Top 5 Kansas news stories
March 27 2026
Kansas $28B Budget Heads to Kelly's Desk
Gen Z Homebuyers Flock to Kansas, Midwest Markets
KC Fed: Regional Manufacturing Hits 4-Year High
Kelly Vetoes Health Bill, Joins Foster Care Initiative
Senate Passes Free-Range Parenting Protections 39-0
Kansas $28B Budget Heads to Kelly's Desk
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas lawmakers have sent a nearly $28 billion state budget to Gov. Laura Kelly after agreeing on a 1% across-the-board salary increase for roughly 35,000 executive branch and public university workers, well below the 2.5% raise Kelly had recommended. Senate budget committee chairman Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, prevailed with the flat raise over House budget chairman Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill, who had argued for targeted, market-based increases drawn from a 2025 compensation study. Kelly publicly criticized the 1% figure as inadequate for essential workers including highway maintenance crews and child welfare staff, noting that lawmakers gave themselves a 93% pay raise in 2024. The budget draws roughly $10.9 billion from the state general fund and covers fiscal year 2027, beginning July 1, 2026, while fully meeting the state's constitutional obligations for K-12 education. Kelly may sign the legislation, allow it to take effect without her signature, or use her line-item veto authority to strike specific provisions before the Legislature concludes its annual session.
Greg Loving
Gen Z Homebuyers Flock to Kansas, Midwest Markets
KANSAS CITY — Generation Z homebuyers are increasingly choosing Midwest markets over high-cost coastal cities, with Kansas emerging as a significant destination for young buyers priced out of major metropolitan areas. Wichita's homeownership rate for residents under 35 stands at 18.4%, nearly 40% above the national average of roughly 13%, and Gen Z accounts for approximately 18% of all homebuyers in Kansas, compared to 14% nationally. In the Kansas City metropolitan area, the median purchase price for Gen Z buyers is $215,000 — roughly half the national median of about $400,000 and a fraction of values in markets such as San Francisco, where median prices top $1.1 million. Seven of the 10 most affordable metro areas for young homeowners are located in the Midwest, while coastal markets such as Hawaii and Washington, D.C. see Gen Z represent only 6% to 7% of mortgage applicants. Kansas officials have pointed to the state's relative affordability as a tool for attracting new residents and reversing population decline in rural communities.
Greg LovingKC Fed: Regional Manufacturing Hits 4-Year High
KANSAS CITY — Manufacturing activity across the central United States expanded at its fastest pace in nearly four years in March, with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's composite manufacturing index climbing to 11 from 5 in February, its highest reading since July 2022. Production gains in wood products, paper, and plastics and rubber drove the increase, while shipments and new orders reached index readings of 20 and 15, respectively. The employment index rebounded to 6 from negative 7 in February, signaling that regional factories are adding workers. Kansas City Fed assistant vice president Cortney Cowley said most firms expect higher demand through the rest of the year, though raw material costs continue to outpace finished goods prices. The survey tracks factory conditions across the Tenth Federal Reserve District, covering Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, northern New Mexico and western Missouri; readings above zero indicate expansion.
Greg Loving
Kelly Vetoes Health Bill, Joins Foster Care Initiative
TOPEKA, Kan. — Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday vetoed Senate Bill 368, which would have limited state regulators' authority to take action against certain health facilities — including restricting the Kansas Department of Health and Environment from suspending or revoking licenses of facilities operating outside established medical guidelines. In her veto message, Kelly defended regulators' existing enforcement authority, arguing that agencies nationwide have valid reasons to take action against such facilities. The Republican-controlled Legislature could attempt to override the veto, which would require a two-thirds majority in both chambers, but legislative leaders have not yet indicated whether they plan to bring the measure back for a vote. Also Thursday, Kelly announced Kansas will join the federal "A Home for Every Child" initiative, a partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families aimed at improving the availability of foster homes in the state.
Greg Loving
Senate Passes Free-Range Parenting Protections 39-0
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Senate voted 39-0 Thursday to concur with House amendments on Senate Bill 408, sending to the governor legislation that protects parents who allow their children to engage in age-appropriate independent activities from child welfare intervention. Under the bill, children who play outside or walk to school without direct adult supervision cannot be classified as children in need of care solely on that basis. The measure also directs the secretary for children and families to enter into a memorandum of understanding with military organizations, establishing a referral process for child-in-need-of-care cases involving military families and connecting them with military family advocacy programs. The legislation additionally allows legal challenges to voluntary acknowledgments of paternity when fraud, duress or a material mistake of fact — such as contradictory genetic testing results — is discovered.
Greg Loving
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