Landwehr may get Medicaid fight in her return to Legislature

Brenda Landwehr, Wichita’s once and future state representative, could find herself at the heart of the brewing debate over Medicaid expansion when she returns to the Statehouse next month after a four-year hiatus.

Incoming House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr. picked Landwehr on Thursday to serve as the next chairwoman of the House Social Services Budget Committee, a position she held for four years from 2003 to 2006.

The committee is a little-known but powerful Statehouse panel that holds significant sway over expenditures in physical and mental health services, foster care and other social programs.

In the upcoming session, one of the biggest issues the Legislature could grapple with is whether to expand Medicaid.

Some lawmakers want it to cover uninsured working-poor people who make too much money to be eligible for the current Medicaid program but too little to qualify for subsidized health insurance through the federal Affordable Care Act.

The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates about 56,000 Kansans fall into that gap.

Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer said Thursday in an e-mail that he thinks changes are coming nationally to the Affordable Care Act and the state should wait before making any moves to expand Medicaid.

Landwehr said she hasn’t been told yet whether her committee will be assigned to handle Medicaid expansion, but it would be a likely destination because the Health and Human Services Committee is expected to have a busy schedule of bills.

Landwehr opposes Medicaid expansion. Although the federal government has committed to paying 90 percent of the cost, Landwehr said she thinks the state still can’t afford it.

“You can’t add things right now when you’re trying to figure out how to fund what you currently have in place,” she said.

While Medicaid expansion has been a nonstarter for the past few years at the Statehouse, it may get new life with an influx of moderate Republicans elected last month.

Landwehr said Ryckman called and asked her to take the committee assignment.

“I didn’t expect to get a chairmanship,” she said. “He (Ryckman) said, ‘Well, I just don’t really have anyone with experience on it, and you’ve got it.’ ”

Foster care, the subject of another longtime battle at the Capitol, is also likely to come before the committee, Landwehr said.

Some parents have complained for years that the state takes too many children into the foster care system, while parents who provide foster care have complained about not getting enough support from the state to care for them.

“I know that foster care folks on both sides aren’t happy with some things, so we’ll definitely look at that,” Landwehr said.

In her first tour, Landwehr served in the House from 1995 to 2012. She was voted out after redistricting made her district more Democrat-friendly. Landwehr moved and ran successfully this year to replace Rep. Mark Hutton, R-Wichita, who decided not to seek re-election.

Other Wichita-area representatives assigned committee chairmanships include: Les Osterman, Veterans and Military Affairs; Pete DeGraaf, Government, Technology and Security; Dan Hawkins, Health and Human Services, and Joe Seiwert, Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications.

This story was originally published December 15, 2016 at 7:43 PM with the headline "Landwehr may get Medicaid fight in her return to Legislature."