Chair Alley opened the hearing on SB 334.

Staff provided a brief overview of the bill. (Attachment 1)

Rachel Monger, President/CEO, LeadingAge Kansas spoke in favor of the bill. (Attachment 2) The narrowly tailored bill addresses a critical bottleneck in Kansas' nursing workforce pipeline by creating reasonable flexibility in nurse faculty hiring standards- without lowering educational or quality expectations.

Kelly  Sommers, BSN, RN (Retired), spoke in opposition to the bill. (Attachment 3) Ms Sommers opposes the bill due to decreased educational standards for an  Associate Degree in Nursing.

Written testimony in opposition from:

Lori Shank, Director of the Registered Nursing program at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas. (Attachment 4)

Carol Moore, PhD, MN, BSN, Associate Dean (retired), Baker University Graduate Nursing Program, Advance Practice Registered Nurse (retired) (Attachment 5)

Carol Moreland, MSN, RN, Executive Administrator, Kansas State Board of Nursing provided Neutral written testimony. (Attachment 6)

Chair Alley closed the hearing on SB 334.

The next meeting is February 3, 2026. The meeting was adjourned 2:04 pm.