A little-known section of Kansas's budget bill creates direct funding opportunities for small developers—including those building housing near your salon.
Most salon and personal care owners in Kansas don't realize that a provision buried in the state's budget bill—HB2513—creates a direct funding source that could reshape real estate decisions in their communities.
Here's why it matters: the availability of affordable housing near your salon affects your ability to recruit and retain staff. When employees can't find moderate-income housing within a reasonable distance, turnover increases and hiring becomes harder. A new state funding stream now makes it easier for small developers to build that housing—and that changes the calculus for salon owners thinking about location, expansion, or long-term viability in smaller Kansas communities.
Section 65 of HB2513 appropriates $6,000,000 in grant funds for moderate income housing development. The Kansas Department of Commerce administers these grants. Critically, at least 50% of the funds must go to rural communities—meaning smaller Kansas towns are the primary target.
The provision also explicitly makes small for-profit and nonprofit builders and developers eligible to receive these funds through a companion housing revolving loan program (Section 67). This is not a program limited to large developers or government agencies. Small, local construction companies and development firms can apply.
For salon owners, this means: if you're in a rural area or small community, there's now state-backed capital available to help developers build the moderate-income housing stock that your employees need. That housing development, in turn, can stabilize your labor market and make your location more attractive to job candidates.
The funds become available July 1, 2026, and are appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027. This is not a permanent program—it's a one-time appropriation tied to this budget cycle. If you're considering a salon location or expansion in a rural Kansas community, the next 12 months is the window when these funds will be actively deployed.
If you're evaluating a salon location in a smaller Kansas town, ask local economic development officials whether any housing projects are in the pipeline using these grants. A community with active housing development is a community investing in its future workforce stability.
If you're already established in a rural area, this funding creates an opportunity to engage with local developers and municipal leaders about housing needs. The more specific you can be about what your employees need—price point, location, timeline—the more useful that information becomes when developers are pitching projects to the Department of Commerce.
The provision is technical and buried in a 200+ page appropriations bill, which is why most business owners haven't heard about it. But for salon owners in rural Kansas, it represents a concrete state investment in the housing infrastructure that affects your business.
Source: HB2513, Section 65, page 73; Kansas Legislature.