Kansas lawmakers capped off a hectic week by passing a bill barring transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
Senate Bill 55, also known as the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, passed the Senate 26-11 Friday after the House passed it 76-43 Thursday. The bill says transgender athletes have “an absolute advantage” over female athletes and will “likely” have performance benefits even a year after hormonal therapy or other gender-affirming treatments.
17th District Senator Jeff Longbine of Emporia voted to approve the conference committee report while 60th District Representative Mark Schreiber of Emporia voted against the bill. 51st District Representative Ron Highland of Wamego and 76th District Representative Eric Smith of Burlington both voted for the bill.
The bill now goes to Governor Laura Kelly, who has indicated she will veto it. The bill does not have enough support in either chamber to override a governor’s veto at this time.
Separately, the Kansas Senate Republican Caucus ousted Gene Suellentrop from his position as majority leader on a 22-4 vote after his recent arrest on DUI charges and the recent release of a law enforcement affidavit detailing the allegations in the case. Suellentrop is accused of speeding while wrong-way driving and fleeing from law enforcement on Interstate 70 and also having a blood alcohol level of 0.17, or twice the legal limit of 0.08. In addition, he allegedly taunted the law enforcement officer who pulled him over.
Earlier this week, lawmakers approved a bill to lower the legal age for concealed firearm carry from 21 to 18, although this tentatively does not change current laws that let high schools prohibit guns on their campuses.
The Kansas Senate also turned down SB 175, which would let families use public per-student funding for private school tuition. The bill had passed the House earlier.
On top of all that, lawmakers approved a bill limiting the scope of people who can return advance ballots on behalf of other voters. House Bill 2183 says people can bring ballots on behalf of neighbors, friends or acquaintances while outlawing the practice of candidates carrying ballots. Another bill, HB 2332, would ban the governor, executive branch and judiciary from changing state election law.
