfield said.
Brice Cronn, a Colby resident in his 40s, suggested the Legislature refrain from passing any legislation having to do with Kobach.
“Millions in litigation costs are unacceptable,” Cronn wrote.
“This culture war stuff makes you popular with a certain voting block, but it is a nonsensical money pit that doesn’t do anything to improve the wellbeing of Kansans,” he said.
Kari Nilson, an Andover resident in her 40s, said the best way to cut government spending would be to “get Kris Kobach to quit filing lawsuits that the people of Kansas don’t want to be part of.”
Government efficiency
Roberta Hill, who identified herself as a disabled Navy veteran, began her email by giving credit to the state of Kansas for taking care of its veterans.
“I as a 100% disabled female veteran would move to Kansas, yet I financially could not afford to own a home,” Hill said.
In her current state, which she did not disclose, she doesn’t have to pay property taxes on the home she owns.
“I don’t abuse my taxes exempt status,” she said. “I believe in paying taxes on a lot of things. If Kansas allowed veterans to own homes and not pay property taxes. You would have them in your state paying taxes on other things. Helping the economy of Kansas!”
Bills aimed at providing tax relief for veterans did not progress this session.
A handful of submissions requested greater transparency from Kansas government.
Jadie Chauncey, a Junction City resident, submitted a list of three issues, each with a clear proposal aimed at making Kansas government more open, fair and accessible. The three suggestions included eliminating “gut and go” bills, which allow legislators to entirely overhaul the content of a bill with unrelated legislation.
“This process confuses voters and allows bills to pass without proper review,” Chauncey said.
The second item suggested the Legislature make it easier for Kansans to submit testimony and establish a mandatory 72-hour notice before testimony submission deadlines. Chauncey called the current system “confusing and outdated.”
“Some committees give very short notice for hearings, change their rules often, and require paper copies of testimony,” Chauncey said. “This makes it hard for people who live far from Topeka or have jobs during the day to participate.”
Lastly, Chauncey noticed special interest groups tend to get more time than citizens and suggested ensuring all speakers at hearings get equal time to testify.
Mark Ummel, a Burlingame resident in his 60s, said he performed internal audits and investigations for 15 years at one of the state’s largest agencies. He retired not because he was ready but because he “became fed up with various senior leaders at the agency who would use their position of power to hire their personal friends for high paying jobs without advertising publicly, review audits only to hide the malfeasance or illegal activity and position their personal needs above what is best for the agency.”
State government operations could become more efficient, Ummel said, with improved audit practices that evaluate internal processes, wasteful spending and potential fraud.
“If the legislative process can be described as ‘making sausage,’ ” he said, “the inner workings inside the agencies could be describe(d) as the ‘slaughterhouse.’ ”
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
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