Kansas Week 13: extreme anti-voter and anti-immigrant bills FAIL, tax cuts, and more 🚨

Video Script

Intro
Hey I’m Davis Hammet with Loud Light! The 13th week of session was chaotic as ever as legislators were in conference committees negotiating differences and even inserting brand new ideas into old bills. Legislators endured marathon sessions before adjourning to go on break at 2am early Saturday. Here’s what happened.

Election bills (SB14, HB2614, HB2618)
Since 2020, election conspiracies have dominated the Kansas legislature, but for the 4th year in a row efforts to abolish the 3-day grace period which protects Kansans from being disenfranchised by slow postal service delivery failed. After passing the House the bill failed to reach 21 votes in the Senate and was sent back to committee effectively killing the proposal. Two other conspiracy related election bills did pass both chambers and are headed to the Governor's desk. One would require the legislature to authorize any federal election aid which could deny Kansas funding during national emergencies such as pandemics. The other would alter mail ballot envelopes and create a tracking system to prosecute anyone who assists more than 10 people in returning their ballots which the state is already in litigation over. If the Governor vetoes the bills it is unclear if the legislature would be able to override her.

Tax Bill (HB2036)
Instead of debating and voting on individual tax cut proposals, legislative leadership has pushed bills that bundle together several tax cuts into a single bill. Late Friday night, a bill passed both chambers and is on its way to the Governor where it’s unclear if she’ll sign or veto it. The package that passed includes abolishing income tax on social security, abolishing the food tax in July instead of waiting until January, and raising the amount of property exempt from state property tax. The controversy around the bill is in how it overhauls the state income tax system to go from 3 to 2 brackets, lowers the top tax rate, and quadruples the income tax exemption. While the bill would offer tax cuts to everyone, it would offer the most relief to wealthier Kansans instead of targeting relief toward Kansans raising children. The tax cut bundle would cost the state roughly half a billion dollars per year which is projected to create a deficit within 5 years. 

State Budget (SB28)
Following a controversial practice that has become normal in recent years, the Legislature separated out the public school budget into a separate bill from the state budget. While both chambers passed the state budget, they adjourned before passing a school funding bill. Since school funding is roughly half of the state’s budget the Governor will have to decide what to do with tax cut proposals that cut the state's income without knowing the state's actual expenses. School budget negotiations broke down as Rep. Kristey Williams (R) pushed to add new policies into the school budget and cut funding. Now legislators will have to figure out school funding and how it plays into the state budget during the short wrap up session at the end of April. 

Xenophobia / Anti-Immigrant (SB172)
A bill with major property rights infringements failed to pass the Senate after Sen. Mike Thompson (R) struggled to defend the bill's language on the Senate floor. The bill would have banned immigrants from specific countries from buying or leasing property in Kansas that’s within 100 miles of a military installation which is virtually the entire state. The bill would have forced some immigrants in Kansas who own stores and restaurants to sell their property or have it seized by eminent domain and would have given Attorney General Kris Kobach significant powers to investigate any immigrant in Kansas. After passing with a supermajority in the House, the bill was killed by bipartisan opposition in the Senate.

Coming Up
The Legislature is on break until April 29th when they return for a short wrap up session to try to override vetoes & pass a final comprehensive state budget. During the break many legislators hold public events to hear from constituents so this is a great time to tell your representative and senator what you want them to do on big issues. If you appreciate these videos please support them by becoming a monthly donor at loudlight.org/donate. Stay tuned, stay engaged, and until next time, thank you so much Kansas!