Top 5 Kansas news stories
March 26 2026
Kansas Lawmakers Send PBM Crackdown to Governor
Key Bills Stall as Session Deadline Looms
Flint Hills Burns Trigger Air Quality Advisory Across Kansas
EPA Extends E15 Summer Waiver Amid Iran Fuel Spike
Senate Preempts Local Short-Term Rental Limits for World Cup
Kansas Lawmakers Send PBM Crackdown to Governor
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Legislature has overwhelmingly approved new regulations on pharmacy benefit managers, sending a bill to Gov. Laura Kelly that aims to lower out-of-pocket drug costs and protect local pharmacies. Senate Substitute for SB 20 bans spread pricing — the practice of charging insurers more for a drug than the pharmacy is reimbursed — and requires that rebates be passed through to health plans. The measure mandates equal reimbursement rates for independent pharmacies and mail-order or PBM-owned outlets, along with a guaranteed $10.50 professional dispensing fee that supporters say will keep rural and neighborhood drugstores in business. The House passed the bill 104-17, and the Senate approved it 32-8, with opposition coming mostly from conservative Republicans who argued the bill interferes with private contracts and that PBM regulation belongs at the federal level. If signed, the Kansas Insurance Department would gain new authority to audit PBMs and enforce the transparency requirements.
Greg Loving
Key Bills Stall as Session Deadline Looms
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Legislature marked the 50th day of the 2026 session Wednesday with late-session negotiations stalling as both chambers agreed to disagree on a series of high-profile conference committee reports. Lawmakers appointed new conferees to resolve differences on several contentious measures, including SB 391, which would prohibit local governments from requiring landlords to accept federal housing choice vouchers; HB 2329, which would increase detention limits for juvenile offenders; and Sub HB 2164, a Senate substitute that would ban certain sex offenders from entering school property. The pattern is typical of a session's closing weeks, when legislative leadership uses the conference committee process to shape omnibus legislation outside standard floor debate. With both chambers seeking replacement conferees on more than a dozen bills, leaders face a tightening window to broker compromises before the traditional first-adjournment deadline in April.
Greg Loving
Flint Hills Burns Trigger Air Quality Advisory Across Kansas
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued an air quality health advisory Wednesday for central and eastern Kansas as prescribed burning continues across the Flint Hills. Spring burns are conducted annually to renew native tallgrass prairie, improve cattle grazing conditions, prevent the spread of invasive species like eastern red cedar and sumac, and reduce wildfire risk. However, the burns release large amounts of particulate matter and ozone-forming substances that can cause health problems even in healthy individuals, including burning eyes, coughing and bronchitis. Air Quality Index readings are expected to range from moderate to unhealthy for sensitive groups, with localized areas near active burns potentially reaching unhealthy levels. KDHE recommends that healthy people limit strenuous outdoor activity and that vulnerable populations — including children, the elderly and those with respiratory or heart conditions — stay indoors with doors and windows closed. The Kansas Turnpike Authority also warned drivers traveling through the Flint Hills to slow down, increase following distance and avoid using high beams if caught in heavy smoke.
KSN
EPA Extends E15 Summer Waiver Amid Iran Fuel Spike
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday it will temporarily allow nationwide sales of E15 — gasoline blended with 15% ethanol — during the 2026 summer driving season, a move aimed at tamping down fuel prices that have surged since the start of the Iran war. The waiver takes effect May 1 and initially runs through May 20, the maximum window allowed under the Clean Air Act, though the agency can reissue it throughout the summer as it has done annually since 2022. Kansas has relied on these temporary federal waivers each year because the state still lacks permanent year-round E15 access, unlike eight Midwestern neighbors — including Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa — that have already secured state-level EPA opt-outs. Gov. Laura Kelly set an April 1 deadline to submit Kansas's own opt-out request if Congress does not pass the bipartisan Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, though only about 150 of the state's roughly 2,000 fueling stations currently carry E15. Ethanol industry leaders welcomed the waiver while calling on Congress to pass permanent authorization, noting E15 has been selling at an average discount of 28 cents per gallon compared to regular gasoline. Critics note that E15 reduces fuel economy by roughly 2% compared to standard E10, that some areas lack the infrastructure to ramp up use, that the higher ethanol content can damage older vehicles, boats and ATVs, and that corn-based ethanol may increase overall greenhouse gas emissions when land-use changes are factored in.
KSN · AP
Greg Loving
Senate Preempts Local Short-Term Rental Limits for World Cup
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Senate adopted a conference committee report Wednesday in a 23-17 vote restricting municipalities from limiting short-term rentals during the summer of 2026. HB 2481, sponsored by Rep. Allen Reavis, R-Atchison, preempts cities and counties from imposing certain caps on short-term vacation rental properties between May 15 and July 25, aligning with the anticipated visitor surge for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will hold matches in the Kansas City metro area. Critics argued the bill strips local governments of home-rule authority over neighborhood zoning and housing availability, while proponents framed it as a necessary economic safeguard to accommodate tourism demand. The measure also redefines the "transient guest" designation for that period, applying a one-bedroom requirement to qualify a property as a hotel or motel for tax collection purposes.
Greg Loving
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