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- Topeka Buzz: Wednesday, January 29
Topeka Buzz: Wednesday, January 29
No rest for the weary...we have 9 new bills on education, plus another 20+ in other areas. Bills are starting to make their way back from committees to the floor for full votes ( see Top Stories).
Jason Anderson
January 29, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 16 minutes
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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 🐝
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Below is today’s morning update on published activities in the Kansas Legislature.
Table of Contents
Top Stories of the Day
Preparing for bills to leave committee
We’re several weeks into the 2025 legislative session now, and the aggressive pace set by the Republican supermajority continues. Several controversial bills have already heard testimony in committees, and are being passed out of committee to return to the House or Senate for a vote.
On today’s calendar, HB 2027 was passed in the Committee on Welfare Reform. This bill adds work requirements for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), food assistance, and child care subsidies (with some limited exceptions). These are federal funds, not state funds, so the bill doesn’t have a direct budgetary impact, but their effect on families requiring these safety net services is clear.
Also on the calendar is HB 2020, with mandates the DMV compile and submit quarterly reports of noncitizen driver’s licenses to the Secretary of State. These reports would include detailed identifying information including social security numbers, dates of birth, phone and address. The goal is to allow the Secretary of State to cross-reference these lists with voter registration rolls to remove noncitizens erroneously registered to vote.
DataHive bill tracker under construction 🚧
As you click through the links in these updates into the DataHive bill tracker, you might occasionally see some odd-looking data or encounter a feature that’s not working quite right. Don’t worry! We’re making daily updates to the app. We made a conscious choice to “build in public” (some might say it’s more like building an airplane while in-flight), which means we can release improvements to you very quickly.
If you have something you’d like this resource to be able to do, please let us know! There are a lot of different types of documents on the KSLeg website, so we have to pick and choose which types of information to work with next.
Bills and Resolutions
UPDATE: Summaries of these bills are now published on DataHive. The links below go directly to each bill’s writeup.
New Bills Introduced
House Bills
Government & Elections
Education & Youth
🐝 HB 2102: Advance enrollment for military children in Kansas schools.
🐝🐝 HB 2103: Valid absences include learning experiences, agricultural activities.
🐝 HB 2104: Standardizes firearm safety education in Kansas schools.
🐝 HB 2120: Authorizes sale of university properties in Nebraska and Kansas.
🐝🐝 HB 2129: Transfers teachers to 2009 retirement system plan.
🐝🐝 HB 2136: Expands tax credits for low income student scholarships.
🐝🐝 HB 2137: Authorize school bus stop signal arm cameras installation.
🐝 HB 2138: Authorize school districts for safety-related tax levy.
Tax & Business
🐝🐝 HB 2126: Sales tax exemption for nonprofit purchases for community service activities.
🐝 HB 2125: Authorizes Pawnee County sales tax for healthcare and public safety.
🐝 HB 2117: Business entities must comply with updated filing requirements.
🐝🐝 HB 2119: Ends Kansas affordable housing tax credit July 2025.
🐝🐝 HB 2123: Increase minimum wage for tipped employees.
🐝 HB 2130: Allows biweekly or monthly pensions for Kansas retirees.
🐝 HB 2133: Property tax exemption for firefighters' vehicles.
Judiciary & Criminal Justice
🐝 HB 2110: Restructures state management of 911 funds and services.
🐝🐝 HB 2115: Municipalities can restrict concealed handguns in municipal buildings.
🐝 HB 2127: Allows local firearm sales regulation in public buildings.
🐝🐝 HB 2131: Mandate disclosure of jailhouse witness testimony details.
🐝🐝 HB 2132: Alters child neglect, limiting removals for financial issues.
Infrastructure, Agriculture & Environment
🐝🐝 HB 2107: Establishes rules for utility-caused fire damage claims.
🐝🐝 HB 2108: Regulate rural large energy facilities via conduct code.
🐝🐝 HB 2109: Allows police equipment on utility poles and exempts utility liability.
🐝 HB 2105: Designates portions of highways as POW MIA memorials.
🐝 HB 2111: Expands Kansas CREP acreage and adjusts eligibility criteria.
🐝 HB 2112: Revises certification process for water system operators.
🐝🐝 HB 2113: Funding for water conservation and infrastructure projects.
🐝 HB 2114: Regulates water obstruction permit requirements and fees.
🐝🐝 HB 2135: Regulates industrial hemp cultivation in Kansas.
🐝🐝 HB 2121: Increases electric vehicle annual license fees for highway funds.
🐝 HB 2122: Alters registration fee payment rules for trucks.
🐝 HB 2124: Designate highway as CPL Monte Wayne Forrest memorial.
Senate Bills
Government & Elections
Education & Youth
🐝🐝 SB 87: Expands low income student scholarship eligibility and tax credits.
Tax & Business
🐝🐝 SB 90: Provides property tax exemptions for certain homeowners.
Judiciary & Criminal Justice
Infrastructure, Agriculture & Environment
Resolutions
Senate Resolutions
🐝🐝 SR 1706: Condemns pardons for Capitol attackers.
House Concurrent Resolutions
🐝🐝 HCR 5007: Lowering voting age in Kansas to 16 years.
Senate Concurrent Resolutions
🐝 SCR 1606: Approves Wyandotte County's port authority creation.