Topeka Buzz: February 19, 2026

Happy Turnaround Day! Also: transgender bathroom bill becomes law (full veto override)

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Jason Anderson
February 19, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 17 minutes

Topeka Buzz 🐝
Thursday, February 19, 2026

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Transgender Bathroom Bill Becomes Law

The Kansas House voted 87 Yes, 37 No, 1 Absent Wednesday to override Governor Laura Kelly's veto of SB 244, completing the two-thirds majority in both chambers required to make the bill law over her objection. The Senate had already passed its override vote 31-9; Wednesday's House action was the final step.

The law requires government-owned or -leased buildings to designate every multi-occupancy private space—restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, and shower rooms—for use by people of the same sex listed at birth. Its reach extends beyond signage: state agencies must identify and correct birth certificates and driver's licenses that do not match its birth-sex definition and notify affected individuals. Penalties are steep: $25,000 for a government entity's first violation and $125,000 per day for subsequent ones, escalating individual penalties up to class B misdemeanor charges, and a private right of action for privacy harms.

Supporters say the law protects privacy in sex-separated spaces and creates uniform state records. Opponents say it discriminates against transgender Kansans, creates substantial legal and financial exposure for schools and local governments, and invites constitutional challenge. Those legal challenges are widely expected, meaning the practical effect of the law may ultimately be decided in court rather than at the Statehouse.

The Eve of Turnaround: 73 Bills in One Day, and Another Voteapalooza Coming Today

Wednesday was the night before Turnaround (the deadline by which non-exempt bills must pass their chamber of origin to remain alive in the session) and both chambers treated it accordingly. The House passed 47 bills plus the veto override. The Senate passed 25. In total, 73 bills cleared floor votes in a single legislative day. And today, both chambers are back at it: the House gavels in at 8 a.m. and the Senate at 10 a.m. for what is likely to be an equally frenetic final sprint.

That volume matters less as a raw count than as a signal of how the session's character is about to change. Before Turnaround, the Legislature operates under a kind of artificial urgency: bills race against a calendar, votes are scheduled in batches, and floor debate is compressed. After Turnaround, surviving bills cross over to the opposite chamber and the real work begins. Committees take a second look, amendments get negotiated, and leadership in each chamber decides which of the bills that just landed on their desks will actually get a hearing before the session ends. Many won't.

What crossed over Wednesday—and what crosses over today—covers nearly every major policy domain. On elections and immigration, the House sent over HB 2437 (biannual SAVE database checks of voter rolls, 85-39), HB 2491 (noncitizen benefit recipients reported to the Secretary of State, 87-37), and HB 2453 (earlier voter registration and advance-voting deadlines, 86-38). On housing, the Senate sent over SB 418 (by-right housing approvals curtailing local zoning authority, 35-5), while the House sent HB 2504 (preempting local tenant protections including source-of-income rules, 84-40). On criminal justice, HB 2444 tightened sentencing and pretrial release for repeat felony offenders (88-36). On abortion, HB 2729 adds new KDHE form and signage requirements for abortion providers (87-37).

The vote margins tell their own story. Dozens of bills passed unanimously or near-unanimously (technical corrections, memorial highways, licensing updates) while a distinct cluster of contested bills cleared on 87-37 or 84-40 margins, a pattern that reflects the supermajority party-line breakdown.

By the time today's gavels fall, the full picture of what survived Turnaround will come into focus. The bills that make it through will now compete for committee time, floor scheduling, and leadership attention in a second chamber with its own priorities. Some will pass quickly and head to the Governor. Some will be amended beyond recognition in conference. And some, despite clearing their chamber of origin with comfortable margins, will simply run out of time.

New Bills Introduced

Senate

  • SCR 1622: Providing for the adjournment of the senate and the house of representatives for a period of time during the 2026 regular session of the legislature.

Floor Votes

Wednesday, February 18

Agriculture (1)

House (1)

Budget & Appropriations (1)

House (1)

Business & Commerce (10)

House (5)

Senate (5)

Civil Rights (2)

House (2)

Criminal Justice (11)

House (8)

Senate (3)

  • SB 445: PASS — Passage (40 Yes, 0 No). Directs KHP and KBI to assist line-of-duty funerals

  • HB 2329: PASS — Passage (30 Yes, 10 No). Increases juvenile detention, firearm penalties, and youth beds

  • SB 459: PASS — Passage (33 Yes, 7 No). Require victim notice, expand prisoner review board

Education (5)

House (5)

Elections & Government (7)

House (3)

Senate (4)

  • SB 427: PASS — Passage (40 Yes, 0 No). Allows Senate leaders to review confirmation vetting

  • SB 353: PASS — Passage (40 Yes, 0 No). Creates Kansas Railroad Hall of Fame in Wichita

  • SB 65: PASS — Passage (40 Yes, 0 No). Irrigation districts may hold director elections by mail

  • SB 392: PASS — Passage (40 Yes, 0 No). Limits candidate withdrawals; bans governor-ticket substitutions

Energy & Environment (1)

House (1)

Healthcare (9)

House (6)

Senate (3)

Housing (4)

House (2)

Senate (2)

  • SB 391: PASS — Passage (31 Yes, 9 No). Stops cities from forcing landlords to accept vouchers

  • SB 418: PASS — Passage (35 Yes, 5 No). Streamlines housing permits with 15-day approvals

Infrastructure (5)

House (3)

Senate (2)

  • SB 380: PASS — Passage (40 Yes, 0 No). Bars utilities from rate-basing EV fast chargers

  • SB 325: PASS — Passage (40 Yes, 0 No). Ban on license-plate covers and obstructing frames

Natural Resources (3)

House (2)

Senate (1)

  • SB 317: PASS — Passage (40 Yes, 0 No). Adds 25-year supply rule and reprioritizes water grants

Public Safety (4)

House (2)

Senate (2)

Social Services (6)

House (4)

Senate (2)

  • HB 2274: PASS — Passage (40 Yes, 0 No). Eases ID access for homeless veterans; expands licensure

  • SB 408: PASS — Passage (40 Yes, 0 No). Exclude age-appropriate independence from CINC

Taxation (4)

House (3)

Senate (1)

  • SB 368: PASS — Passage (33 Yes, 7 No). Creates tax subtraction for health care sharing ministry payments

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