2026 Legislative Updates

The House Appropriations and Senate Ways & MeansCommittees held marathon meetings this week to put together their final budget proposals. The House Appropriations Committee finalized its budget proposal on Friday, February 13, but the Senate’s proposal will be finalized on Monday, February 16. Each chamber needs to vote on its respective budget proposals, and then the House and Senate budget committee leadership will meet to negotiate the differences between each proposal to

Legislators this week introduced a bill (SCR 1621) that would place a constitutional amendment on the ballot to prohibit property taxes. Another bill (SB 488) was introduced that, should the constitutional amendment pass, would put a “fair share purchase surcharge” on all purchases, with a few exceptions. No hearing has been set for either of these bills, but they are both exempt from deadlines and can advance at any time.

Happy Kansas Day! On Thursday, January 29, the state celebrated its 165th birthday with cake, songs, and stories. Governor Laura Kelly, Patrick Zollner, ED of the Kansas State Historical Society, and Academy Award-winning American film director and screenwriter Kevin Willmott, a Kansas native, spoke to an excited crowd in the rotunda.

The second week of the session means we’re 10% of the way through, and deadlines are looming. The budget subcommittees in the House and Senate are working quickly to have a final budget ready for each chamber to begin negotiations by the end of next week.

Legislators, lobbyists, and advocates returned to Topeka on Monday, January 12, for the opening of the legislative session. There were a few new faces sworn in, but the Legislature quickly got to work on budgets and bills.