Kansas lawmakers are doing their best to sprint through the 2026 legislative session.
As usual, tax and education matters have driven a lot of the policy discussions. On KVOE’s Newsmaker segment Wednesday, Kansas House 60th District Representative Mark Schreiber says lawmakers are considering a bill that would limit property tax increases to 3 percent at the county level unless those counties have an election.
Schreiber says a bill to eliminate property taxes outright by the end of next year and replace it with a retail sales surcharge has one major concern for him:
Schreiber says a bill having school students turn off their cell phones “from bell to bell” throughout a given school day is losing momentum, while Erin’s Law — a bill that would have K-12 public schools teach students about child sex abuse prevention while having teachers as mandatory abuse reporters — may well move forward. Schreiber sees a “speed bump” on the reporting side, notably on the training side.
Lawmakers are considering a bill that would have naloxone in schools as a way to combat fentanyl use. Funding would come from the Kansas Fights Addiction Act, and Schreiber says he wants a level playing field for public and private schools when it comes to accessing that pool of money.
Recently, lawmakers approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 1615, now known as Charlie Kirk Free Speech Day on Oct. 14 — honoring the conservative who was shot dead last fall at a university event in Utah last fall. Schreiber voted in favor, along with 13th District Representative Duane Droge of Eureka and 76th District Representative Brad Barrett in the House and 17th District Senator Mike Argabright in the Senate.
Numerous bills are still under consideration, including a bill to increase penalties for stealing livestock; and a bill that would make clergy mandatory abuse reporters. Schreiber specifically mentioned bills impacting several local entities, including a bill allowing child placement agencies like CALM to offset certain insurance costs by using the state’s tort claims law; a sales tax exemption benefiting Radical Life and a bill allowing Home-Plus designation and expansions for nursing homes like Sunflower Care Homes.
Next week is Turnaround Week, where bills have to be passed out of their respective chamber in order to advance.
Argabright will be KVOE’s Newsmaker guest at 7:20 am Friday with his perspectives on the current session.
