By TIM CARPENTER
Kansas Reflector
Both chambers voted on overrides in big packages rather than individually
TOPEKA — It was all or nothing as the Senate and House considered the tidal wave of budget vetoes generated by Gov. Laura Kelly.
On Thursday, the Senate instigated an extraordinary maneuver to reject with a single vote about three-dozen vetoes executed by the Democratic governor as she went line-by-line through the spending bill adopted by the Kansas Legislature. The vote was 30-10 in the GOP-controlled chamber to restore every provision of Senate Bill 125 deleted by Kelly.
The House, with a supermajority of Republicans, followed by offering representatives a curated package of 15 elements vetoed by the governor. In a frank presentation, House budget chairman Rep. Troy Waymaster said the short list in front of the House focused on what was worth salvaging.
“This is in a package because it came to us from the Senate in a package,” Waymaster said. “We went through the items, looked at the ones that were palatable, the ones that needed to be funded.”
The vote board in the House didn’t lie: 82-42. That was two votes short of the two-thirds majority required to overturn the governor’s vetoes on the group of 15. No lengthy attempt was made to rally Republicans to reach the 84-vote threshold. The House had already decided not to challenge vetoes of 18 other earmarks, so the chamber adjourned for the day.
Procedural avenues exist to compel reconsideration of veto override decisions in the House, but that would have to occur Friday before lawmakers ended the annual session. As it stands, the bulk of the Legislature’s sweeping budget bill was signed into law by Kelly and all the governor’s vetoes remain in place.
Swinging for the fence
Senate Democrats howled in opposition to the motion by Senate President Ty Masterson of Andover to avoid individual debate on the vetoes. He proposed the Senate dispense with the governor’s critique of the budget with one brisk up-or-down vote.
Masterson said he was aware the House might not follow the Senate’s one-and-done lead.
“The budget had a plethora of line-item vetoes,” Masterson said. “I’m going to make a global motion … to override all the line-item vetoes in Senate Bill 125 at one time.”
Initially, the Senate vote stood at 26-14 or one vote shy of the two-thirds majority needed to override Kelly. Then, four Republican senators — Caryn Tyson of Parker, Stephen Owens of Hesston, Brenda Dietrich of Topeka and Elaine Bowers of Concordia — changed their votes to “yes” to complete the override. The final tally was 30-10.
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes of Lenexa said the GOP leadership’s quick-strike method adhered to a theme of the 2025 session in which procedures were used to limit bipartisan debate on issues before the Legislature. She voted against the overrides.
“This is just fitting,” Sykes said. “This is a culmination of a condensed and rushed session. We are just amplifying what the public hates about politics and legislation. The ugliness that everyone hates — that’s what we just agreed to.”
Over in the House
Democrats in the House also expressed consternation such a diverse set of veto overrides would be tackled as a unit.
“Some people find it very strange that the Senate did the whole package and didn’t give people an opportunity to explain or talk about things,” said Lawrence Democratic Rep. Barbara Ballard, who noted the House GOP gave up more vetoes than they pursued. “Why would they give that up? Maybe, in some cases, you may not have the votes.”
Rep. Henry Helgerson, a Democrat from Eastborough, said it was “very rare” for the Legislature to consider vetoes in a big bundle. He struggled with the idea Republican and Democratic leaders in the House worked together on which pieces would be subjected to an override vote.
“One of my biggest objections to this process is we are taking away your vote all the time by putting it in the hands of these individuals,” he told House colleagues.
Helgerson, who expects to be primaried by Democrats in 2026, said the budget adopted by the Legislature and signed by the governor would produce a revenue shortfall within a couple years.
“I see a $1 billion shortfall out there and we’re still spending more money,” he said. “When are you going to wake up and say, ‘Wait a minute?’ ”