Below is today’s morning update on published activities in the Kansas Legislature.

Late yesterday morning, an intense confrontation between Rep. Hoheisel (R) and Rep. Carr (D) triggered a two-hour recess. According to our sources (twice confirmed), Hoheisel crossed from the Republican side of the chamber to Carr’s desk, yelling obscenities and aggressively challenging him.

Not without irony, the incident occurred during debate on HB2104 which would have pushed for expanded in-school training on firearm safety based on the NRA’s Eddie Eagle program–all while some members of the legislature are broadly known to carry a firearm to work.

Following the incident, Republican leadership moved HB2104 back to committee and deferred a vote on HCR 5006–a proposed constitutional amendment that would make the right to purchase and own firearms “strict scrutiny” (a legal term on par with the rights of religion or speech).

Although the state’s Democratic governor still has the power of the veto, the conservative veto-proof supermajority has nullified most of the (limited) leverage Democrats have had in the annual budget process. As such, what we see in the current draft budget bill is probably pretty close to what’s going to happen.

In summary: this year’s budget pours money into large-scale conservative projects while sidelining public education and social services.

Let’s start with the general fund: the approved budget drains the $2.1B surplus at the end of June 2025 by June 2028.

Almost the entire summary report on the state budget stops its discussion at FY2027, when the budget it still in the black, but make no mistake: this budget sets a trajectory towards a fiscal crisis just in time for the 2028 general election.

We could dig into specific details of different departmental budgets, but most of the analysis published in the legislative analysis doesn’t go out beyond 2027. That said, the shape of the graph is clear: large tax cuts this year that create a structural deficit, to the tune of about $1B. That deficit then persists into the future, eventually erasing the rainy day fund.

Whatever pain might be caused by these choices are all deferred: spending remains basically “on track” across all departments:

So: when school vouchers and property tax cuts arrive (presumably this year), don’t expect a wave of protest from families from lost services. They will feel good, for nearly everyone. At least for a couple of years.

Just as yesterday, there are too many documents and bills to talk about in an email. Instead, we’re working on improvements to BillBee that will allow you to see the actual, current status of each bill. We expect to have that up and running next week, stay tuned!

Both the House and Senate are enjoying a long weekend to recover from this week’s activities and shenanigans. They’ll be back in session on Tuesday.

Have any ideas or feedback just let us know!