March 4-8, 2024

Mainstream Messenger: #KSLeg Week 9

The majority party in the KSleg is hellbent on abolishing our constitutional guarantee to freedom of religion and government.

Last week we turned out to protect trans kids. Mainstream worked with our partners at Equality Kansas, ACLU of Kansas, Loud Light, and KIFA to help over 400 Kansans submit opposition testimony and fill the room for two sets of hearings on Thursday. It was a wild and emotional day, though thankfully the bills were not worked….yet. Read Mainstream's testimony here.

This week we're defending access to quality public education and reproductive healthcare: 

• SB498 (Establishing a tax credit for contributions to eligible charitable organizations operating pregnancy centers) has a hearing in the Senate Committee on Assessment and Taxation on Tuesday. Mainstream opposes this anti-abortion bill for many reasons, but our testimony will focus on the blatant financial favoritism for these often religious organizations. We’ll also be participating in Tuesday’s Kansans for Bodily Autonomy Day sponsored by our friends at Trust Women, URGE Kansas, and Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes. We expect more anti-abortion bills to receive hearings soon, so get ready to email your legislator about protecting Kansans’ reproductive health care.
• SB 509 (Establishing the education opportunity tax credit to provide an income tax credit for taxpayers with eligible dependent children not enrolled in public school) has a hearing in the Senate Committee on Assessment and Taxation on Wednesday. Mainstream opposes this voucher bill and any similar proposals that aim to blur the line between religion and government.  

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

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