Kansas
Kansas GOP leaders fail to deliver enough funding to reduce disability waiting lists • Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Republican lawmakers vowed to be “laser-focused” this session toward helping Kansans with disabilities receive state services but came up short of a disability rights group’s recommendations — even as they funded an opera house and a mission to the southwest border.
Finalized by lawmakers April 5, the state budget blueprint sets aside $45.8 million, including $17.8 million from the state general fund, to fund services for 1,000 Kansans who are currently on the state’s waiting lists. The money would be evenly divided between people with intellectual and physical disabilities and those who have physical disabilities, and would be available for fiscal year 2025. The amount is double that proposed by the governor, but still short of an advocacy group’s recommended funding.
Sen. Rob Olson, R-Olathe, said he was disappointed by budget priorities. Olson pointed to an $1 million provision for restoration of an opera house in Manhattan, as an example of spending that should be curtailed until the wait times are fixed.
“These kids need that money,” Olson said in an April 5 debate. “They need to be a priority. They haven’t been in this building for a long time. We help take care of them, but we don’t get enough removed off the list. I would like to see us make a plan for the next three or four years to knock that list down to nothing. … We haven’t really made an effort to knock that list down. And we’re making a big effort to get this opera house done. That embarrasses me.”
Also included in the budget bill was a $2 million allocation set aside for an “pregnancy compassion awareness” program to encourage women to give birth, and another $15.7 million to finance the deployment of state resources to help with Texas border control efforts.
The disability wait times have become one of the more-debated issues this legislative session as numbers reach a crisis level.
The latest data shows 7,661 Kansans currently waiting for services, with 5,279 people on the intellectual and developmental disabilities waitlist and 2,382 people on the physical disability waitlist. The budget bill would place into law a provision forbidding the combined waiting lists from exceeding 6,800 people.
Kansans who need help can wait more than 10 years for crucial services, such as in-home care. The Kansas Reflector previously examined how these long wait times hurt thousands of disabled Kansans and their families through a series of stories.
If enrollment trends continue along the same lines as last year, when 561 new people enrolled in the intellectual disability waitlist, the proposed funding wouldn’t be enough to stop the list from growing.
In September, House Speaker Dan Hawkins and Senate President Ty Masterson released a statement promising to address the waiting lists.
“Republicans are laser focused on eliminating Medicaid waiting lists to ensure the truly needy get the services they so desperately need,” Hawkins and Masterson said in their statement.
During a news conference on their legislative plans before the session, the two again said the waitlists needed to be addressed.
“We’ve got 6,000 on the waiting list right now, and certainly before anything else happens, that needs to be taken care of,” Hawkins said. “Those are people who have been on the list for years.”
“We want to make sure everyone has the ability to get off the list,” Masterson added.
The Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities recommended reducing the waitlists by 20% in fiscal year 2025. To do so, lawmakers would need to allocate enough funding to get 1,100 people off the intellectual and developmental disability waivers as well as 500 off of the physical disability waiver waitlist.
“The waitlists for the Intellectual/Developmental Disability and the Physical Disability Home & Community Based Services Medicaid Waiver programs have reached a crisis point,” reads the council’s statement. “Since KanCare launched in 2013, the IDD and PD Waitlists have gone from bad to worse to utterly out of control in Kansas.”
Sen. Rick Billinger, GOP chairman of a Senate committee, and one of the lawmakers tasked with shaping budget allocations, said he agreed with Olson, but said there was “only so much available.”
Billinger said the Legislature would look at addressing the lists again next year.
“We should have zero on the waitlist,” Billinger said. “Zero, that’s where it needs to be. I’ll guarantee you, I’ll do everything I can to take care of these kids. There’s only so much available there, but we need to do better.”
The state funding blueprint has been sent to the governor’s desk, where Gov. Laura Kelly will decide whether to approve or veto allocations in the $25 billion budget bill.
KISMET, Kan. (KWCH) – Last month, wildfires in southern Kansas raged, destroying farmer Randall Thorp’s property, tools and 960 acres of land.
As he handles the massive cleanup project, he knows he is not alone.
“It’s about the greatest show of love I’ve ever seen,” Thorpe said. “I didn’t realize that I would have all this support in my greatest time of need.”
The two main contributors to Thorp’s optimism are the community around him and his faith.
“I’ve seen a lot of darkness that, because of my faith in Jesus, I can see the light in my heart,” Thorp said. “And that’s what keeps me going.”
Throughout the past few weeks, friends, family and neighbors have come to his property to help sort out and clean up the debris.
“I come out here and I’m by myself and I find it hard to do anything, but when a group of people all shows up and they’re wanting to work, then I’m ready to get to work with them, and they’re all ready to help me,” Thorp said.
Even with all the uncertainty following the fire, Thorp has been able to feed the 150 cattle he has, a number that is now growing since it is calving season. Friendly helpers are providing free hay for his animals to eat.
There’s a long way until things will be back to normal, but Thorp is determined to get there.
“You know, I can see some light at the end of the tunnel, but I’ve got to stay strong and keep it going and make it through,” Thorp said.
The powerful show of dependability from fellow Kansans is something he will never forget.
“I’ve been shown lots of love,” Thorp said.
You can still donate to Thorp’s GoFundMe here.
Copyright 2026 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com
Kansas City International Airport in Missouri was partly evacuated over a “threat” Sunday afternoon but has since resumed “normal operations,” officials said.
“The security incident at [Kansas City International Airport] is now clear and normal operations are resuming,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on X.
“I want to thank law enforcement including the FBI for their timely response. The safety of our passengers, airport staff, and crew members is always our number one priority.”
Airport representative Jackson Overstreet told The Associated Press in an email that the threat was reported at 11:50 a.m. local time, at which point an entire terminal was evacuated.
He said planes that landed after the threat were being held on the taxiway until it could be fully investigated.
FBI rep Dixon Land said the bureau was “aware of the incident” and worked with “law enforcement officials to determine the credibility of a threat.”
Passenger Logan Hawley, 29, told the outlet he was getting ready to board a flight to Texas when he saw police and K-9 units swarming the terminal.
“Suddenly there was an airport worker saying ‘immediately evacuate,’ people got up fast and rushed out of there,” Hawley said.
Roughly 2,000 people were ushered out of the terminal and onto the tarmac, he said.
Photos and video from the airport circulating online show large groups of passengers being led onto the tarmac or funneling out of the terminal.
With Post Wires
Kansas
Kansas family stranded in Iran with critical medical need makes it home through congressional intervention
SHAWNEE, Kan. – A Kansas family said a call to their congresswoman’s office helped bring their daughter and son-in-law home after they were stranded overseas with an unmet critical medical need.
Janet Fulgham said her daughter Laura and Laura’s husband Adam had been traveling in the UAE when an attack on Iran disrupted their plans to return home.
With their trip delayed and Laura facing a medical need that could not be met there, Fulgham said she contacted the office of Rep. Sharice Davids.
Fulgham said Davids’ office worked with the State Department to flag the emergency and secure a flight for the couple.
“The first thing that went through my mind was her medication. It is such a big part of her life. And then how do we get them out safely? How on earth do we get them out?” Fulgham said.
She said the experience prompted her to share a message with other families.
“Very often things are out of your control. But what I want everyone to know is, no matter what state you’re in, there are services to the American public that we may not know about,” Fulgham said.
Davids, who represents Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District, said the situation reflects the real-world impact of international crises.
“This is one of those areas where you really see how much we’re talking about real people. You know, Laura and Adam are real Kansans who are stuck in a situation that they did not ask to be in. I’m just so relieved and glad that they’re back home,” Davids said.
Fulgham said the relief of her daughter’s return is tempered by awareness of others still waiting.
“Happiness and my delight that they’re home. Mixed with my total exhaustion. But then there’s so many other parents and friends and family members who are waiting for their loved ones. It’s hard to really celebrate when you know there’s such a big need,” Fulgham said.
Davids is expected to visit the family later this week. Her office said it is still working to help other Kansas families who remain stranded.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
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