POLICY UPDATES

Legislative sessions are moving quickly in both Kansas and Missouri. Here are the latest updates on key bills and what they mean for communities across both states.

*Updated through March 19th, 2026 at 2pm

Kansas Policy Updates

With the first adjournment next week on March 27th, legislators in both chambers have been working bills, both in committees and on the floors of the Senate and House.

The new SB 522 bill, also known as the Kansas Medical Freedom Act has grown legs and started moving quickly through the legislative process and is likely to be on the Senate floor this week.

This bill would be harmful to the most vulnerable Kansans, like children and immunocompromised people as it would ban vaccine requirements to attend school or daycare, or to work in resident health care or health care facilities operated by public entities. We oppose this legislation and have urged Senators to oppose it as well.

Resources:

View the full SB 522 bill

More on SB 363, a work requirements bill REACH opposes that targets extremely low-income people enrolled in safety net programs like child care subsidies, food assistance, or Medicaid passed the Senate on March 5th, 25 in favor, 12 against. It had a hearing on March 12th on the House side and passed out of that committee March 17th by an extremely narrow margin of 7 in favor, 6 against.

Your advocacy is working! Call your Representative and tell them to vote no if and when it goes to the House floor.

Resources:

Message your representatives by filling out this form from the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas.

Also known as the CHIP fix bill for the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), has passed both the Senate and House unanimously.

The House changed the bill from what passed in the Senate. The Senate can concur to the change or, if not, they will need to form a conference committee. We support either iteration of the bill.

Resources:

View the full SB 271 bill

The House appropriations bill (HB 2434) includes a budget proviso that requires the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to implement the new vaccine schedule recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or lose funding. We sent a letter to our service area delegation expressing our opposition to this as vaccines for rotavirus, hepatitis A and B, meningococcal diseases, and COVID were removed and would harm Kansas kids and adults. We instead encourage following the American Academy of Pediatrics schedule for vaccines.

Resources:

View the full HB 2434 bill
Vaccines schedule (American Academy of Pediatrics)

MISSOURI POLICY UPDATES

Many covering the Missouri legislature are getting a chance to breathe this week as the legislative spring break is underway. Regular session will reconvene on March 23rd for the final sprint to the May 15th end-of-session deadline.

HJR 173 and HJR 174 is the legislation that would allow the Assembly to get rid of the state income tax by increasing sales taxes and expanding the sales tax to services.

These two were combined and passed out of the House Commerce committee on March 4th and were fast-tracked through the House where it ultimately passed 101 in favor and 49 opposed. It has crossed over now to the Senate where it will go through the committee process and REACH will oppose it there as well.

We know eliminating the state income tax will lead to cuts in health care, food assistance, and other safety net programs. An early analysis by the Missouri Budget Project shows how the $5 billion budget hole would impact local schools and the cuts they would have to make.

Resources:

View the full HJR 174 bill
Ill-Conceived Tax Proposals Would Increase Taxes for Most Missourians, Damage Communities and Economy (Missouri Budget Project)
Eliminating the income tax would create a $5 billion hole in Missouri’s budget, leading to cuts for local public schools. (Missouri Budget Project)

Last week, the Missouri House Budget Committee put forth a proposed $51 million cut to the child care subsidy, which is crucial for child and daycare facilities and working parents. Many of these cuts come from the ‘enhancements’ category which offer incentives to providers that support special needs children or provide non-typical service hours, such as overnight or on the weekend.

Resources:

Missouri budget committee pushes forward $51 million in cuts to childcare subsidy funds (KSHB 41 News)

We supported SB 1562, which would increase the funding for the 988 mental health crisis hotline through a small surcharge on telecommunications device or service transactions. the 988 hotline has seen increased usage since the nationwide launch and has been effective in helping people in a mental health crisis.

Resources:

View the full SB 1562 bill
Research Finds 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Effective (Psychology Today, June 2026)

HB 2592 restores the voting rights for individuals on probation and parole. There are about 60,000 Missourians with probatory or parolee status who cannot currently vote. We are supportive of this legislation. It has passed out of committee and is able to go to the full House at any time.

Resources:

View the full HB 2592 bill

There are a couple of broad “health care omnibus” bills – HB 2372 and SB 841 – that have components we support around doula services, telehealth, and contracting with the Department of Health and Senior Services for public health services. Both of these bills have had public hearings, with HB 2372 passing out of committee.

Resources:

View the full HB 2372 bill
View the full SB 841 bill

In our video update last week, we also focused on HJR 154 – a work requirements bill for safety net services like Medicaid or food assistance, similar to Kansas' except that it would go to a vote of the people and be placed in the Constitution if it passes. As Missouri moves to implement work requirements already included in the federal law, HR1, they are having to grapple with the almost $300 million price tag to do so. HJR 154 is more restrictive than HR1 and would cost the state even more. We are opposed to this legislation.

Resources:

View the full HJR 154 bill
Missouri Lawmakers Weigh $294M Price Tag to Carry Out New Federal Medicaid Rules (Missouri Independent)

Policy Shorts

Policy decisions at the state and federal level can shape access to health care, food assistance, childcare, and other essential services. In this Policy Shorts update, we share a quick look at the proposals and policy conversations we’re watching in Kansas and Missouri and what they could mean for communities across our region.

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