Topeka, KS 
 

Friday, February 23rd marked the unofficial half-way point of the 2024 Legislative Session. Most of the news that took place in the Legislature this week was on Tuesday when the House attempted to override Governor Kelly’s veto of the flat tax bill. The House voted 81-42 to override the veto, three votes short of the 84 needed to override the veto. There were 5 Republicans that voted not to override. There was one Democrat that voted to override. The failed override was a significant disappointment for leadership in the Legislature. Since the House failed to override the veto, the Senate never had the opportunity to consider the override.

Tuesday (20th) was the final day committees met to move bills out of committee to be voted on by their respective chamber. The House and Senate spent Wednesday (21st) and Thursday (22nd) considering bills. Both chambers completed the work they wanted to complete and were on their way home before 6:00 Thursday evening to begin a break that will last till Wednesday morning (the 28th).
 

Most of the legislation considered this week did not have a great deal to do with K-12 Education. Education funding and major policy issues will be considered later in the session. Education bills that were considered this week are below.

• HB 2613 passed the House 105 to 15. The bill has to do with the DARE program. The bill creates a position of Statewide Drug Abuse Resistance Educator. The bill will now go to the Senate.

• HB 2494 passed the House. 117 to 2. The bill provides for rules and policies for school districts to have AED machines, trained staff in CPR, and an emergency response plan in place. More details will follow after the Senate acts on this bill.

• HB 2646 passed the House 118 to 1. This bill is concerning post-secondary education as it relates to the Kansas hero’s scholarship program. The bill removes limits on the amount of scholarship awards and the number of scholarships.

• HB 2703 passed the House 119 to 0. The bill has to do with At-Risk students. If a student is in the custody of Children and Families the student will be considered At-Risk.

With regard to the Senate: 

The Senate basically did nothing that had to do with K-12 education this past week. SB 386 was on the calendar to be considered; this is the bill that counts students using current year enrollment or one previous year. It was pulled because there was to be an amendment added to the bill. It will be considered at a later time.
 

The update is a short one this week. As you can see, there is still a great deal of work to be done when the Legislature returns to Topeka next week. I hope you have a good weekend.