icymi: Action in Oregon
Kansas veto override, Alaska moves forward, Ohio unappropriated
icymi: Action in Oregon
On late Friday, Oregon published 12 non-competitive awards.
Tomorrow Oregon will host a webinar on the competitive Catalyst Awards:
On April 14, 2026, OHA will host an informational webinar on the Request for Grant Proposals (RFGP) process for the Catalyst Awards that will be offered by the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP).
Webinar Information
Date: April 14, 2026
Time: 12:00-1:00PM PST (1:00PM-2:00PM MST)
Platform: Teams Webinar
Legislative Watch
Kansas veto override
The Senate restored 10 line-item vetoes on a 28–11 vote, while Alaska’s operating budget advanced to third reading and the supplemental appropriations bill took effect.
Kansas HB2513: The Senate voted 28–11 to override 10 of Governor Kelly’s line-item vetoes on the mega-appropriations bill, restoring funding in Sections 26(a), 53(b), 54(w), 54(u), 78(dd), 81(h), 88(k), 96(d), 153, and 155. Kelly had used her line-item authority to strike more than 30 provisions from the budget, including a 4.4% pay raise for state legislators, a 1.5% across-the-board cut to selected agencies, and a $50 million taxpayer-backed loan to Yingling Aviation. The override restores a subset of those items — the House must still vote to sustain the overrides for them to take effect. Kansas Reflector
Kansas has a separate dedicated RHTP bill (HB 2463) establishing the Rural Health Transformation Fund in the State Treasury, but HB2513 sets the broader fiscal framework. Whether the overridden sections include rural health-adjacent spending requires review of the specific line items — the veto session focused primarily on education, mental health, and agency spending authority. Lawrence Journal-World
The bill is law; the override process is ongoing in the House.
Alaska advances
Alaska HB263: The FY2027 operating budget has automatically advanced to third reading on the House floor — the final procedural step before a floor vote. Alaska’s $272 million annual RHTP award requires this budget to establish spending authority, and separately, lawmakers introduced licensure compact bills (SB 281/HB 352) on April 10 as RHTP prerequisites, though sponsors acknowledged passage isn’t the immediate goal. Alaska’s News Source
Alaska must pass enabling legislation by December 31, 2027 to keep its full $1.36 billion federal award. Alaska Public Media
HB263 is positioned for a House floor vote.
Alaska HB289: The supplemental appropriations bill signed April 2 is now fully effective — effective dates are set per chapter. No further legislative action required. Alaska Beacon
Ohio is still unappropriated
Ohio HB730: The capital reappropriations bill for the biennium ending June 30, 2028, signed by the Governor with operating appropriations effective March 31 and capital appropriations effective June 30. The bill passed the House 66–29 and the Senate 24–7, meeting a hard March 31 deadline for passage. Ohio Legislature
What makes HB730 relevant to the RHTP is what didn’t survive. The Senate Finance Committee added amendments that would have appropriated approximately $404 million in federal rural health funding — covering Ohio’s $202 million FY2026 RHTP award and presumably a second year’s allocation. Those amendments were pulled on the Senate floor Wednesday to avoid jeopardizing the must-pass reappropriations bill. Speaker Matt Huffman said he had been under the impression the chambers were in agreement on the rural health language, but that wasn’t the case when it reached a full Senate vote — so the cleanest path was to strip the amendments and deal with RHTP appropriations separately. ZHF Consulting
Ohio’s $202 million FY2026 RHTP award remains unappropriated at the state level. The Ohio Department of Health director outlined priorities in February — including $92 million for Rural Health Innovation Hubs and Clinically Integrated Networks, $21.1 million for rural school-based health centers, and $13.5 million for workforce programs — but advocates note the funding is not enough to offset concurrent federal Medicaid cuts affecting the same rural communities. Ohio Capital Journal
HB730 is now law, but without the RHTP language. Watch for a standalone RHTP appropriations bill — Ohio’s $202 million is sitting in federal limbo until the legislature acts.