# Kansas HB 2027: Reorganizing subsections of the public assistance statute. Kansas HB 2027, Reorganizing subsections of the public assistance statute., is a 2025–2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Committee on Welfare Reform; status became law, last action 2025-04-10 (Will become law without Governor's signature); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-17). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-HB2027-2025-2026 - As of: 2026-10-17 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Kansas HB 2027 - State: Kansas - Session: 2025–2026 Regular Session - Title: Reorganizing subsections of the public assistance statute. - Status: became law - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-01-16 - Last action: 2025-04-10, Will become law without Governor's signature - Sponsor: Committee on Welfare Reform - Cosponsors: 0 - Subjects: senate committee on public health and welfare, house committee on welfare reform - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 6 (312 yes, 254 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 15 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Optional benefit card photos serve voters: benefit, low. Kansas must add a recipient's photo to a benefits card when the recipient agrees. A parent or legal guardian may use their own photo for a minor or incapacitated recipient. A benefits card bearing the recipient's photo is valid public-assistance identification for voting. - Child support lapses block care subsidies: cost, high. Kansas checks child support cooperation when parents apply for child care help and after 12 months of continuous eligibility. Checks also occur at later renewals or eligibility reviews. Noncooperation bars subsidies for three months after a first penalty, six months after a second, and one year aft… - Drug felonies restrict cash and groceries: cost, high. Covered drug felonies involve making, growing, distributing, possessing, or using controlled substances or their analogs. For cash aid, convictions dated on or after July 1, 2013, bring five-year bans for first convictions and lifetime bans thereafter. The five years start on the conviction date. F… - Stricter work rules for grocery benefits: cost, high. Nonexempt food assistance members must register for work, attend assigned training, accept suitable jobs, and not quit jobs of at least 30 hours weekly. Violations block aid until compliance, followed by three months for a first penalty, six months for a second, and one year thereafter. Able-bodied… - Work penalties cut cash and groceries: cost, high. Adults applying for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) generally must complete at least one work-assessment module, including after earlier disqualifications. Exceptions include a valid job offer, work of at least 20 hours weekly, Job Corps, and assessments within 12 months; otherwise-i… - Families' support payments shift to Kansas: cost, medium. Applying for or receiving child care subsidies or food assistance transfers past, current, and future support rights to Kansas. This covers support rights for the applicant and family members receiving aid, and requires cooperation with support enforcement. Support rights also transfer when a child… - Job exits and missed reports threaten aid: cost, medium. People lose public assistance eligibility for voluntarily quitting work or being fired for gross misconduct defined by state rules. Fugitive status tied to a felony charge, felony conviction, or probation or parole violation also bars eligibility. These provisions do not specify how long those bans… - Support duties affect cash and groceries: cost, medium. Mothers seeking or receiving TANF must name the child's father and give his current address if known. The state may set hardship exceptions. TANF recipients who fail child support cooperation requirements face a state-set penalty; this provision gives no amount or duration. Food assistance recipien… - Tighter grocery aid eligibility for families: cost, medium. Kansas cannot adopt the federal broad-based eligibility option that expands access to food assistance. Eligibility is limited to citizens and noncitizens with qualifying status under federal agriculture rules. A noncitizen who cannot or will not provide qualifying documents is excluded from the hou… - Work rules limit parents' child care: cost, medium. Adults included in a non-TANF child care subsidy case generally must work at least 20 hours weekly. Exceptions cover documented health conditions, qualifying recent TANF closures, some minor parents attending school, and food assistance employment and training. Other exceptions cover Early Head Sta… - Drug tests can block cash aid: mixed, high. Subject to federal law, Kansas orders drug screening for cash aid when it reasonably suspects unlawful controlled-substance use. A positive test requires approved substance-abuse treatment and job-skills training before eligibility; a second ends aid for 12 months or until both programs finish, whi… - Fraud can end families' cash aid: mixed, high. Fraud findings or qualifying theft convictions in TANF or child care bring lifetime TANF bans for responsible adults and other household adults. Refusing to cooperate with a fraud investigation blocks TANF and child care subsidies until Kansas determines cooperation has resumed. A household found r… - College child care help has limits: mixed, medium. Child care help is available while earning a degree or certificate for a career with an average or better job outlook. A lower outlook requires state approval or a verified job offer available after graduation. Students must work at least 15 paid hours weekly, and help is capped at 24 lifetime mont… - One vehicle stays protected from limits: mixed, medium. One vehicle owned by an assistance applicant does not count toward resource limits, regardless of value. Equity in additional vehicles, boats, personal watercraft, recreational vehicles, and listed off-road vehicles generally counts. The state may exempt another vehicle used mainly to earn income b… - More fraud checks for benefit recipients: mixed, low. Kansas shares lottery winners' Social Security or taxpayer identification numbers monthly for prizes exceeding $5,000. The benefits agency uses them only to check TANF, food assistance, and child care eligibility; winners' identities cannot be publicly disclosed. After a fourth replacement-card req… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Committee on Welfare Reform ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-04-23 | House | Yea: 31 Nay: 8 | pass | 31 | 8 | | | 2026-04-23 | House | Yea: 88 Nay: 35 | pass | 88 | 35 | | | 2026-04-23 | House | Yea: 37 Nay: 84 | fail | 37 | 84 | | | 2025-03-12 | Senate | Final Action - Passed | pass | 31 | 8 | | | 2025-02-11 | House | Committee of the Whole - Amendment by Rep. Suzanne Wikle was rejected | fail | 37 | 84 | | | 2025-02-11 | House | Emergency Final Action - Passed as amended | pass | 88 | 35 | | ## Actions (21) - 2025-04-10: Will become law without Governor's signature (House) - 2025-03-21: Enrolled and presented to Governor on Friday, March 21, 2025 (House) - 2025-03-12: Final Action - Passed; Yea 31, Nay 8, Absent 1 (Senate) - 2025-03-11: Committee of the Whole - Be passed (Senate) - 2025-03-04: Committee Report recommending bill be passed by Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare (Senate) - 2025-02-27: Hearing: Thursday, February 27, 2025, 8:30 AM — Room 142-S (Senate) - 2025-02-14: Referred to Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare (Senate) - 2025-02-13: Engrossed on Thursday, February 13, 2025 (House) - 2025-02-13: Received and Introduced (Senate) - 2025-02-11: Committee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted (House) - 2025-02-11: Committee of the Whole - Motion to Amend - Offered by Rep. Ford Carr (House) - 2025-02-11: Rep. Nick Hoheisel raised a question of germaneness. The amendment was ruled not germane (House) - 2025-02-11: Committee of the Whole - Motion to Amend - Offered by Rep. Suzanne Wikle (House) - 2025-02-11: Committee of the Whole - Amendment by Rep. Suzanne Wikle was rejected; Yea 37, Nay 84, Absent 4 (House) - 2025-02-11: Committee of the Whole - Be passed as amended (House) - 2025-02-11: Motion to advance to Emergency Final Action adopted (House) - 2025-02-11: Emergency Final Action - Passed as amended; Yea 88, Nay 35, Absent 2 (House) - 2025-01-27: Committee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by House Committee on Welfare Reform (House) - 2025-01-16: Introduced (House) - 2025-01-16: Referred to House Committee on Welfare Reform (House) - undated: Allowed to become law without signature; 2025 Kansas session laws, chapter 26 (Governor) ## Bill text - As Amended by House Committee on Welfare Reform: [PDF](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/hb_2027/hb2027_01_0000.pdf) - As Introduced: [PDF](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/hb_2027/hb2027_00_0000.pdf) - Enrolled: [PDF](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/hb_2027/hb2027_enrolled.pdf) ## Related bills - SB 430: Adding mitragynine to schedule I of the uniform controlled substances act and reconciling multiple amendments to certain statutes in the Kansas criminal code. (signed) - SB 82: Providing tax credits for expenditures for lockable gun and ammunition storage and the retail sale of higher ethanol blends of fuel, discontinuing the tax cred… (signed) - SB 300: Providing for the apportionment of business income by manufacturers of alcoholic liquor depending on whether the taxpayer is a qualifying Kansas investor or a… (signed) - HB 2029: Reconciling multiple amendments to certain statutes. (signed) - HB 2018: Senate Substitute for HB 2018 by Committee on Federal and State Affairs - Creating the crime of interference with the conduct of a religious assembly, providin… (became law) - HB 2036: Providing a Kansas income tax subtraction modification for certain amounts received as compensation for members of the armed forces. (failed) ## Sources - [As Amended by House Committee on Welfare Reform (PDF)](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/hb_2027/hb2027_01_0000.pdf) - [As Introduced (PDF)](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/hb_2027/hb2027_00_0000.pdf) - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/hb_2027/hb2027_enrolled.pdf) ## Related - [SB 430: Adding mitragynine to schedule I of the uniform controlled substances act and r…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-SB430-2025-2026) - [SB 82: Providing tax credits for expenditures for lockable gun and ammunition storage…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-SB82-2025-2026) - [SB 300: Providing for the apportionment of business income by manufacturers of alcoholi…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-SB300-2025-2026) - [HB 2029: Reconciling multiple amendments to certain statutes.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-HB2029-2025-2026) - [HB 2018: Senate Substitute for HB 2018 by Committee on Federal and State Affairs - Creat…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-HB2018-2025-2026) - [HB 2036: Providing a Kansas income tax subtraction modification for certain amounts rece…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-HB2036-2025-2026) - [Kansas bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/kansas/bills) - [Kansas state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/kansas) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-HB2027-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-17).