March 25-29, 2024

Mainstream Messenger: #KSLeg Week 12

#KSLeg is Back to its Usual Tricks 

We have just 2 weeks before the scheduled April 5 First Adjournment. After this date the only bills that the legislature will be able to consider are those vetoed by the Governor or omnibus budget bills. Most committees held their final meetings last week and we saw confusion in the statehouse as the legislature ramped up their usual antics – gut and go bills, suspension of rules to hear and work bills in the same day, and a fun afternoon of will-they-won’t-they meet for the conference committee on an anti-trans bill.

We continue to monitor a few key bills that threaten the separation of religion and government in our areas of public education, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ+ equality.

• Sub SB233 - Enacting the so-called "forbidding abuse child transitions act." Mainstream opposes this omnibus attack bill legalizing discrimination, penalizing healthcare professiona​ls, and stripping Kansans' constitutional right to bodily autonomy.​ We're still waiting on another conference committee meting after last week's “agree to disagree” – a process that requires leadership to appoint new (or re-appoint existing) conferees to the committee. 
  • TAKE ACTION: We urge you to contact your legislators immediately and tell them to oppose SB 233 - a bill with the primary objective of keeping transgender youth from accessing live-saving health care and the support they and their families need.
• HB2749 - Requiring medical care facilities and providers to report the reasons for each abortion. Mainstream opposes this invasive bill that undermines access to safe and legal abortions (read our testimony here). The Senate is taking up this bill TODAY, so please contact your Senator now and let them know you oppose this bill.
  • TAKE ACTION: Contact your senator now and tell them you oppose HB2749 using this tool from our partners at Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes.
• SB509 - Establishing the education opportunity tax credit. Mainstream opposes this latest voucher bill. We're still waiting for a Senate vote, so contact your Senator now and let them know you oppose the diversion of public dollars to private, often religious, schools. You can find our testimony here. 

Visit Mainstream's new #KSLeg Action dashboard to see where we are with the active bills we're following. 

We'll continue to monitor proposals that could impact public education funding, reproductive health care, and LGBTQ+ equality this week, and we'll let you know when your legislator needs to hear from YOU to stop dangerous bills.