By TIM CARPENTER
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Kansas Action For Children Adrian Orenik knows children who endure without the benefits of sustainable food sources, quality early childhood education and routine medical care.
Her job is to look straight into the eyes of politicians in the 2022 Kansas Parliament, despite the state’s extraordinary budget surplus, and make decisions that don’t always put poor children on the agenda. Requested.
“I want you to have a conversation that you’ve ignored for the last few years,” Olesinic said in a Kansas reflector podcast. “Too many uninsured children. Too many children are hungry.”
Let’s take a look at three statistics that motivate Olejnik. 86,000 under the age of 6 have not received licensed childcare, 43,000 did not have health insurance in 2019 before the COVID-19 outbreak, and 1 in 6 face food insecurity. doing.
“We’re sitting in the black on that budget. They want to be cautious and a little spartan, they’re always in a hurry to cut taxes, but they’re still in a hurry to invest in kids. So, if I had a magic wand, they would really think about their role for our next generation, “said Olesinic, vice president of Kansas Action For Children. ..
A non-partisan, non-profit organization based in Topeka, KAC is working with local organizations, state policy makers and other supporters to make a difference in the lives of children throughout Kansas. Their quest is to build a state of care, education, and resources for all children to thrive.
Parliament drafts a bill for the welfare of children each year, but KAC believes that legislators frequently settle to maintain the status quo. Parliament in 2022 resolved to hold hundreds of millions of dollars in reserves. This will be available for future investment rather than having an immediate impact.
“As you know, the family is alive now. It’s not always prosperous,” said Jessica Herrera Russell of Kansas Action For Children.
The House and Senate agreed to reduce the state food sales tax from 6.5% to 4% on January 1, 2023. As a result, on January 1, 2025, some of the state’s sales tax will be zero.
“When the first cuts begin, it will … help with these rising costs of food inflation,” Russell said. “Hopefully the money can be returned to the family’s pocket.”
Congress has passed an economic development bill that features increased employer childcare tax credits. Since 2012, it has been limited to certain types of businesses. In the future, companies of all kinds will be able to roll out credits to improve the affordability and availability of workers’ childcare.
Olejnik said a wave of organizations and individuals who appealed to Congress to amend state law to increase access to programs designed to help workers struggling to secure childcare.
“This is one of the successes of this session,” said Olejnik. “Companies can support their employees by providing on-site childcare, but some companies here in Kansas do that, and they can also subsidize their childcare costs. , They can make some contributions to make it more affordable. “
The legislature has refused to extend Medicaid’s qualifications to more than 100,000 people in Kansas under the Affordable Care Act. The governor recommended expansion. Opinion polls show that most Kansas support the expansion of KanCare to low-income households, but resistance remains among some Republican lawmakers. They argued that this program could be too expensive, or that creating a larger qualification program was not good for Kansas.
Olesinic said the state should expand the category of people covered by Medicaid and invest more in providing Medicaid services to people with disabilities on the waiting list.
Despite the veto from Kelly, the legislature has approved a bill banning the Governor of the Democratic Party from rewriting a $ 4 billion annual contract with three commercial insurers that provide KanCare services across the state. .. The law was controversial as individuals, groups, businesses, and lobbyists did not move forward to claim ownership of the bill.
Olejnik said the current contract with the KanCare provider was inadequate as it did not require disclosure of important information regarding the availability and quality of services to children.
However, the legislature has adopted a bill to add Kansas to the new federal program, raising Medicaid’s coverage of postpartum depression from the current two months after birth to twelve months after birth. It was nominated by Kelly in January, and the House and Senate included the words needed for the state’s new budget.
“We know that when mothers are healthy, their babies are healthy,” Russell said. “They are on the right path to betting on their medical needs, so this was really important.”
