Division of the Budget
Landon State Office Building Phone: (785) 296-2436
900 SW Jackson Street, Room 504 adam.c.proffitt@ks.gov
Topeka, KS 66612 Division of the Budget http://budget.kansas.gov
Adam Proffitt, Director Laura Kelly, Governor


February 17, 2021


The Honorable Larry Alley, Chairperson
Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs
Statehouse, Room 136-E
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Senator Alley:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for SB 184 by Senator Corson
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning SB 184 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
Current law allows any registered voter that has a permanent disability or illness that has
been diagnosed as a permanent illness to make an application for permanent advance voting status.
SB 184 would remove those restrictions to allow any registered voter to make an application for
permanent advance voting status.
According to the Secretary of State, enactment of SB 184 would require the agency to make
changes to training manuals and programs, develop new forms and make changes to voting and
educational materials provided to the general public. These changes could be made using existing
resources.
The agency indicates that enactment of SB 184 would cause additional costs to the county
election offices since voters who are on permanent advance voting lists rarely update mailing
addresses to keep them current. Ballots must be sent as non-forwardable and when these ballots
are returned, the post office charges a fee for each ballot. The agency anticipates that each county
will see a dramatic increase in the number of ballots returned and the amount of fees paid to the
postal service. The fees would vary according to county and election; however, they would be
permanent and additional costs for every election in every county. The Secretary of State is unable
to estimate what these costs might be.
The Kansas Association of Counties indicates that there could be some fiscal effect initially
from needing to process additional voter applications, however, that effect would be reduced as
there would not be a need to process as many applications during the ensuing election cycles. It
The Honorable Larry Alley, Chairperson
Page 2—SB 184

is possible that a ballot could be lost in the mail causing a voter to need to vote in person, casting
a provisional ballot; however, the election offices already plan for a percentage of these ballots, so
the effect should be minimal.


Sincerely,

Adam Proffitt
Director of the Budget

cc: Sandy Tompkins, Office of the Secretary of State
Jay Hall, Association of Counties


Statutes affected:
As introduced: 25-1122, 25-1122d