The Kansas Legislature’s veto session begins Thursday, and Democrat Governor Laura Kelly has added several bills to the pot for possible override actions.
On Friday, the governor vetoed six bills:
*House Bill 2033, dealing with researching at-risk educational programs. The governor says this is unnecessary because it is already being handled by the State Board of Education
*House Bill 2217 is designed to expand the audit authority of the Inspector General, a step the governor says is redundant and unnecessary
*House Bill 2284, developed to have the Department of Administration follow certain policies when it comes to negotiating with KanCare’s managed care entities. Kelly says this oversteps both the executive and judicial branches
*House Bill 2291, set to develop a regulatory relief division inside the Office of Attorney General. Kelly says there isn’t enough oversight to grant the new committee “authority to overrule existing law”
*Senate Bill 29, ending the authority of public health officials to both stop public gatherings and issuing quarantines in the cases of health events like the COVID-19 pandemic. The governor says that contradicts evidence-based guidance from health officials and would put Kansans at unnecessary risk
*Senate Bill 79, changing SNAP benefits to end the purchase of certain candy and soft drinks through the program. Kelly says those products would still be eligible through food assistance benefits and the waiver mandated for food sellers is confusing.
This follows vetoes of Senate Bill 5, restricting the use of federal funds for elections and related activities; and Senate Bill 14, designed to allow for “continuous budgets until amended, lapsed or eliminated” by lawmakers.
The veto session is tentatively set to end Saturday.
Kansas 17th District Senator Mike Argabright and 60th District Representative Mark Schreiber will have comments as part of separate interviews on KVOE’s Morning Show on Wednesday.
