A win for voting rights, a loss for reproductive rights. How did your legislator vote? Great job with testimony last week!
Two of the bills we’ve been following had votes in their initial chambers last week. One bill is dead and the other will continue through the legislative process.
Find your legislators at KSLegLookup.org and see how they voted, below.
But first, in regards to testimony (public comment) requests last week…
Despite tight deadlines, Kansans once again came through. With groups like Six Degrees of Activism and others helping Kansans navigate the legislative process and keep tabs on bills, we are showing legislators that more Kansans are paying attention.
Testimony Counts!
97 opponents and just 8 proponents for SB 509, the voucher bill that essentially pays families for home schooling or sending their kids to private school. Kansans want their public tax dollars to be used for public schools that educate and accept all children!
67 opponents and 22 proponents for HB 2803, the gun bill that prohibits local law enforcement from enforcing federal gun laws. Kansans want to strengthen laws around gun safety, not make it harder for law enforcement to keep our kids and communities safe!
The oral opponent testimony for both of these bills was pretty compelling. Multiple law enforcement officers testified against the gun bill. We’ll keep watching to see how these bills proceed.
Keep reading to:
Learn what happened to the reproductive rights and voting rights bills
See how your legislator voted on each bill
Learn about two senate seats where we have an opportunity to elect better legislators in November.
Reproductive Rights - Bill HB 2749 passes and will continue on
Bill HB 2749 requiring patients receiving an abortion to answer invasive questions as to why they are seeking an abortion before receiving abortion healthcare, has passed in the House.
Kansans spoke loud and clear in August of 2022 — we don’t want the state involved in our personal healthcare decisions.
In response, legislative leadership has continued to ignore Kansas voters as there are approximately nine bills currently being considered that could limit abortion care or make it more difficult or emotionally distressing to receive care.
How did your Representative vote on HB 2749?
Bill HB 2749 passed the House with 81 votes. It still has to pass the Senate and then head to the Governor’s desk before it becomes law. If the Governor were to veto it, the House would need 84 votes to override her veto. We’ll continue to watch this bill as it progresses through the legislative process.
Voting Rights - Bill SB 365 is dead
Bill SB 365 that started as a removal of the three day period protecting voters from mail delays, was amended into a monster of a bill that was ultimately defeated.
During floor debate it was amended to include:
banning ballot drop boxes,
creating more situations for provisional ballots that must be reviewed and hand counted after Election Day,
banning electronic voting machines,
requiring all ballots to be hand counted,
creating more barriers for Kansas voters and making the work of election officials more difficult.
Thank you to everyone who submitted testimony or sent emails on this one. I’ve spent three years testifying against this bill after seeing numerous college students (including my own) experiencing delays with their ballots.
We may see the removal of the three day protection period pop up as an amendment to another bill, but for now this issue is dead.
How did your Senator vote on SB 365?
Although this vote count is informative, because this bill was amended to include some fairly extreme ideas like no longer using voting machines and hand counting all ballots, it doesn’t give a full picture of where some of these legislators stand on voting rights. See the 2023 Votes section for more information.
2023 votes
To get a full picture of where some senators stand on voting rights, we must also look at how they voted on these stand alone bills in 2023. Ultimately these bills didn’t become law. The first was vetoed by the Governor and the other was not taken up by the House.
A note about JoCo Senators Mike Thompson & Kellie Warren
Data is showing that we have a real opportunity in November to replace Johnson County Senators Thompson and Warren. In addition to their votes attempting to change current voting laws, they also consistently vote against our public schools, gun safety, reproductive rights and other issues Six Degrees of Activism values.
If you live in one of the cities listed below within their district, click the link to see the new Senate map for 2025. The respective Senator will be on your ballot in November 2024 if your address falls within the new map.
Take the survey(s) to indicate if:
you live in their district,
have a friend in their district, or
would like to help their challenger win in November.
Mike Thompson (District 10): Bonner Springs, Lake Quivira, Lenexa, Olathe, Shawnee. A challenger has already filed to run for this seat — Andrew Mall. If you’ve previously filled out the Senate 10 survey, no need to fill out again.
Kellie Warren (District 11): Leawood and Overland Park. Fill out the survey and we’ll update you when we get the official word on the candidate who is intending run for District 11.
We need as many people as possible to help their challengers in some small or big ways. They cannot get elected in November on their own. The surveys provide a number of examples for how you can get involved (should you choose) – something for everyone’s comfort level – and will let us know who to stay in touch with as the races in these districts heat up.
Collectively we’ve seen that we can make an impact. Let’s work together to end the supermajority in Kansas by helping flip these two seats!