Division of the Budget
Landon State Office Building Phone: (785) 296-2436
900 SW Jackson Street, Room 504 larry.campbell@ks.gov
Topeka, KS 66612 Division of the Budget http://budget.kansas.gov
Larry L. Campbell, Director Laura Kelly, Governor


May 7, 2019


The Honorable Jim Kelly, Chairperson
House Committee on Financial Institutions and Pensions
Statehouse, Room 581-W
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Representative Kelly:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for HB 2218 by House Committee on Financial Institutions and
Pensions
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning HB 2218 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
HB 2218 would change legislator pay, beginning January 11, 2021. On and after that date,
legislators would receive compensation of $35,000 per year during his or her term of office.
Additionally, legislators serving in leadership positions would continue to receive additional
compensation, including $14,039 per year for the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House
of Representatives; $7,165 for the Speaker Pro Tem of the House of Representatives, the Vice
President of the Senate, and the assistant majority and minority leaders of the Senate and House
of Representatives; $11,290 for the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means and
the House Committee of Appropriations; and $12,666 for the majority and minority leaders of the
Senate and the House of Representatives.
In addition, no legislator on or after January 11, 2021 would be a member of KPERS under
the provisions of HB 2218. Any member of the Legislature serving a term that commences prior
to January 11, 2021, would receive accrued KPERS benefits at the appropriate time, but would
cease to be active members on that date. The bill would also eliminate additional compensation
and subsistence expenditures for legislators when the Legislature is not in session.
According to Legislative Administrative Services, the enactment of the bill would cost
approximately $927,000 from the State General Fund more in salary expenditures than the rate of
salary, subsistence, legislative allowance, and mileage costs that occurred during FY 2018. The
agency estimates that the projected costs of salary and wages (including fringe benefits) would
cost $6.2 million under the provisions of HB 2218. For FY 2018, the agency reports that $5.3
million was spent on salary, subsistence, legislative allowance, and mileage expenditures, which
is a difference of approximately $927,000.
The Honorable Jim Kelly, Chairperson
Page 2—HB 2218

KPERS reports that its consulting actuary competed a cost study on freezing legislator
benefits as of December 31, 2017, for a separate project. Because the size and general
demographic makeup of the legislator group is not expected to change significantly before January
11, 2021, the agency used data from this separate project for the fiscal effect of the bill. Because
benefits would be frozen after this date, a large portion of the existing liability for legislators would
remain in place after KPERS membership would be closed to legislators. KPERS estimates the
unfunded actuarial liability would increase by approximately $100,000. The estimated change in
the employer contribution rate would increase by 0.04 percentage points beginning in FY 2023.
However, the statutory rates for FY 2023 are not certified until the December 31, 2019 actuarial
valuation. The agency estimates that the estimated contribution increase from the additional rate
would cost approximately $300,000 in FY 2023. Any fiscal effect associated with HB 2218 is not
reflected in The FY 2020 Governor’s Budget Report.


Sincerely,

Larry L. Campbell
Director of the Budget


cc: Karen Clowers, Legislative Services
Jarod Waltner, KPERS


Statutes affected:
As introduced: 46-137a, 46-137b, 46-137e, 75-3212, 74-4902, 74-4991