Kansas Week 6 Recap: Child labor, Eddie the NRA Eagle, Week of Hate, Kansas water crisis, and more…
Video Script
Meatpacking Investigation
A federal labor investigation found that 26 children were illegally employed to work in Cargill’s Dodge City meatpacking plant. Kansas kids as young as 13 worked overnight shifts using hazardous chemicals to clean dangerous equipment like back saws and head splitters. The corporation was fined the maximum amount which is only $15,000 per exploited child.
Eddie the Eagle (SB116 & HB2304)
The Senate passed a bill mandating that if an elementary school teaches gun safety it must use the NRA’s Eddie Eagle program. Eddie Eagle was created in 1988 by an NRA lobbyist pushing it as an alternative to bills that hold adults liable for not securing guns. The program designed to shift responsibility of child gun deaths from negligent adults to children is not evidence-based and has never been shown to be effective. The House hears an identical bill Tuesday.
Week of Hate (HB2238, SB233, HB2376, SB180)
The House and Senate held hearings on an onslaught of proposals targeting LGBTQ Kansans especially transgender children in what some lawmakers dubbed “hate week.” The bills include banning trans girls from sports, erasing any recognition that transgender individuals exist, banning local governments from enforcing nondiscrimination ordinances, and revoking the licenses of doctors who provide gender-affirming healthcare. This comes as the American Medical Association has recognized "an epidemic of violence against the transgender community” and the number of transgender Americans murdered each year doubled from 2017 to 2021.
Water (HB 2279) (HB 2302)
The Ogallala Aquifer is the largest underground freshwater source in the nation and much of Kansas depends on it, but due to an over appropriation of water rights and agricultural consumption it’s been drying up. A House committee passed two bills responding to the water crisis by requiring groundwater management districts to report information annually and work with local stakeholders to create local conservation action plans, and a bill to dedicate roughly $45 million per year for 5 years to invest in local water infrastructure projects. The bills have bipartisan support and are headed to the House floor.
Parents Rights Amendment (HB2271)
A bill allowing parents to enroll their child at the school district where they work became controversial when it was amended to require school districts to establish an online portal with detailed information on curriculum including books, surveys, and themes. Democratic Rep. Winn raised concerns that the amendment was unrelated and the public had no chance to comment on it, but Republican Chair Williams responded “this is the process” and the new bill passed out of committee on party lines.
Coming Up
Committees will continue to meet the first half of next week and then on Wednesday both the House and Senate will be on the floor each day trying to pass bills before the Friday turnaround deadline when most bills that haven’t passed in either the House or Senate will be dead for the year. Wednesday there is a medical marijuana advocacy day at the Statehouse. Stay tuned, stay engaged, and until next time, thank you so much Kansas!