Kansas Legislature Week 4: MORE anti-trans bills, the missing budget, Former Sherriff Calvin Hayden's flop election investigation, and much more 🚨

Video Script

Intro
I’m Davis Hammet with Loud Light. Here’s what happened week 4 in the Kansas Statehouse.

Minimum Wage Increase (HB2151)
Republican Senate President Ty Masterson is proposing the state copy a plan from Donald Trump to make tips tax-exempt. Democratic leadership countered with a proposal to raise the minimum wage from $7.25, which was set by federal law in 2009, to $15. When asked about raising the minimum wage, Ty Masterson, who has a $85,000 Senate President Salary and is paid roughly $150,000 by a Koch funded program at Wichita State University, responded “How does a $15 minimum wage help the price of eggs?”

Name/Pronoun Ban (SB76)
A bill introduced by Sen. Renee Erickson (R) is the latest attack on transgender Kansans. The bill would ban K-12 and higher education employees from calling students by their chosen name and pronouns when they aren’t what is listed on their birth certificate. The bill would require parents to give written consent and disclose private information about the minor in order to be exempted from the ban. The bill goes further by banning disciplinary action of a student or school employee who refuses to call a child by their chosen name and pronouns regardless of if a parent requested that the school use the chosen name, and allows any person to sue if they overhear a name or pronoun that is inconsistent with a birth certificate. A Senate Committee hearing is scheduled for Monday.

JoCo Sheriff Election Fraud Investigation
Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden (R) spent years uplifted conspiracy theories and claimed he was investigating election fraud. His “investigation” was used by legislators such as Sen. Mike Thompson (R) to justify voter restrictions. Hayden lost reelection last year and the new Sheriff issued a press release summarizing Hayden’s investigation. There were over 100 fraud allegations sent to the Sheriff, but they came from only 3 individuals. Hayden diverted officers for 880 hours to chase claims of double voting and stake out ballot drop boxes. Ultimately, the department found no evidence to substantiate the allegations or Sheriff Hayden’s election fraud claims. 

Where is the Budget? (SB14)
The legislature has only one real job they have to do every year– pass a state budget. Republican legislators have proposed a spending frenzy of tax cuts and giving tax dollars to unregulated private schools and anti-abortion clinics, but there’s still no budget proposal. Because of tax cuts passed last Summer, the state’s finances are projected to go negative. Sen. Murphy (R) described Senate Republicans' philosophy as “cut taxes and get the State ready for a possible budget shortfall”. It’s unclear when, how, and if the newly emboldened supermajority can shift focus from targeting minority groups to passing a balanced budget. On Thursday, the Senate passed a bill on a party-line vote that would allow legislators to neglect their only responsibility by creating an automatic extension of the previous year's budget if they aren’t able to pass a new one. Disability Rights groups flagged the proposal as potentially unconstitutional based on the appropriations clause. 

“Right to Refuse” Anti Quarantine Bills (SB19 + SB29)
Multiple bills were heard this week that would restrict health officials' ability to address disease outbreaks. They would force employers, hospitals, and schools to allow those who are sick to refuse quarantine, ban spaces from requiring any vaccine, and allow any person who refuses to stay at home or vaccinate to seek up to $10,000 dollars in damages. The proposals come as Kansas is facing the largest tuberculosis outbreak in modern U.S. history and the U.S. has confirmed H1N1 bird flu cases in humans.

Coming Up
There is about a week left for most bills to either pass out of their first committee or die for the year, but it’s difficult to say what exactly will happen next week. Committee agendas for bill hearings are rapidly being changed and the legislature’s website is having technical issues causing it to show inaccurate information. Follow us on social media as we work to keep you up-to-date on what's happening in the secretive statehouse. Stay tuned, stay engaged, and until next time, thank you so much Kansas!