Topeka Buzz: January 20, 2026

Bills from 2025 are returning to the floor this week, as items previously left in "committee limbo" awaken.

Author

Jason Anderson
January 20, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 15 minutes

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Topeka Buzz 🐝
Tuesday, January 20, 2026

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Top Stories of the Day

It’s a “short” week this week, due to the Martin Luther King holiday yesterday. To compensate, the Kansas legislature slammed its foot on the accelerator and has brought back 30 bills to the House and Senate floor for a second reading. Many of these are bills that sat in committee or were passed out of committees during the 2025 session, and are now back on the agenda.

A few of the more significant items are highlighted below, but there’s a lot going on so it’s hard to flag generally what may be most important to you. I encourage using BillBee to follow your topics of interest.

🐝🐝🐝 SCR 1603: Limits annual taxable property value increases to 3%

This amendment would cap yearly increases in taxable value for most real property and residential mobile homes at 3% (or a lower rate set by law), starting for property taxed on or after Jan. 1, 2026. Exceptions include sales, new construction, reclassification, and corrections. (House Floor)

🐝🐝 HCR 5006: Make gun rights a fundamental right in Kansas

This resolution would ask Kansas voters to add to the state constitution that owning and using guns, ammo, accessories, and parts is a natural, fundamental right. Any limits would face the state's toughest legal test; the vote is Aug. 4, 2026. (House Floor)

🐝🐝 HCR 5008: Legislature gains power to approve or revoke agency rules

If voters approve, HCR5008 would change the Kansas Constitution to let the Legislature review, require approval of, or suspend agency rules. Agencies, businesses, and Kansans could see rules delayed, removed, or changed by lawmakers. (Senate Floor)

🐝🐝 SB 254: Prohibits undocumented immigrants from state/local benefits

SB254 bars people unlawfully present in the U.S. from receiving most state or local public benefits and requires agencies to verify immigration status. It also requires immigration checks at first court appearance and treats unlawful presence as a possible flight risk. (Senate Floor)

NEW: The BillBee Calendar

If you haven’t seen it yet, you may be interested in the brand-new BillBee Calendar. This resource combines all of the information we’ve gathered in our database about committee agendas, bill hearings, and floor votes to summarize what’s currently published by the Legislature about their agendas for the week.

If you’ve registered an account and are tracking specific committees or bills, you can also view a calendar that’s specific to what you’re monitoring.

Legislative Calendar

Monday, January 19, 2026 - Sunday, January 25, 2026

Tuesday, January 20

Judiciary (Senate)

10:30 AM • 346-S

Hearings:

  • SB 246 🐝🐝: Mandates fingerprint checks for Kansas educators

  • SB 248 🐝: Moves hemp background checks to State Fire Marshal

Judiciary (House)

3:30 PM • 582-N

Hearings:

  • HB 2413 🐝🐝: Makes livestock and farm-implement theft a felony

  • HB 2422 🐝: Classify grain theft as a level 6 nonperson felony

Taxation (House)

3:30 PM • 346-S

Hearings:

  • HB 2443 🐝🐝: Excludes some new gas storage from public-utility taxes

Elections (House)

3:30 PM • 218-N

Hearings:

  • HB 2452 🐝🐝: Move local elections to even-numbered years

House Floor

General Orders:

  • HB 2005 🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): Refundable property tax credit for totally disabled vets

  • HB 2013 🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): Ends state sales tax on cable and subscriber TV

  • HB 2057 🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): Legislature picks shortlist for key vacancy appointments

  • HB 2065 🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): Sets Kansas rules for Article V convention delegates

  • HB 2098 🐝 (2nd Reading): Exempts nonprofit community theaters from sales tax

  • HB 2132 (2nd Reading): Raises threshold for removing children from homes in Kansas.

  • HB 2159 🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): Adds naloxone grants for police, drops pharmacy protocol

  • HB 2163 🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): Tax credit for health preceptors in care homes

  • HB 2236 🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): Creates statewide school mental health intervention teams

  • HB 2376 🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): State takes over cereal malt beverage licensing

  • HB 2387 🐝 (2nd Reading): Extends Cedar Crest donation tax credit to 2036

  • HB 2393 🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): Extends court add-on fees to fund staff until 2030

  • HB 2404 🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): Bars certain sex offenders from school grounds

  • HCR 5006 🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): Make gun rights a fundamental right in Kansas

  • HCR 5015 🐝 (2nd Reading): Urges U.S. DOE to give block grants to Kansas

  • SB 10 🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): Exempts watercraft and certain personal vehicles from property tax

  • SB 51 🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): Exempts sales tax for large data center construction

  • SB 52 🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): Provides tax credits and sales-tax breaks for film

  • SCR 1603 🐝🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): Limits annual taxable property value increases to 3%

  • SCR 1604 🐝🐝 (2nd Reading): Kansas asks Congress to call a states' convention

Senate Floor

Second Reading:

  • SB 263 🐝🐝: Sets trauma-informed rules for school active shooter drills

  • HB 2340 🐝: Exempts some Johnson County owners from pesticide cleanup costs

  • SB 184 🐝🐝: Double drycleaner surcharge; raises deductible, penalties

  • SUBHB 2396: Allows protest petitions to limit local property tax revenues.

  • SCR 1606 🐝: Approves Wyandotte County port authority creation

  • HCR 5008 🐝🐝: Legislature gains power to approve or revoke agency rules

  • SB 254 🐝🐝: Prohibits undocumented immigrants from state/local benefits

  • SB 290 🐝: Funds Quindaro ruins master plan and phase-one work

  • SUBSB 66: Requires annual disclosure of substantial interests by local officials.

  • SCR 1615 🐝: Establishes Charlie Kirk Free Speech Day on Oct. 14

Wednesday, January 21

🤝 Joint Budget Hearing: Kansas Lottery and Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission

10:30 AM • 144-S

Participating Committees (3):

  • Senate: Federal and State Affairs

  • Joint: House Select Committee on Government Oversight, Legislative Post Audit Committee

🤝 Joint Budget Hearing: Kansas Legislative Research Department

12:15 PM • 548-S

Participating Committees (3):

  • Joint: Executive Subcommittee, Ways and Means, Joint Committee on State Building Construction, Legislative Subcommittee, Ways and Means

🤝 Joint Budget Hearing: Legislative Coordinating Council

12:15 PM • 548-S

Participating Committees (3):

  • Joint: Executive Subcommittee, Ways and Means, Joint Committee on State Building Construction, Legislative Subcommittee, Ways and Means

🤝 Joint Budget Hearing: Legislative Division of Post Audit

12:15 PM • 548-S

Participating Committees (3):

  • Joint: Executive Subcommittee, Ways and Means, Joint Committee on State Building Construction, Legislative Subcommittee, Ways and Means

🤝 Joint Budget Hearing: Legislature Office of Revisor of Statutes

12:15 PM • 548-S

Participating Committees (3):

  • Joint: Executive Subcommittee, Ways and Means, Joint Committee on State Building Construction, Legislative Subcommittee, Ways and Means

🤝 Joint Budget Hearing: Office of the Governor

12:15 PM • 548-S

Participating Committees (3):

  • Joint: Executive Subcommittee, Ways and Means, Joint Committee on State Building Construction, Legislative Subcommittee, Ways and Means

9:30 AM • 548-S

Hearings:

  • SB 303 🐝: Authorizes Labette County 0.125% sales tax for fire aid

  • SB 319 🐝🐝: Creates property tax rebates when sales show overvaluation

Education (House)

1:30 PM • 218-N

Hearings:

  • HB 2468 🐝🐝: Doubles Kansas scholarship tax-credit cap, joins federal credit

1:30 PM • 112-N

Hearings:

  • HB 2436 🐝: Includes expired naloxone (up to 10 years) in immunity law

Judiciary (House)

3:30 PM • 582-N

Hearings:

  • HB 2243 🐝: Connect military families in abuse investigations to FAPs

  • HB 2419 🐝: Limit online home info for certain retired public officials

  • HB 2460 🐝: Allows legislators to hide home info on public websites

Thursday, January 22

Water (House)

9:00 AM • 218-N

Hearings:

  • HB 2424 🐝🐝: Creates pump installer license and reporting

  • HB 2462 🐝🐝: Requires rules allowing potable reuse of treated wastewater

9:00 AM • 112-N

Hearings:

  • HB 2427 🐝🐝: Creates fiscal integrity auditor for state spending

9:00 AM • 582-N

Hearings:

  • HB 2435 🐝🐝: Allows gas utilities to defer costs and use interim rates

Judiciary (Senate)

10:30 AM • 346-S

Hearings:

  • HB 2329 🐝🐝: Increases juvenile detention cap; allows gun-based commitment

10:30 AM • 144-S

Hearings:

  • SB 310 🐝🐝: Limits crypto donations to verified, $200 per election

1:30 PM • 582-N

Hearings:

  • HB 2416 🐝: Protects pre-existing racetracks from nuisance suits

Education (House)

1:30 PM • 218-N

Hearings:

  • HB 2421 🐝🐝: Schools must ban student phones during school day

  • HB 2420 🐝🐝: Require parental consent for school mental health services

Elections (House)

3:30 PM • 218-N

Hearings:

  • HB 2451 🐝🐝: Stops officials from using public assets for ballot advocacy

Judiciary (House)

3:30 PM • 582-N

Hearings:

  • HB 2412 🐝🐝: Raise penalties for endangering children under six

Friday, January 23

🤝 Joint Briefing: Business Enterprise Program

11:00 AM • 112-N

Participating Committees (20):

  • House: Appropriations, Commerce, Labor and Economic Development, Education, Elections, Federal and State Affairs, General Government Budget, Health and Human Services, Higher Education Budget, Insurance, Judiciary, K-12 Education Budget, Legislative Modernization, Welfare Reform

  • Senate: Agriculture and Natural Resources, Assessment and Taxation, Commerce, Financial Institutions and Insurance, Judiciary, Transportation, Utilities

Committee Actions

Assessment and Taxation

Bills Referred (1)

  • SB 332: The bill says buyer-paid auction fees (buyer’s premiums) that are separately stated and not paid to the seller should not count as the sale price for state sales reports or property tax valuation. That may lower reported sale prices for some auctioned properties.

Commerce

Bills Referred (2)

  • SB 334: Requires nursing instructors to hold a nursing degree at least one level higher than the program they teach for state approval, allows the Board of Nursing to grant hiring hardship exemptions, and bars the Board from requiring higher credentials.

  • SB 335: SB335 requires public construction contracts to include a mutual waiver of consequential damages, limiting what owners and contractors can claim for downstream losses (like lost rent, revenue, or office costs). It may change bids and dispute outcomes.

Education

Bills Referred (4)

  • SB 338: The bill clarifies that home schools count as nonaccredited private elementary and secondary schools under state law and adds a legal definition of home school. It does not create new reporting, funding, or enforcement rules.

  • SB 339: Kansas schools must give K–5 students at least 30 minutes of organized recess on school days longer than five hours and are encouraged to aim for 60 minutes. Recess time can count toward required school hours; districts must cover scheduling and supervision locally.

  • SB 340: The bill stops Kansas Promise Scholarship funds from paying for corequisite (remedial) courses. Students who need that extra class support may need other aid or pay out of pocket, and colleges and the Board of Regents must adjust billing.

  • SB 341: Colleges must buy needed materials and pay a set per-credit amount to district teachers when college courses are taught at high schools. New rules, including caps for site coordinators, apply to agreements made or renewed on or after July 1, 2026.

Federal and State Affairs

Bills Referred (5)

  • HB 2204: Declares the WHO, UN, and WEF have no power in Kansas and bars state and local governments from enforcing or implementing their rules, policies, fees, taxes, or mandates. Practical effects depend on how agencies interpret “implement.”

  • HB 2332: Creates an official seal for the Kansas House, names the Speaker its custodian, allows members to use it on official or personal communications without implying an official House position, and bans any campaign use.

  • SCR 1617: If approved by voters, Kansas would let its Legislature ratify U.S. constitutional amendments or ask Congress for an Article V convention with a simple majority in each chamber instead of the current two-thirds rule.

  • SB 333: Prohibits adding fluoride to Kansas public water supplies. Water systems that now fluoridate would stop, KDHE could not require fluoridation, and local water districts would lose the prior option to add fluoride.

  • SB 336: Sets a statewide presidential preference primary on the first Tuesday in March starting in 2028 and every four years, unless a party opts out. It moves voter registration and canvass deadlines earlier and bars some mail‑ballot elections on that date.

Ways and Means

Bills Referred (1)

  • SB 337: Approves Kansas FY2027 spending and fund transfers across many state agencies, Medicaid, schools, courts, transportation, water, and parks. Sets program rules like CHIP expansion, assigned counsel pay cap, lottery data sharing, and employee pay increases.

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