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- Topeka Buzz: Friday, January 24
Topeka Buzz: Friday, January 24
More than three dozen new bills were introduced, from various tax credits to an e-Verify employer requirement to tax deductions for gambling losses. Oh, and another 300+ pages of appropriations bills to debate! This issue is getting too unwieldy again to include any committee coverage–read the Top Stories below for more info on how we plan to address that.
Jason Anderson
January 24, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 32 minutes
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Introducing the 🐝 Rating System
To help you quickly understand the potential significance of proposed legislation, we've introduced the 🐝 Rating System. Each bill is evaluated based on four key factors: Scope of Impact, Financial Impact, Urgency, and Controversy. These factors are weighted to reflect their influence on the bill's overall importance. Here's how the ratings break down:
🐝 Minimal Impact: Legislation with limited reach or lower urgency and controversy.
🐝🐝 Moderate Impact: Proposals with a broader or more notable influence, addressing issues of medium urgency or financial significance.
🐝🐝🐝 High Impact: Bills with widespread consequences, urgent needs, or significant public and political attention.
Daily Legislative Update 🐝
Friday, January 24, 2025
Below is today’s morning update on published activities in the Kansas Legislature.
Table of Contents
Top Stories of the Day
Coming Improvements to Topeka Buzz (and Capitol Bee)
If you’ve been diligently reading the daily updates, it’s obvious that there’s a lot of content to cover in a short amount of time. (If you haven’t had the time or fortitude to wade through all of the details, we understand!) We have a decent system in place for retrieving and analyzing bills as they get published, and have received positive feedback about making that information easier to understand. (Thanks!)
The next step is to make the information you want easier to find. To that end, next week we’ll be rolling out an online dashboard where you can search, sort, and filter all of the bills that we’ve analyzed. The Topeka Buzz will continue to be published for those that prefer receiving this in their inbox, but our links will start clicking out to the dashboard to make it easier to browse.
So, hang in there! Don’t unsubscribe yet. (If you need to reduce your email volume, though, you can modify your subscriber preferences and turn on/off the newsletters you want to receive.
Bills and Resolutions
New Bills Introduced
House Bills:
🐝🐝 HB 2065: Establishes delegate guidelines for Article V conventions (U.S. Constitutional amendments).
🐝🐝 HB 2066: Ban employment of unauthorized aliens in Kansas.
🐝 HB 2067: Grants for free feminine hygiene products in schools.
🐝 HB 2068: Enables interstate cosmetology practice through licensure compact.
🐝🐝 HB 2069: Establishes interstate licensing for school psychologists.
🐝🐝 HB 2070: Interstate practice privileges for dietitians.
🐝🐝🐝 HB 2071: Prohibits gender transition treatments for minors.
🐝 HB 2072: Licenses and regulates professional art therapists.
🐝🐝 HB 2073: Exempts feminine hygiene products, diapers, and certain nonprofit activities from taxation while establishing strict compliance measures for contractors.
🐝 HB 2074: Homestead renters eligible for property tax refunds.
🐝🐝 HB 2075: Accelerates permanency hearings for children in state custody.
🐝 HB 2076: Reduces days for court placement in secure custody.
🐝🐝 HB 2077: Sales tax exemptions for nonprofit animal shelters.
🐝 HB 2078: Income tax credits for child care contributions.
🐝 HB 2079: Requires localized comparable sales for property valuation.
🐝🐝 HB 2080: Caps homestead taxes for seniors at base year amount.
🐝🐝 HB 2081: Sales tax exemptions for community pharmacies serving medically underserved groups and for specific nonprofits.
🐝🐝 HB 2082: Appropriations bill (Governor Kelly’s version).
🐝 HB 2083: Property tax exemption for new energy storage systems.
🐝 HB 2084: Allows itemized deduction for wagering losses.
🐝 HB 2085: Extends livestock water permits to 10 years.
🐝🐝 HB 2086: Adjusts KPERS investment return and dividend rates.
🐝 HB 2087: Regulates eligible non-admitted insurers in Kansas.
🐝🐝 HB 2088: Expedites local building permit processing timelines.
🐝 HB 2089: Prohibits card fees on tax or gratuity amounts.
🐝🐝 HB 2090: Establishes Kansas employee emergency savings account program.
Senate Bills:
🐝 SB 64: Updates Kansas public employees retirement system policies.
🐝 SB 65: Amends election rules for irrigation district directors.
🐝🐝 SB 66: Mandates ethical filings by officials on development projects.
🐝🐝 SB 67: Regulates anesthesia practice and prohibits nurse abortion services.
🐝🐝 SB 68: The Senate appropriations bill.
🐝🐝 SB 69: Extends Rural Opportunity Zones program eligibility.
🐝 SB 70: Amends open records and meetings regulations.
🐝🐝 SB 71: Increases penalties for purchasing sexual relations.
🐝🐝 SB 72: Allows transferability of Kansas housing tax credits.
🐝 SB 73: Modify property tax certification and mailing deadlines.
🐝 SB 74: Provides tax credit for gun storage purchases.