A key lawmaker on Tuesday demanded answers about higher education spending he said was “questionable,” including money spent on a chauffeur service and revitalizing downtowns out of state.
Republican state Rep. Troy Waymaster, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, questioned the spending that was collected by the speaker pro tem’s office.
The office announced the flagged spending in September but didn’t release details.
Waymaster gave some insight into that spending when he questioned about $306,000 in university expenses during a meeting of the special state budget committee as it reviewed the Board of Regents’ proposed spending plan for 2026 and 2027.
The questioned spending, which occurred in fiscal year 2024, included:
- $9,800 for tour guides in the Dominican Republic.
- $17,000 for a sleep stories consultant.
- $98,000 to revitalize municipal downtowns in Colorado.
- $27,500 for chauffeur service in KC.
- $133,000 to a gourmet coffee vendor.
- $21,000 to a movie licensing company for a movie night.
“I would think the Kansas Board of Regents needs to enlighten us as to exactly why the institutions decided to spend some of this money and where the money actually derived from,” Waymaster said.
“I am curious to find out if the Kansas Board of Regents continues to have these expenditures,” Waymaster said.
A spokesperson for the Board of Regents said the agency could not respond Tuesday since it had not yet been provided with the list of transactions that were referenced during the budget committee meeting.
“When we receive that information from the Legislature, we will look into those items, but until then we don’t have any information to comment further,” Matt Keith said.
Waymaster declined to detail what state universities spent that money until they had a chance to explain the expenses to the committee.
The speaker’s pro tem’s office did not clarify the questionable spending Tuesday.
No other details about the questioned expenses were available.
In September, the speaker pro tem’s office said it identified “hundreds of millions of dollars”
in questionable spending across several agencies and Kansas governmental entities during fiscal year 2024.
The spending data was found using the Statewide Management, Accounting and Reporting Tool System, which tracks finances and procurement in state agencies.
