TOPEKA
Its been a week since Turnaround and the House only introduced eight pieces of legislation. Each bill is detailed in a list below.
First is House Bill (HB) 2389, which would amend criminal law by requiring previous convictions be considered in determining bond for individuals arrested for sex offenses;
Second is HB 2390, this bill seeks to grant Jackson County the authority to raise the retailers’ sale tax for the purpose of supporting hospital services within the county;
Third is HB 2391, this legislation would prohibit carrying concealed handguns in the state capitol, with exceptions for law enforcement and military members performing official duties;
Fourth is HB 2392, which aims to set maximum education requirements, one level above offered courses, for nursing schools within Kansas and adjust licensure requirements for nurses out-of-state;
Fifth is HB 2393, this bill would establish additional charges within court procedure costs to fund non-judicial employee salaries from now till the end of fiscal year 2030;
Sixth is HB 2394, which would establish property tax use valuation for residential real property, real property used for commercial and industrial purposes, and mobile homes used for residential purposes;
Seventh is HB 2395, which creates a new tax credit, worth up to $250 in the first year and then $100 for the next five years—per animal—, for certain expenses on cats and dogs, that reside indoors and are spayed and neutered;
Eighth and last is HB 2396, this legislation would amend tax law in several ways.
First it would establish a protest petition mechanism to negate property tax increases, within the taxing jurisdiction of the governing body raising said taxes, that exceeded the rate of inflation by the consumer price index and prior year rate increases for construction or renovation of buildings—the state of Kansas and school districts being exempted. Such a protest petition would require 10% of the voting population of the jurisdictions and need to be delivered within 30 days to take effect.
Second, the bill would create an Acknowledging Stewardship of Tax Revenue and Appropriations (ASTRA) fund, initially funded at $60 million, that would allocate funds to taxing jurisdictions that did not raise their property taxes beyond the aforementioned values.
COMMITTEE HAPPENINGS
House Appropriations (HAPP) held hearings on Wednesday and Thursday, across a number of topics.
Wednesday saw the committee hold an informational hearing on higher education, with presentations given by the presidents, and chancellor, of all state funded, or partially so, universities. According to the information provided at the hearings higher education is improving in our state and university enrollment, especially for in-person classes, has increased.
On Thursday HAPP received briefings from MakeMyMove and KC2026 and held hearings on House Bill (HB) 2237 and Senate Bill (SB) 125. The MakeMyMove Corporation was represented by Ben Ledo, their vice president of sales. He contended that the state needed to create new incentives for improving inward migration to Kansas, in particular a grant program. KC2026, the organization that is planning and coordinating World Cup events in the Kansas City area in 2026, was represented by Lindsay Douglas, their director of integrated operations, and she informed the committee on how funds were being allocated and the rate of progress in preparing for the momentous event.
HB 2237, relating to recruitment and retention award programs in state agencies, received proponent testimony from eight agencies and SB 125, claims against the state, received none. Both bills did not receive any opponent or neutral testimony.
HOUSE DELIBERATIONS
The Kansas House of Representatives debated and voted on seven pieces of legislation this week. I have detailed four of those bills below.
First was House Bill (HB) 2096. This bill would alter law regarding housing investor tax credits, enabling credits to be transferred by investors within the same year of their issuance.
Second was HB 2231. This legislation would alter the tax code by creating a new tax exemption of $2,320 for Head of Household tax filers, starting in tax year 2024, and increase the personal exemption to 100 percent for permanently disabled veterans.
Third was HB 2107. This legislation would establish utility civil law liability parameters for damaging fire events and create training courses on wildfire risk and mitigation within the Kansas Corporation Commission, funded through the agency’s fee fund.
Fourth and last was HB 2056. This bill would alter election law by requiring a signed and notarized declaration for recipients of certificates of nomination when running for public office.
Each of these bills passed the House and I voted yes on all of them.
It is a distinct honor to serve as your representative for the 109th Kansas House District and the state of Kansas. Please contact me with your thoughts, concerns, and questions. I always appreciate hearing from the residents of the 109th House District and others from the state of Kansas, as well.
Contact My Office
Representative Troy L. Waymaster
300 SW 10th Street
Topeka, Kansas 66612
[email protected]
www.kslegislature.org
www.troywaymaster.com