Week 7 Kansas Statehouse Recap: 🚨Marijuana 🏈 Gambling 🚘 Drivers ⚡ Poles 🍴 Golden Fork 🕵️ Dodge City 💭 and more.

Advocacy Opportunities:
Wed - PAT Day at the Kansas State house (Parents as Teachers)
Thur - Take Down Tobacco Day at the Capitol

Upcoming Hearing Highlights
Wed - SB 317 Special education state aid
Wed - HB 2685 Sales tax on digital property and subscription services.
Thur - SB 408 Allowing consumption of beer and wine on the Kansas state fairgrounds

WEEK 7 VIDEO SCRIPT

Marijuana HB2686
On Monday, a bill that would have lowered all felony marijuana possession charges to misdemeanors and released people incarcerated for marijuana possession from the state’s overcrowded prison system was voted down in the House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee.

Sports Betting SB283
The Senate passed a bill to legalize sports betting at the state’s 4 casinos with a tax rate of 5.5% and online at a tax rate of 8%. The bill allows some other narrow categories of online gambling. Debate centered on how the bill would only bring in a few million per year. A House Committee is working on its own version of legalized sports betting that may be more broad and generate more revenue.

Driver’s License SB275 & HB2547
Most of the over 200,000 Kansans with suspended driver’s licenses are because they haven’t paid off fines or court fees. Ironically, this punishment often prevents Kansans from being able to attend work to pay off the fines. The House and Senate passed separate plans unanimously aimed at making it easier for Kansans to get a restricted license. Restricted licenses allow Kansans to continue driving to work, school, and other necessary destinations as they pay off fines.

Electric Poles HB2585
Evergy formerly known as Westar Energy received backlash in 2018 when a NE Wichita neighborhood woke up to giant metal utility poles lining the street.A bill related to electric vehicle charging stations was successfully amended by Wichita Rep. Gail Finney (D) to prevent this from happening in the future. It would require utility corporations to go through a public notification, hearing, and approval process in city neighborhoods which they already do on larger scale projects. It passed by a big margin and is headed to the Senate.

Golden Fork
Sen. Ty Masterson (R) won the 2019 Golden Fork award meaning lobbyists spent more money wining and dining him than any other legislator. Masterson is the chairman of the powerful utilities committee and the leader of the far-right Truth Caucus. The top 5 recipients of lobbyist hospitality are all legislators associated with blocking Medicaid expansion.

Medicaid Expansion
Pressure is increasing as the blockage of the bipartisan Medicaid expansion plan continues. Over 70 Catholic nuns from all over Kansas sent a letter asking legislators to stop denying desperately needed medical care and pass expansion.Gov. Kelly (D) and Sen. Denning (R) will be in Sen. Pres. Wagle’s (R) hometown Wichita on Monday holding Medicaid expansion round tables with hospital administrators and faith leaders.

Dodge City
In 2018, Dodge City made international news when the Ford County Clerk Debbie Cox moved their one polling site outside city limits. A newly released congressional investigation found that Clerk Cox sent out incorrect information on where to vote, did not consult the community on the move, and had not taken steps to reduce the impact on thousands of voters. The ACLU of Kansas represented a young Dodge City voter and LULAC in a lawsuit that was settled when Cox agreed to open more polling sites in future elections.

Coming Up
The busy middle of session turnaround deadline saw roughly a hundred mostly uncontroversial bills pass the House or Senate to stay alive. Next week the Legislature will only meet Wednesday and Thursday, but the second half of session should start debate on some of the hot topics like medical marijuana, tax cuts, and actually accomplishing the one thing they have to do - the state budget. 

Thanks for liking, sharing, and contributing. Stay tuned, stay engaged, and until next time thank you so much Kansas!