Kansas Legislature 2025: the Legislature seeks more power, Sen. Thompson has an outburst, and much more!
Video Script
Intro
I’m Davis Hammet with Loud Light. Here’s what happened week 7 in the Kansas Statehouse.
3-Day Mail Processing Period (SB4)
Rep. Pat Proctor's bill that would throw out thousands of ballots each year by removing the 3-day processing period for mail in ballots postmarked on or before Election Day passed the House this week. During the House debate, Rep. Proctor repeatedly lied about how many days states allow for mail ballots to be sent out and returned, despite fellow legislators and the Sec. of State’s office informing Proctor that Kansas has one of the shortest time frames. Proctor also refused to address fellow legislators' concerns about a leaked Republican zoom call where he described the 3-day grace period as a part of his plan to “chip away” at early voting in Kansas. The Senate did not agree with a House amendment to delay the bill's effective date from immediately to next year so now the bill is headed to a conference committee for the chambers to negotiate.
Sup. Court Constitutional Amendment (SCR1611)
The Senate Federal and State Affairs committee heard a constitutional amendment that would politicize the way Supreme Court Justices are selected in Kansas. The bill is a part of a decade-long plan of Attorney General Kris Kobach to delegitimize the Court by eliminating the merit based process used to select justices and turn judges into partisan politicians. The proposal would change the Kansas Constitution to allow the Republican controlled legislature to determine all the details including which Judges would be elected when. The complete overhaul of the judicial process has been a goal of the Kansas Republican party as the Court has been the main force preventing them from defunding schools and restricting personal freedoms. Additionally, this comes as the legislature is debating a bill to abolish party campaign contribution limits which would allow billionaires such as Elon Musk to make multi-million dollar contributions into Kansas elections. This bill comes in the shadow of an ongoing investigation into an alleged Republican Party money laundering scheme in the 2020 election.
Carr Hoheisel Complaint
Last week House floor proceedings were abruptly suspended for two hours when Republican Whip Rep. Nick Hoheisel allegedly walked into the Democratic side seating area and shouted profanities as he put his finger in Democratic Rep. Ford Carr’s face. The incident came following comments by Rep. Carr about racism in the Statehouse. Carr filed a formal complaint against Hoheisel triggering a Select Investigating Committee. The investigation committee has given the lawmakers until Monday to provide witness lists and any other documents related to the altercation.
Anti Immigrant School Bill (SB254)
A Kris Kobach bill was heard this week that would prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving public benefits, which they’re already ineligible for. The bill expands the definition of “public benefit” to include in-state college tuition rates which would more than double the cost of higher education for impacted Kansas High School graduates who are already not eligible for financial aid or student loans. Additionally, the bill would require police to jail any non-citizens for any alleged crime until police verify their status with the federal government. If they are undocumented it would jail them indefinitely under a presumption they are a flight risk which is usually reserved for alleged murders, but would apply to minor crimes like jaywalking. Chairman Sen. Mike Thompson allowed the only proponent, Kris Kobach, to speak for over 20 minutes, but only gave 12 minutes total to be shared among the many opponents. As Thompson began to cut off the dozens of people who had traveled to Topeka to speak, a man attempted to begin testifying, causing an emotional outburst from Sen. Thompson. Thompson slammed his desk, cut off the room's public audio feed, and ordered the capitol police to remove everyone.
Coming up
Next week there will be more hearings on tons of bills and proposed constitutional amendments as legislators only have about 2 weeks of regular committee meetings left this year. If you find these videos helpful please consider donating at loudlight.org/donate. Stay tuned, stay engaged, and until next time, thank you so much Kansas!