SESSION OF 2019
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2037
As Amended by House Committee on Veterans
and Military

Brief*
HB 2037, as amended, would make changes to the
veterans benefit lottery game and establish the Veterans
Benefit Lottery Game Fund (Veterans Fund). The bill also
would make a proviso transferring $1,260,000 to the Veterans
Fund in FY 2020, passed by the 2018 Legislature, null and
void and would have no force and effect on and after the
effective date of the bill.

Expenditures and Appropriations
The Veterans Fund would be administered by the
Kansas Commission on Veterans’ Affairs Office (KCVAO). All
expenditures from the Veterans Fund would be made via
vouchers approved by the KCVAO or its designee, pursuant
to the provisions set out for the veterans benefit lottery game
in the Kansas Lottery Act. A provision related to Veterans
Fund moneys would be amended to remove the appropriation
to the Kansas National Guard Museum, as this obligation was
fulfilled on July 1, 2010. Moneys in the Veterans Fund would
continue to be appropriated for specific purposes related to
veterans as provided by law.

Transfers
On July 1 of each year, or as soon thereafter as moneys
are available, $2,000,000 from the Lottery Operating Fund
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org
would be transferred to the Veterans Fund. Beginning on July
1, 2020, or as soon thereafter as moneys are available, the
amount transferred to the Veterans Fund would increase at a
rate of 5.0 percent from the amount transferred in the
previous year.

Oversight
The House Committee on Veterans and Military or its
successor committee would review the provisions of this bill
beginning in 2024 and every five years thereafter.

Rules and Regulations
The bill would make the establishment of, and the
decision to make regular changes to the design or theme of,
a veterans benefit game by the Kansas Lottery Commission
(Commission) discretionary. Current law mandates such
establishment and regular design changes. The bill also
would make the adoption of rules and regulations governing a
veterans benefit game by the Commission discretionary
rather than mandatory.

Background
The bill was introduced by the House Committee on
Federal Affairs at the request of Representatives Pittman and
Gartner. The bill was withdrawn from the House Committee
on Federal Affairs and referred to the House Committee on
Veterans and Military.
In the House Committee on Veterans and Military
hearing, Representative Pittman, a representative from the
Kansas Adjutant General’s Department, the Executive
Director of the KCVAO, and a representative from the Kansas
Lottery testified in support of the bill, stating the desire to
make permanent similar provisions enacted by a budget
proviso in 2018 SB 109.
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 No neutral or opponent testimony was provided.
The House Committee amended the bill to make the
budget proviso enacted last session null and void on and
after the effective date of the bill.
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, as introduced, the Kansas Lottery
indicates enactment of the bill would reduce transfers from
the Lottery Operating Fund to the State General Fund (SGF)
by $800,000 in FY 2020. Furthermore, increasing the transfer
from the Lottery Operating Fund to the Veterans Fund by 5.0
percent year over year would result in lower ongoing
available balances to be transferred to SGF. The 2018
Legislature previously approved transfers into the Veterans
Fund totaling $1,260,000 in FY 2020, so enactment of the bill
would transfer an additional $2,000,000 in FY 2020, resulting
in a total transfer of $3,260,000 to the Veterans Fund.
The FY 2020 Governor’s Budget Report includes
making the Veterans Fund “no limit”; under current law, the
KCVAO could not spend more than $1,260,000 from the
Veterans Fund in FY 2020, regardless of how much money is
transferred to or from the Veterans Fund.


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Statutes affected:
As introduced: 74-8724, 74-8711
As Amended by House Committee: 74-8711, 74-8724