April 1-5, 2024

Mainstream Messenger: #KSLeg Week 13

The Return of #KSLeg After Dark

Get ready for one of the most reckless weeks of #KSLeg where anything goes. It’s time for conference week! This week we’ll see majority party leadership push through bills without proper hearings, rush bill bundles towards final action, and resurrect pet issues that seemed dead. Anything goes this week, so buckle up for some long nights and last minute alerts to contact your legislators.

On March 31 we celebrated Trans Day of Visibility, knowing that the majority party of the #KSLeg are hell-bent on removing healthcare for transgender Kansans. Mainstream and our partners participated in Governor Kelly’s proclamation signing, and we’re heartened by the reminder that we have a strong advocate in the Governor’s office. Thank you Governor Kelly and all who fight for our LGBTQ+ friends and neighbors.

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 professionals, and stripping Kansans' constitutional right to bodily autonomy.​ After weeks of waiting to get this one to the Governor’s desk, the conference committee finally succeeded in putting up a final amended bill for a vote. It passed Yea: 82 Nay: 39 in the House and Yea: 27 Nay: 13 in the Senate. We expect SB233 to be vetoed by the Governor, and that the legislature will attempt a veto override, but not before they break from April 5 - 29. This gives us plenty of time to let legislators know how much we oppose this latest attack on transgender youth and their families.
  • TAKE ACTION 
    1. We urge you to contact your legislators immediately and tell them to sustain the veto on SB233. Make sure to thank your legislator if they voted against this harmful bill – they need to know how much we appreciate their support.
    2. Want to do more? We’re working with our partners like Equality KS, ACLU of Kansas, KIFA, and Loud Light on LGBTQ+ Defense phone banks where we’ll be calling constituents in key districts and asking them to contact their legislators to support LGBTQ+ rights. This event will include training on how to phone bank and a recap summarizing our efforts and future opportunities. Mainstream is hosting the April 9 phonebank, but if you can’t join us that night you can sign up for others here.
• HB2749 - Requiring medical care facilities and providers to report the reasons for each abortion. The bill has passed both chambers: Senate on 3/27 (Yea: 27 Nay: 13) and House on 3/7 (Yea: 81 Nay: 39).
  • TAKE ACTION: Contact your legislator and remind them that Kansans overwhelmingly voted to support bodily autonomy on Aug 2, 2022. If they voted no, please thank them for supporting access to safe and legal abortions without the unnecessarily invasive questions included in HB2749 and remind them to sustain a Governor’s veto. 
• HB2436 - Creating the crime of coercion to obtain an abortion and providing enhanced criminal penalties for offenses committed with the intent to coerce a woman to obtain an abortion. The Senate passed it on 3/27 (Yea: 27 Nay: 11). 
  • TAKE ACTION: Contact your Senator and remind them that Kansans overwhelmingly voted to support bodily autonomy on Aug 2, 2022. If they voted no, please thank them for supporting access to safe and legal abortions and efforts to protect Kansans from all forms of reproductive coercion.

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.