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HB 2113

Solar Interconnection Grant Program; established, sunset, report.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Elizabeth Bennett-Parker and 2 co-sponsors

HB 2113 creates a protected State Conservation Fund to support conservation districts and water-quality sampling, funded by a new annual SGF transfer and boosted SWPF grants.

House sustained Governor's veto
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Bill Summary · HB 2113

HB 2113 — Summary (Kansas, 2025 session)

Status summary
- Introduced: Jan 27, 2025 (House Committee on Water, requested by Rep. Minnix).
- Most recent committee action: As amended by House Committee on Water (reduced the conservation transfer); withdrawn from Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources and referred to Committee on Ways and Means.
- Effective date: upon publication in the Kansas Register.
- Limited provisions in the bill expire July 1, 2028 (see “Expiration” below).

Purpose and intent
HB 2113 creates a dedicated State Conservation Fund (SC Fund) to support conservation districts and domestic water-quality sampling, and it temporarily increases annual transfers from the State General Fund (SGF) to the State Water Plan Fund (SWPF) to expand water- and infrastructure-related grants and technical assistance.

Key provisions
1. State Conservation Fund (new)
- Establishes the State Conservation Fund in the State Treasury.
- On July 1, 2025, and each July 1 thereafter (as moneys are available), the Director of Accounts and Reports shall transfer $2,500,000 from the SGF to the SC Fund (bill originally proposed $5.0M; House Committee amendment reduced to $2.5M).
- SC Fund uses:
- Provide matching grants at a ratio of $2 of state moneys to $1 of non‑state/private moneys.
- Fund or provide domestic water-quality sampling.
- Division of Conservation (Kansas Department of Agriculture, KDA) must:
- Adopt rules to administer SC Fund expenditures (with stakeholder input).
- Provide aggregate domestic water-quality sampling data to the Kansas Geological Survey.
- Legislative intent: SC Fund is to remain intact for these purposes and is not subject to specified allotment/transfer statutes. Funds must supplement — not supplant — existing KDA appropriations.

  1. Enhanced transfers to State Water Plan Fund (amendment to K.S.A. 82a‑955)

    • Increases the scheduled SGF transfer to the SWPF to $55.0 million on July 1, 2025, and requires transfers of $55.0 million on July 1, 2026 and July 1, 2027 (up from $35.0M in current law).
    • Of each $55.0M transfer, the bill requires:
      • $7.0 million to be transferred to the Water Technical Assistance Fund.
      • $18.0 million to be transferred to the Water Projects Grant Fund.
    • The increased transfers are in addition to existing statutory transfers that are not replaced by this bill.

  2. Administration, reporting, and limits

    • The bill directs distribution priorities (including encouragement of projects with non‑state match and stockwatering conservation projects).
    • Section 2 (enhanced SWPF transfers and the special sub‑fund allocations) contains an expiration: on July 1, 2028, balances in the Water Technical Assistance Fund and Water Projects Grant Fund revert to the SWPF and those two funds are abolished.

Who/what would be affected
- Kansas Department of Agriculture (Division of Conservation): administers SC Fund, rulemaking, data reporting; KDA estimates need for 1.0 FTE to manage program.
- Conservation districts: eligible for matching funds and for required domestic water-quality sampling (and would be asked to provide aggregate data).
- Kansas Water Office and Kansas Water Authority: receive and administer larger SWPF allocations and grants/technical assistance.
- Kansas Department of Health and Environment and other state agencies: may receive additional SWPF‑funded projects/grants.
- Municipalities, rural water systems, nonprofit project sponsors, and private partners: potential recipients of grants and matches; encouraged to provide non‑state matching funds.

Fiscal effects (high‑level)
- Amended bill requires an annual $2.5M SGF → SC Fund transfer beginning FY2026 (originally $5.0M in earlier drafts). KDA estimated the program administration would cost roughly $95,452 (1.0 FTE) plus the transfer amount.
- Increasing SGF → SWPF transfers from $35M to $55M (for FY2026–FY2028) raises SWPF receipts by $20M annually over current law; KDHE and Kansas Water Office anticipate additional grant and program expenditures (KDHE estimated ~$20M in additional SWPF expenditures, allocated across agencies).
- The bill does not repeal existing SGF/Economic Development Fund transfers to the SWPF.

Procedural / timeline notes
- Transfers scheduled on July 1, 2025, 2026, 2027 (SC Fund transfers recur annually thereafter).
- Section 2 provisions expire July 1, 2028 (reverting and abolishing two sub‑funds at that time).
- The bill was amended to reduce the SC Fund transfer from $5.0M to $2.5M per year; earlier fiscal note materials reflect the original $5.0M proposal.

Implications — summary
HB 2113 creates a new, protected funding stream to support conservation districts and statewide domestic water‑quality monitoring (via matching and sampling), while temporarily boosting state funding for water technical assistance and project grants through increased transfers into the State Water Plan Fund. The bill requires state and local coordination (data reporting, rules, matching) and would have modest administrative costs for KDA plus larger, targeted increases to water‑related grant funding statewide.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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