Legislative Updates

Please see the bills that I have introduced to the senate. If there are bills you have particular interest in, please feel free to let me or the respective committee chair know.

Doug’s Bills

SB 70 Providing for reasonable fees for electronic copies of records under the open records act, exempting from disclosure formally closed investigations with no found violations, requiring county or district attorneys to file reports of violations with the attorney in December instead of January, determining the membership calculation of subordinate groups under the open meetings act, requiring public bodies or agencies that live stream meetings to ensure that the public is able to observe and providing for a five minute deviation to resume an open meeting at the conclusion of executive sessions.

NOTE: SB 70 passed the Senate. This bill will be heard in the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday March 12th.

SB 93 Providing for the statewide election of commissioners of the state corporation commission

SB 102 Clarifying the identifying information in mandatory reports of abuse or neglect of children and increasing the penalty for failing to report such abuse or neglect.

SB 112 Prohibiting cities and counties from requiring land as part of a right-of-way as a condition for issuing a building permit unless the property owner consents and is paid fair compensation.

SB 124 Imposing unilateral annexation restrictions on cities and expanding the causes of action for landowners to challenge such annexations.

SB 134 Authorizing school districts to request and receive an applicant teacher’s employment files from another school district if such teacher was previously employed by such other school district and establishing which school district is responsible for and the custodian of teacher employment files that are records under the Kansas open records act.

SB 140 Requiring school districts to provide certain information on school district annual budget forms.

SB 145 Requires immediate notification of a report of abuser neglect to a law enforcement agency and provides for law enforcement agencies to request resources from the secretary for children and families.

SB 159 Requiring school district budget forms and summaries to include all expenditures of bond proceeds.

SB 160 Granting the attorney general concurrent authority to prosecute any crimes related to schools.

SB 163 Prohibiting school employment contracts from excluding documentation of disciplinary actions or behavioral corrective actions taken with regard to an employee.

SB 165 Requiring school district bond elections and other tax levy question submitted elections to be held only on primary or general election dates and only permitting one such bond election to be conducted each calendar year.

SB 172 Prohibiting a school from excluding a child who has been exposed to an infectious or contagious disease without an isolation or quarantine order.

SB 185 Victims Bill of Rights. Providing that certain legal violations relating to victims of crime are not grounds for appeal in a criminal case.

SB 202 Transferring teachers from the KPERS 3 cash balance plan to the KPERS 2 plan and defining teachers for purposes of KPERS.

The Committee on Government Efficiency has launched a Government Efficiency Portal on the Kansas Legislature’s website to receive input from the public. The portal, which is a simple form, can be accessed at here.

Citizens may also opt to simply send e-mails to kansascoge@senate.ks.gov.

Committee on Government Efficiency

Bills Passed Last Week

SCR 1604 aiming to limit federal power by applying to Congress for a states' convention to propose relevant amendments. SCR adopted 29-11.

SB 33 would authorize the sales tax exemption provided for in continuing law for sales of the services of slaughtering, butchering, custom cutting, dressing, processing, or packaging of an animal for the customer’s own use or consumption to be claimed without a requirement that exemption certificates or forms be provided by the purchaser or collected or maintained by the seller. SB 33 passed 40-0.

SB 137 would amend the Kansas Standard Asset Seizure and Forfeiture Act to permit firearms forfeited under the Act to be sold or transferred to a properly licensed federal firearms dealer. SB 137 passed 39-1.