2023 Capitol Review
Week One
Jan. 09 – Jan. 13, 2023
The Kansas legislature gaveled in on Monday, January 9, 2023, on the first day of the 90-day session of the two-year biennium. Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association’s (KARA) government affairs staff was at the capitol to greet new members and welcome back returning legislators. House and Senate Leadership released their shared vision for this session. Governor Laura Kelly’s was sworn in, but her State of the State address was postponed while she recovered from symptoms of what was initially thought to be COVID-19, but later turned out not to be the case.
Week Two
Jan. 16 – Jan. 20, 2023
This week, the legislature introduced many new bills and even began to hold hearings. There was discussion around the capitol on the recent listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken as a threatened species in Kansas, and the negative impacts this would have on various industries in our state, which culminated in the introduction of a Senate Resolution pushing back on the listing. Here are some of the other highlights from this week.
Week Three
Jan. 23 – Jan. 27, 2023
This week, the governor gave her delayed State of the State, and the legislature introduced a flurry of additional bills. A few hearings are being held, but many more are scheduled for next week. There was continued discussion around the capitol on the recent listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken as a threatened species in Kansas, which culminated in the introduction of a Senate Resolution pushing back on the listing.
Week Four
Jan. 30 – Feb. 03, 2023
Legislative committees held many hearings on bills this week as new legislation continues to be introduced. A water bill was introduced and quickly scheduled for hearing. Utilities committees in the House and Senate have scheduled hearings on numerous bills concerning utility rates. Committees have also begun to review agency budgets, and the Senate held a hearing this week on a bill seeking to transfer another $1 billion into the budget stabilization fund. Next week, the House Committee on Agriculture will hold a hearing on a Senate Resolution pushing back on the US Fish and Wildlife’s listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken as a threatened species in Kansas.
Week Five
Feb. 06 – Feb. 10, 2023
This week was the last week for new bills to be introduced in either chamber in 2023, unless brought forward through an “exempt committee,” such as tax or appropriations. Committees will be busy holding hearings next week, as all hearings and other action on most bills must be completed by Tuesday, Feb. 21. A water policy bill was heard in the House Water Committee this week, to be followed by a water funding bill next week. Utilities committees in both the House and Senate were very busy this week, and next, holding hearings on bills seeking to lower the rising cost of electric utilities. Final action on a Senate Resolution happened this week pushing back on the United States Fish and Wildlife’s listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken as a threatened species in Kansas.
Week Six
Feb. 13 – Feb. 17, 2023
Most committee work for the first half of the 2023 Kansas legislative session wrapped up this week. Some committees will still meet Monday, Feb. 20 and Tuesday, Feb. 21, before legislators finish out the week debating bills on the floor. This week saw advancement of a water policy bill and a water funding bill from the House Water Committee. Next week, the House and Senate Utilities committees look to take final action on multiple bills seeking to provide lower costs of electric utilities.
Week Seven
Feb. 20 – Feb. 24, 2023
This was ‘Turnaround Week’ in the Kansas legislature where any bill that was not passed by its chamber of origin, or is not otherwise exempt, will no longer be an active bill this session. The House and Senate debated and passed dozens of bills before adjourning late on Thursday evening. The legislature will return to work next Wednesday, March 1, to begin consideration of the bills passed by the opposite chamber. The major issues remaining for the session include various bills on utility rates, sales taxes on food, a single rate for individual income taxes, and debate on how to best spend the state’s estimated $2.3 billion ending cash balance.
Week Eight
Feb. 27 – March 3, 2023
This week was the first week following legislative turnaround. Dozens of bills that passed their chamber of origin were read into the opposite chamber and then referred to committees. Following a long weekend, hearings were held on a few bills on Wednesday and Thursday. The legislature will return to work in earnest next week. One major item this week concerned a two-day informational hearing in the Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs on the likely negative impacts that would come from the legalization of marijuana in Kansas. Key to this issue is that the House is waiting on the Senate to take action on this item, and any legislation is likely to come from this Senate committee.
Week Nine
March 6 – March 10, 2023
This week, the legislature continued its consideration of bills that had passed in the opposite chamber and began finalizing work on general agency budget bills for fiscal years 2024, 2025, and 2026. Most committees only have two weeks remaining this session to meet and consider bills before the full House and Senate begin deliberation.
Week 10
March 13 – March 17, 2023
As the number of available days for committee work winds down in the 2023 Kansas legislative session, lawmakers put in extra hours this week ushering bills out of their respective committees and spending more time on the House and Senate floor to pass preliminary state agency budgets for fiscal years 2024, 2025 and 2026. With little more than a week remaining before extended floor debate to close the session, numerous bills are being considered.
Week 11
March 20 – March 24, 2023
There was frenzied committee activity inside the Kansas statehouse this week as the 2023 legislature reached its March 24 deadline for committees to meet and evaluate bills. Next week will include hours of floor debate in the House and Senate. With the legislature’s first adjournment scheduled for April 6, lawmakers contemplated numerous bills concerning rail infrastructure, personal and commercial tax policy, the state budget, public health, and much more.
Week 12
March 27 – March 31, 2023
The House and Senate debated dozens of bills over three days this week at the Kansas statehouse. A few bills received final approval from both chambers and are on their way to the Governor, but most of the bills still being debated will be referred to conference committees next week to discuss their potential content and passage. The legislature will continue its work through Thursday, April 6, before taking its first adjournment. Also, this week, the Governor signed four mostly non-controversial bills. There is much work left to be done for lawmakers as they deliberate on bills concerning the state budget, rail infrastructure, personal and commercial tax policy, public health, and much more.
First Adjournment
April 03 – April 06, 2023
April 3 – 6 was the final week of the regular portion of the 2023 Kansas legislative session. It was a busy four days of winding down legislative business with dozens of bills to monitor, punctuated by a marathon session of House and Senate floor debate on bills beginning in the morning on Thursday, April 6 and running overnight before adjourning around 4:45 a.m., on Friday, April 7. The legislature passed an adjournment resolution calling them back to Topeka on April 26 to begin a short Veto Session, where it is anticipated that final action will be taken on the omnibus budget and some tax bills.
Upcoming Veto Session
April 2023
This week marked the second of two interim weeks the Kansas Legislature took off between the end of the 2023 regular session and what is likely to be a short veto session beginning Wednesday, April 26. During the veto session, the legislature will take final action on a few remaining bills, pass an omnibus budget bill for the remainder of fiscal year ’23 and fiscal year ’24, and possibly attempt to override a few bills vetoed by Governor Laura Kelly. Please find below, action on some bills over the last two weeks.
Sine Die Adjournment
April 28, 2023
The 2023 Kansas legislature’s veto session began on Wednesday, April 26. Over proceeding three days, lawmakers took up a few bills for final action, passed an omnibus budget bill for the remainder of fiscal year ’23 and fiscal year ’24, and attempted to override about nineteen bills previously vetoed by Governor Laura Kelly.