Governor Laura Kelly signed the state’s budget Friday.

 House Bill 2184 allocates funding for Fiscal Years 2023, 2024, and 2025. The budget adds $600 million to the Rainy Day Fund, putting the balance at $1.6 billion. The bill saves taxpayers money by paying off the remaining $53 million for reservoir debt at Milford and Perry Lakes, saving taxpayers nearly $30 million in future interest payments. The budget also pays in cash for the state’s share of the proposed new veterans home in Topeka, saving close to $10 million in interest.

 The bill also grows the Kansas workforce by providing over $20 million in new funding for need-based scholarships, allowing more Kansas kids to affordably attend college. The Governor’s budget also makes investments in community colleges by appropriating $14 million to advance technical education and grow partnerships between business and education. It also provides over $150 million in new funding for state universities to advance initiatives critical to the Kansas economy and workforce, including developing new manufacturing training facilities at Kansas State University and Pittsburg State University, providing cybersecurity and teacher training at Emporia State, and funding the joint Wichita Biomedical Campus at Wichita State University and the University of Kansas.

Kelly also line-item vetoed aspects of the budget. More information and veto messages are available here.