2021 Legislative Update 6

Week 6 of the 2021 Legislative Session began with a State of Disaster Emergency being issued due to extreme cold weather. The record-breaking cold temperatures created dangerous and challenging situations statewide. Governor Laura Kelly also announced her plan to help bring Kansan students back to in-person learning safely.

On Monday, the Labor and Working Families Caucus hosted a lunch and learn with a very informative presentation by Jan Fisher, an Attorney at McCullough, Wareheim and Labunker on workers compensation. Workers compensation was created by what is referred to as the “Grand Bargin,” which resulted in the loss of constitutional rights of an injured worker to sue their employer in exchange for the certainty and guarantee of workers' compensation benefits, consisting of a weekly check and payment of medical treatment. Imperative to this is that employees are provided acceptable benefits for their injuries and that employers are able to plan for the financial impact of paying for those benefits.

In the House, we continue to hear and work bills in committee in advance of Turnaround which is quickly approaching. The House took action on sixteen bills this week which are listed below. We anticipate working critical issue bills such as medical marijuana and addressing the Kansas Emergency Management Act (KEMA), in the coming weeks.

It is a special honor to serve as your state representative. I value and appreciate your input on issues facing state government. Please feel free to contact me with your comments and questions. My office address is Room 452-S, 300 SW 10th, Topeka, KS 66612. You can reach me at (785) 296-7430 or call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message for me. You can also e-mail me at pam.curtis@house.ks.gov.

Governor’s State of Disaster Emergency

Governor Kelly issued a State of Disaster Emergency due to wind chill warnings and stress on utility and natural gas providers. This declaration authorized the use of state resources and personnel to assist with response and recovery operations in affected counties that met certain criteria. Fortunately, the sub-zero temperatures seem to be behind us and hopefully warmer weather will take its place. 

Back to School

Governor Kelly announced her back to school plan, committed to ensuring that teachers and staff are a priority in every county, so that we can safely get kids back in school as quickly as possible. Therefore, counties who need them will receive additional shipments of vaccine doses explicitly earmarked for K-12 teachers and staff. Not only will there be an emphasis on vaccinating K-12 teachers and staff, but Kansas will also be able to provide free testing supplies to schools that will produce results in about 15 minutes. Vaccinations and free testing supplies on top of the continued implementation of masks and social distancing will help bring us back to in-person learning safely. 

Wednesday on the Floor

On Wednesday, the House Caucus addressed and voted on eleven bills. All eleven of these bills passed on General Order by voice vote. This moves all of them to Final Action on Thursday to be voted on by the House Caucus. 

Below are the eleven bills that passed on voice vote, and were placed on Final Action for the following day:

• HB 2178 - vacating certain blocks in the original town plat set aside for a college and a park in the city of Americus and vesting fee simple title in the city.
• HB 2187 - Enacting the first-time home buyer savings account act.
• HB 2070 - Allowing certain private not-for-profit postsecondary educational institutions to recoup credit card fees by permitting a surcharge for credit card transactions in the same manner as municipal universities, community colleges, technical colleges and vocational educational schools.
• HB 2087 - Limiting the review of certain rules and regulations by the director of the budget.
• HB 2115 - Establishing the joint committee on child welfare system oversight.
• HB 2158 - Making permanent provisions for the advisory committee on trauma and the statewide trauma system regional council to conduct closed meetings and keep privileged records regarding trauma cases.
• HB 2172 - Modifying water usage calculations and fees for multi-year flex accounts and permitting alternative base average water use calculations and prorated terms.
• HB 2096 - Authorizing department of corrections employees, local correctional or detention officers, judicial branch employees, municipal court employees and administrative hearing officers to have identifying information restricted from public access on public websites that identify home addresses or home ownership.
• HB 2007 - Updating motor carrier laws and the regulation of motor carriers by the state corporation commission.
• HB 2076 - Clarifying that bond agents seeking discharge as a surety are required to return the person released on bond to the court in the county where the complaint subject to the bond was filed.
• HB 2104 - Modifying the sales tax exemption for construction materials by allowing certain educational institutions a sales tax exemption for purchases thereof.

Thursday on the Floor

On Thursday, the House Caucus took final action on the eleven bills that were heard and passed on voice vote the previous day. 

Below are the results from final action being taken on these bills:

• HB 2178 - Passed on Final Action 121-1.
• HB 2187 - Passed on Final Action 119-3.
• HB 2070 - Passed on Final Action 119-3.
• HB 2087 - Passed on Final Action 109-13.
• HB 2115 - Passed on Final Action 118-4.
• HB 2158 - Passed on Final Action 121-1.
• HB 2172 - Passed on Final Action 122-0.
• HB 2096 - Passed on Final Action 122-0.
• HB 2007 - Passed on Final Action 122-0.
• HB 2076 - Passed on Final Action 122-0.
• HB 2104 - Passed on Final Action 114-8.

After final actions, the House Caucus addressed and voted on five more bills. These bills were moved to Emergency Final Action and each were passed out of the House.

Below are the five bills that passed on emergency final action.

• HB 2114 which establishes the Kansas senior care task force. Passed on Emergency Final Action 113-8.
• HB 2124 which clarifies the authority of healing arts school clinics to provide healing arts services. Passed on Emergency Final Action 121-0.
• HB 2155 which provides for department of health and environment response operations for water and soil pollutant release, discharge, or escape. Passed on Emergency Final Action 85-36.
• HB 2151 which creates Kansas elder and dependent adult abuse multidisciplinary teams and a coordinator. Passed on Emergency Final Action 121-0.
• HB 2125 which allows a copy of a will to be filed and admitted to probate and allows a will or a copy of a will filed within six months after the death of the testator to be admitted to probate at any time. Passed on Emergency Final Action 118-3.

In the Coming Weeks

We are almost halfway through the 2021 Legislative Session, and we still have many important issues to address. Below are some of the things that we are expecting to come up in the coming weeks.

1. The Kansas Emergency Management Act
2. SB 22 - Brownback Tax (2.0) - which prioritizes tax cuts for the wealthy rather than those who need it to survive and provide for their families.
3. Education bills that aim to funnel tax-payer dollars away from public schools, that serve all Kansas children, and give that money to the private schools. These bills are SB 61/HB 2068 and HB 2119. 
4. Gun bills that would allow for individuals from other states to carry guns in Kansas, even if they are irresponsible and reckless individuals, including those with a dangerous background
5. Medicinal Marijuana
6. The Governor’s Budget

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