Topeka
March 29, 2024
Bills Debated in the House
The House debated several bills throughout the week. Here are some of the bills we debated on the floor:
● Senate Bill 359 would create a distinctive license plate for the Kansas City Chiefs, Sporting Kansas City, Sedgwick County Zoo, Kansas City Royals, Topeka Zoo, and I offered an amendment to create a support the troops license plate with revenue supporting the American Legion and Kansas Department of Veterans of Foreign Wars. This bill passed the House, 103-20.
● Senate Bill 394 would require certain websites that contain potentially harmful information for minors, such as sexual material, to use an age verification software to ensure a person is eighteen years of age or older and allow parents to take private action against website owners and seek damages if violated. This bill passed the House, 92-31.
● Senate Bill 458, regarding civil forfeitures clarifies, that certain drug offenses would not arise to civil forfeiture, increases the burden of proof by requiring clear and convincing evidence, and requires courts to make determination of the excessiveness of the forfeiture. This bill passed the House, 123-0.
● House Substitute for Senate Bill 287 would require school health care professionals to receive parental consent before providing services such as administering medications, providing diagnostic tests, or conducting behavioral health treatments. Healthcare providers who violate the provisions in this bill would be subjected to discipline from the appropriate licensing agency. This bill passed the House 85-37.
● House Bill 2825 enacts the Consumer Protection Related to Hospital Price Transparency Act and would require hospitals to provide pricing information of its top three hundred procedures, provide patients with cost estimates for elective tests and procedures if requested, and provide patients with a written copy of their ability to receive this information. This bill would allow for the Attorney General’s Office to fine hospitals $250 a day if they are not in compliance.
● House Substitute for Senate Bill 387 is concerning appropriations for the State Department of Education for fiscal years 2024, 2025, and 2026 and would abolish or revise certain statutes concerning the education system. Including the prohibition of substantially revising curriculum standards until seventy-five percent of students achieve academic proficiency.
Conference Committee
A Conference Committee will meet in the coming days to discuss the differences in the budget. Some differences between the House and Senate budgets are the House provides $2.2 million from the State General Fund for the Kansas Osteopathic Scholarship for FY 25 which will help rural healthcare, provides $47.7 million from the State General Fund to pay off state debt, $16.5 million for economic and housing development in the northwest Kansas region, $2.2 million to increase the number of Physical Disability waivers by 500, $6.7 million to increase the number of Intellectual and Developmental Disability waivers by 500 to reduce waiting lists, and $18.6 million to increase Medicaid reimbursement.
Tax Bill
House Substitute for Senate Bill 300 was debated on the floor Tuesday regarding taxation. This bill would restructure the individual income tax bracket. For a married couple making $60,001 and above would be taxed at 5.65 percent. This bill would also phase out taxes on social security benefits through 2026 and by 2027 benefits will be exempt from Kansas income taxes. The bill would increase the standard deduction amounts by $240 for married filing jointly and will be further increased by the cost-of-living adjustment determined by the IRS. The privilege tax rates that are applied to financial institutions would be reduced by 2.25 percent.
House Substitute for SB 300 would also reinstate transfers from the State General Fund for fiscal year 2025 to Special City and County Highway Fund and abolish the Local Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund and County and City Revenue Sharing Fund. This bill would also increase the amount of residential property exemption from statewide uniform school finance levy to $100,000 of appraised value and in tax year 2024 reduce the uniform school finance levy from 20 mills to 18 mills.
Contact Information
Anytime that you would like to participate and listen to the developments of committee hearings or discussion on the House floor, you can tune in by video or audio at www.kslegislature.org.
As always, if you have any concerns, feel free to contact me 785 -296-7672, follow on twitter at @waymaster4house, or email me at [email protected].
It is a distinct honor to serve as your representative for the 109th Kansas House District and the state of Kansas. Please contact me with your thoughts, concerns, and questions. I always appreciate hearing from the residents of the 109th House District and others from the state of Kansas, as well.