Budget committee trims five long‑vacant Kansas Lottery FTEs, approves budget with amendment
January 17, 2026 | Committee on General Government Budget , Standing, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committees, Legislative, Kansas
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The Committee on General Government Budget voted to remove five FTE positions from the Kansas Lottery’s 2026 and 2027 staffing totals and then approved the Lottery’s budget with the committee amendment.
Representative Jacob Turk led the motion to delete “the five positions that have been open for a year or or more,” citing vacancies such as the internal auditor and information systems administrator that, he said, have been open for years. KLRD analyst Molly told the committee the agency’s total FTE count was 91 with three long‑term vacancies; the chair cited a December work‑location report listing 80 active employees. Turk argued that the committee should “delete it” where positions have been unfilled long enough rather than adding new FTEs elsewhere.
KLRD and staff clarified that deleting FTE lines removes staffing authorizations from the approved budget but does not immediately deny an agency the ability to re‑create positions in a future year; any re‑additions would have to be justified to the committee during the next budget cycle. Staff also said the Lottery was not requesting new positions and that the deletions would not change fee fund spending authority.
Before the motion, KLRD provided fund balance details: the Veterans Benefit Lottery Game Fund showed ending balances of about $1.2 million (FY2021), $1.4 million (FY2022), $1.8 million (FY2023), $938,000 (FY2024) and $433,000 (FY2025). The Expanded Lottery Act Revenue Fund had zero reported balances in earlier years but showed small amounts in 2024 ($150,000) and FY2025 ($156,000); KLRD said an accounting issue likely caused recent nonzero balances and the Division of Budget was working to correct that to zero going forward.
After a voice vote, the committee approved the motion to delete five FTEs and then accepted the Kansas Lottery budget as amended.
What’s next: Committee staff will expect agencies to justify any future requests to recreate FTE slots at the next budget review, and members asked KLRD to keep providing reconciled headcount snapshots for future hearings.
Representative Jacob Turk led the motion to delete “the five positions that have been open for a year or or more,” citing vacancies such as the internal auditor and information systems administrator that, he said, have been open for years. KLRD analyst Molly told the committee the agency’s total FTE count was 91 with three long‑term vacancies; the chair cited a December work‑location report listing 80 active employees. Turk argued that the committee should “delete it” where positions have been unfilled long enough rather than adding new FTEs elsewhere.
KLRD and staff clarified that deleting FTE lines removes staffing authorizations from the approved budget but does not immediately deny an agency the ability to re‑create positions in a future year; any re‑additions would have to be justified to the committee during the next budget cycle. Staff also said the Lottery was not requesting new positions and that the deletions would not change fee fund spending authority.
Before the motion, KLRD provided fund balance details: the Veterans Benefit Lottery Game Fund showed ending balances of about $1.2 million (FY2021), $1.4 million (FY2022), $1.8 million (FY2023), $938,000 (FY2024) and $433,000 (FY2025). The Expanded Lottery Act Revenue Fund had zero reported balances in earlier years but showed small amounts in 2024 ($150,000) and FY2025 ($156,000); KLRD said an accounting issue likely caused recent nonzero balances and the Division of Budget was working to correct that to zero going forward.
After a voice vote, the committee approved the motion to delete five FTEs and then accepted the Kansas Lottery budget as amended.
What’s next: Committee staff will expect agencies to justify any future requests to recreate FTE slots at the next budget review, and members asked KLRD to keep providing reconciled headcount snapshots for future hearings.
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