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

If you’ve ever tried to answer the question “how did Representative X vote on that thing” or “did any Republicans vote against their party on Y,” you’ve undoubtedly found that it’s nearly impossible to answer that question from the Kansas Legislature website. (It’s not technically impossible, but you have to know a lot of information in advance to be able to find what you’re looking for.)

So, we fixed that.

Starting today, and for every bill previously published on BillBee, we’re now counting the votes. We’re making them easier to view. And we’re working on ways to make it possible to look at a legislator’s vote record directly from their legislator profile. For organizations and advocates looking to “score” elected officials based on their voting record, we’re working on Scorecards that will enable to you pick the bills you care about and automatically generate shareable reports on how elected officials vote.

As a Topeka Buzz subscriber, you’re getting a sneek peek and advanced notice; we’ll be sharing more information in Monday’s Capitol Bee update. To explore it now, just visit the Bills section in BillBee and find the bill you’d like to see votes about. (We’re working on making the votes even easier to locate.)

You may remember that the Kansas Legislature rules required any “non-exempt” bill to have been passed by its original chamber prior to “Turnaround Day.” And that those bills need to clear the other chamber by end of business this Friday.

The journey for exempt bills, while still urgent, isn’t as constrained. Anything related to taxes, federal issues, or state budgets generally gets shoved into an exempt committee so they can continue to work on it into the final days. (Or, more cynically, so it can be hidden from view and minimize the amount of time it’s in the public eye and vulnerable to debate or citizen action.)

Those tax bills are beginning to emerge; first on the plate is a bill that would not only cut corporate tax rates, but prevent future increases in corporate taxes.

HB 2336 establishes an automatic corporate income tax reduction mechanism based on revenue growth. Starting in fiscal year 2026, the Director of the Budget must certify the excess corporate income tax revenues over the previous year's amount. This excess revenue certification is used to determine a new corporate tax rate by rounding down to the nearest 0.1% based on the computed reduction amount.

The new rate goes into effect the following calendar year (e.g., a reduction certified in 2026 would impact 2027 tax rates). The corporate tax rate will only decrease and will remain at the reduced level unless further reduced by law.

This provision could significantly reduce corporate tax revenue over time, depending on how much corporate income tax revenue grows each year. The bill does not include provisions for restoring the tax rate in case of an economic downturn, meaning any tax cuts could create long-term revenue reductions.

Kansas already has a history of tax policy changes leading to budget shortfalls (e.g., the Brownback tax cuts of 2012). This bill could lead to similar issues if revenue reductions outpace growth in other funding sources.

Proponents may argue that lower corporate taxes would make Kansas a more attractive state for business investments. However, large, out-of-state corporations will benefit more than small businesses, which often file taxes under personal income tax provisions rather than corporate tax structures.

Have any ideas or feedback, just let us know!