The White House is praising Kansas lawmakers for making good on the president’s priorities, including a bill that struggled to pass that imposed certain restrictions on public assistance.
The letter was sent to Senate President Ty Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins on May 1 and speaks to Kansas lawmakers overall.
Some are hopeful that the letter could be a prelude to President Donald Trump endorsing Masterson in the run up to the Aug. 4 Republican primary.
“We applaud your dedication to deliver on President Trump’s priorities and your leadership and courage you showed in enacting many priorities via veto override,” wrote Alex Meyer, deputy assistant to the president
and director of The White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
“Your leadership has positioned Kansas as a model for other states to deliver conservative forward-thinking results,” Meyer wrote.
“Your willingness to take on complex challenges and pursue meaningful reforms does not go unnoticed,” he wrote.
“These efforts are critical to ensuring long-term prosperity and opportunity, and we are grateful for your continued partnership in delivering results for the American people,” he said.
Meyer said the Legislature passed bill that will” root out waste, fraud, and abuse, provide expanded educational freedom for all Kansans, and deliver transformational reforms while protecting Kansans’ hard-earned taxpayer dollars.”
Meyer didn’t address any specific legislation, but the White House took an interest in a bill that Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed that prohibits the state from allowing public assistance beneficiaries to self-attest without verification of certain criteria to be eligible for benefits, including income, residency, age and household composition.
The bill also required the Department for Children and Families and the secretary of the Department of Health and Environment to enter into data-matching agreements with state agencies to compare data related to individuals and households applying for or receiving food or medical assistance.
It also requires the state to seek federal approval to establish continuous Medicaid eligibility protections for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, something that opponents of the bill said would still happen regardless of whether or not the veto was overridden.
The day before the Legislature overrode the governor’s veto, the White House issued a memo saying it “strongly” supported the bill.
The memo, authored by Meyer, said the bill advanced “policies that promote greater accountability, transparency and responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources.”
“By strengthening oversight and improving program integrity, this legislation helps ensure that public resources are directed to those who truly need them while reducing opportunities for waste, fraud and abuse,” the memo said.
“These reforms are consistent with our broader efforts to support working families, safeguard the sustainability of critical programs and empower states to implement commonsense solutions tailored to their communities.
“Kansas continues to demonstrate leadership in advancing thoughtful, fiscally responsible policy and HB 2731 is an important step in that direction,” the memo said.
The Legislature ultimately overrode the governor’s veto, 84-39 in the House and 29-10 in the Senate. The House had the minimum number of votes needed to override the veto.
The Legislature also overrode the governor’s veto of a bill that allowed Kansans to participate in in a federal program where individuals can claim up to $1,700 in federal tax credits for contributions to organizations that give scholarships to students to attend private and public schools.
The Senate voted 29-10 for the override. The House voted 85-38 for the override.
The federal program is similar to one in Kansas. There was an effort to expand the state program, but the governor vetoed that bill, too. The Legislature was unable to expand the scope of the state program.
“I’m proud the Kansas Senate delivered what the Trump Administration called a ‘model for other states,” Masterson said in a statement.
“From day one, our mission was clear: advance President Trump’s America First agenda right here in Kansas.
“We strengthened election integrity, protected law enforcement, expanded parental freedom in education, and cracked down on waste, fraud, and abuse in government programs.
“We didn’t just talk about it. We delivered. As senate president, I was proud to lead that fight. As governor, we’ll take it even further,” he said.
There are five major candidates running for governor, including three who are running to be a closely aligned with Trump as much as possible.
A Trump endorsement could prove to be pivotal in the GOP primary next year just like it did in 2018, when it was widely credited with giving the nomination to Kris Kobach over then Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer.
Colyer staked out a position as a staunch campaign Trump supporter early on in the current campaign, endorsing him for president as early as 2023.
A nonproft social welfare group called Kansas 1st Inc. that supports Colyer also held an event celebrating the first 100 days of Trump’s second term in office.
“I am running for governor because Kansas needs a strong, competent, conservative governor who’s going to stand shoulder to shoulder with President Trump,” Colyer said during a Republican forum last fall.
Masterson, meanwhile, parted ways with Kansas City-based Axiom Strategies in favor of a new team of consultants who have done work for President Donald Trump.
The Masterson team includes general consultant Ryan Smith, who runs a firm based in Tallahassee, Florida, called Rapid Loop Consulting.
The firm was founded by James Blair, the White House deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs.
The campaign’s pollster is Tony Fabrizio, who has worked as the chief pollster on five presidential campaigns, including Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns.
Fabrizio has been characterized as a longtime Trump ally who has been part of the president’s political apparatus for years.
Fabrizio was a top consultant for MAGA Inc., a super PAC that was created to get Trump elected in 2024.
Johnson County businessman Philip Sarnecki has billed himself as an outsider similar to Trump when he was elected in 2016.
He has been calling on the Legislature to draw new congressional boundaries – something Colyer called for publicly last August – like Trump wanted to do last year.
