The Green Grab Reloaded: Slush Fund Lobbyists Keep Pushing and Some Legislators Keep Listening
The Nature Conservatory's group - Kansans for Conservation is hunting for $ from KS legislators to fill their Green New Deal Slush Fund
Kansas is broke by 2029 unless someone slams the brakes. That’s not hyperbole; it’s the Kansas Legislative Research Department’s own forecast. Since 2018, general-fund spending has exploded 64 %—more than double inflation—driven by court-mandated K-12 bloat, one-time COVID cash turned permanent, and a Democratic governor who’s added thousands of state employees at $100K–$125K apiece (salary + pension). The FY 2025 surplus? A mirage. A $930 million deficit looms by 2029, maybe sooner.
Every Republican gubernatorial candidate at the October 11 forum agreed:
“Kansas has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.” — Jeff Colyer, Joy Eakins, Ty Masterson, Scott Schwab, Philip Sarnecki
They’re calling for DOGE-style cuts, modernization, deregulation, and wresting K-12 funding from the Supreme Court. Colyer brags he axed 5,500 state jobs and three agencies without anyone noticing. Schwab wants every agency to modernize or shrink. Sarnecki says Kansas is hostile to startups—too much red tape, no population growth, yet a $10.5 billion budget bloat in seven years.
Enter the Audacity: HB 2063
While GOP leaders plan surgical cuts, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and its front group Kansans for Conservation are demanding a $60 million annual transfer straight from the State General Fund to a new State Conservation Fund. No voter approval. No offsets. Just pure taxpayer cash starting July 1, 2025.
The Heist, Step by Step:
Working Lands Conservation Fund = $30 Million - “NGO annual grants”
Wildlife Conservation Fund = $15 Million - “Bird habitat, invasive species, more conservation easements"
Kansas Outdoor Fund + $15 Million - “Trails, kayaking ramps, urban rec on rural lands”
6 new FTEs ($519K salaries) to “review grants.” No fee-simple buys—but voluntary easements that lock farmland forever. Matching federal funds to be prioritized—TNC’s specialty. Annual reports online—but zero voter veto power when NGO’s spend the money outside of voter’s eyes.
The Coalition: Same Faces, Same Playbook
Remember the January 2024 circus for HB 2541? 80 activists, zero farmers. Grassland Groupies, Kansas Land Trust, Audubon, all there to with stars in their eyes on the chance to lock up more Kansas farm land.
Now they’re back with “Coffee with the Coalition” on Wednesday, at the Governor’s Water Conference—sipping lattes while rolling out HB 2063 propaganda for 2026.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC): The Billion-Dollar Puppet Master
FY 2024 revenue: $1.8 billion
Assets: $8.2 billion
Major donors: Doris Duke ($55M), Wyss ($18.6M), corporate green new deal money washers
Kansas goal: Convert working farms into “native grasslands” for birds, not crops
The Real Cost
$60M/year yanked from schools, roads, tax relief
6 new bureaucrats while we must reduce the size of state government
Property taxpayers (70 % rural) foot the bill while urban birders get free trails
JOIN THE FIGHT
Rising States of America just launched Kansans Against the Green Scam to expose and stop this insanity.
👉 Sign the petition NOW:
👉 Visit the hub: www.ksgreenscam.com
PS: Tell Ducks Unlimited: “I’m out unless you ditch TNC’s land-grab coalition.”