We have three urgent action alerts for you to do as soon as possible! Please use your voice and contact your state legislators before 5:00 on Friday to stand up for public schools, reproductive rights, and queer youth.
Not sure who your state legislator is or how they voted on these bills? Find out at KSLegLookUp.org.
The latest voucher scheme is advancing in the House with SB 87. This bill would expand eligibility of the so called "scholarship program" beyond low-income households and increase the annual cap from $15 million to $25. This would have a major impact on funding for our public schools by diverting dollars from the general fund to private, often religious, schools.
SB 87 passed the senate 24:16 and will have a hearing in the House Education Committee on Monday at 1:30. We need your testimony to oppose SB 87 before 5:00 pm Friday! You can read our testimony on SB 87 here.
You can learn more about the bill and how to submit your testimony here with this excellent overview from our friends at Six Degrees of Activism.
LEARN MROE AND SUBMIT TESTIMONY BY 5:00 ON FRIDAY HERE.
HB 2062, which furthers fetal personhood in Kansas statute by providing child support for unborn children from the date of conception, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. This bill passed the House 85:34 and could be taken up by the Senate any day.
Contact your Senator immediately and ask them to oppose any effort to undermine safe and legal access to abortions. Bills like this are a sneaky way that anti-abortion organizations like Kansans for Life chip away at our legal access to reproductive health care. You can read our testimony here.
Two anti-LGBTQ+ bills are making their way through the legislature now that the gender affirming care ban has passed, and we need your help to stop them!
SB 76, the so-called "Given Name Act" would restrict teachers' first amendment right of free speech by prohibiting them from using chosen names and pronouns for students unless they have written permission from parents. Despite hundreds of pieces of opponent testimony, it passed out of the Senate 26:14 and cleared the House Education Committee on Thursday. It's now headed to the Senate floor. You can read our testimony here or watch our in-person testimony here.
HB 2311 is an LGBTQ+ discrimination bill affecting the placement of queer children in adoptive or foster homes. This bill would prevent the KS Dept. for Children and Families from creating any policies that would protect young LGBTQ+ kids from custodial families who would use their "sincerely held religious or moral beliefs" to justify actions like conversion therapy or other harmful anti-gay practices. This bill quite literally puts queer kids at risk of state sanctioned child endangerment. It passed the House 86: 37 and has a hearing scheduled in the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee next Wednesday with a testimony deadline of Tuesday at 8 am. You can read our testimony here.
Help us protect queer Kansans from this onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ bills by stopping SB 76 and HB 2311. Contact your legislators now to let them know that you stand with the LGBTQ+ community and to vote no on these bills. And reach out if you need more help submitting opponent testimony on HB 2311 before the deadline.
TELL YOUR LEGISLATOR TO VOTE NO ON SB 76 AND HB 2311.
