photo by: Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector

Rep. Barbara Ballard (center) of Lawrence speaking in the Kansas State Legislature. Ballard and all other Douglas County lawmakers will meet with local organizations on Thursday, Jan. 8 for a set of hearings ahead of the 2026 legislative session that hope to get the legislators and local groups "on the same page," according to Ballard.

Before the Kansas Legislature begins its work in 2026, Douglas County organizations will get to share their requests and concerns at local lawmakers’ annual pre-session hearings on Jan. 8.

The hearings at the University of Kansas’ Dole Institute of Politics will feature nine lawmakers whose districts lie partly or entirely in Douglas County: Democratic Sens. Marci Francisco and Patrick Schmidt; Republican Sens. Beverly Gossage and Rick Kloos; Democratic Reps. Mike Amyx, Barbara Ballard, Brooklynne Mosley and Suzanne Wikle; and Republican Rep. Lance Neelly.

Ballard told the Journal-World she’s been helping to lead the annual meetings for the past three decades, and she invites a variety of local stakeholders each year. Each group that’s invited normally has 15 minutes to share their concerns or current challenges with the lawmakers.

Many of the groups that share their priorities, such as Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center or Heartland Community Health Center, are organizations that receive state funding, and Ballard said they often use the opportunity to push for more of it. Other times, however, the meeting is more of a way to “create a dialogue” between the legislators and the stakeholders.

Some concerns come up “over and over again,” year after year, Ballard said, but not everybody has had decades of experience with the legislative process like Ballard has. She said that newer lawmakers may be less familiar with what constituents are asking for, and that if an organization has new leadership, they might not have a relationship with any of the local lawmakers yet. Ballard said these meetings can help build those relationships and show local organizations that their representatives are listening.

“It’s a way of saying, ‘We care about what your concerns are. We are here to represent you. Tell us what we don’t (currently) know that we should know,'” Ballard said.

Public education is one topic that always comes up, Ballard said, and she has allotted a longer, 30-minute time slot for the Lawrence school district at the upcoming meeting because K-12 education makes up over 50% of the state’s budget. Ballard also said she expects some discussion on property taxes, which are “way up on the list” of concerns.

One topic that’s been more and more frequently discussed in recent years is mental health and other social services, Ballard said. That’s especially true for those that serve youth, she said, and one of the organizations for which she advocated for more funding last year was in that field — the O’Connell Children’s Shelter. The need for services for younger populations has greatly increased all across the country, Ballard said, because children from Generation Z — especially those between 10 and 16 — have “never known peace” amid disruptions like COVID-19 and traumatic events like school shootings.

Additionally, a group of local independent pharmacies, which Ballard said in recent years have faced a “very difficult time” because of pressure from larger pharmacies, will speak with the delegation for the first time.

Ballard said federal issues will often “trickle down” to the state level, as well, and one that she expects will be brought up this year is inflation and the affordability issues it causes.

Even if the legislators have heard many of these concerns before, Ballard said having a meeting helps them better articulate the worries of their constituents when they advocate for action in Topeka. She said it also helps the delegation work better as a team, even though she said Douglas County’s legislators are already very close with one another. Having the entire group meet with local organizations is a way to get everyone “on the same page.”

The hearings will take place on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026 from 3 to 7:30 p.m. in the Simons Media Room at the Dole Institute, 2350 Petefish Drive.

photo by: Courtesy: Dole Institute

The Dole Institute of Politics on the West Campus of the University of Kansas.