Kansas Week 3 Recap: vouchers, tax schemes, youth fines, new senators, and more

Video Script

Happy Kansas Day! I’m Davis Hammet with Loud Light!  Here’s what happened the 3rd week of the 2023 Kansas legislative session!

School Vouchers
Legislators held a tense hearing on a proposal to expand a Brownback era program that diverts millions in public tax dollars to private religious schools. The bill (HB2048) would create a 100% tax credit for donations to private school voucher programs resulting in a tax avoidance scheme known as “double dipping” where corporations dollar for dollar avoid paying state taxes then claim a federal deduction resulting in a “donation” that makes a profit.

Abolishing Youth Criminal Fees
A bill (HB2073) that would eliminate all fines for children in the juvenile justice system had a hearing this past week. Kansas is currently one of only three states in the nation to still impose the highest fines on children in the judicial system. Proponents of the bill highlighted how the debt trap keeps children incarcerated and burdens Kansas families. The bill had no opposition and looks set to move forward with bipartisan support. 

Senate Appointments
When a Kansas legislator resigns during their term party precinct members in that district get to select their replacement. This just happened for the 3rd time in the Kansas Senate this session with Tim Shallenburger replacing Richard Hilderbrand in Southeast Kansas. Additionally, Usha Reddi replaced Tom Hawk in Manhattan and Chase Blasi replaced Gene Suellentrop in Wichita. 

State of the State (video)
Governor Kelly delivered her State of the State address laying out her goals for the 2023 legislative session. She called on Kansas to join most other states in the nation in legalizing medical marijuana and expanding medicaid, but received a cold response from the Republican supermajority on both topics.

Coming Up
Several controversial bills have hearings this coming week including restrictions on ballot drop boxes (HB2057, HB2053), tax credits for pregnancy crisis centers (HB2135, SB 96), and banning local governments from regulating plastic bags (SB47). Stay tuned, stay engaged, and until next time, thank you so much Kansas!