Key Votes
Bills identified by the Kansas AFL-CIO as key votes affecting working families.
MAR
27
2026
This bill creates a government-funded petition process that allows just 10% of registered voters to block school districts, cities, and counties from raising property tax revenue above the prior year's level. There is no protection for wages and benefits already negotiated in union contracts — meaning a successful petition could prevent a public employer from funding raises it already agreed to pay. The bill also embeds petition signature pages directly into tax notices mailed to every property owner at taxpayer expense, giving anti-tax groups a built-in organizing tool that labor has no equivalent way to counter.
MAR
27
2026
This bill lets just 10% of registered voters sign a petition to freeze local government and school district budgets at prior-year levels, blocking tax revenue increases above inflation plus 3%. The petition mechanism includes no protection for wages and benefits already negotiated in collective bargaining agreements, meaning a successful petition could prevent a school district or city from funding raises it already agreed to pay teachers, public employees, and other union workers. The bill also provides government-funded petition infrastructure by embedding signature pages in tax notices mailed to every property owner.
MAR
26
2026
The conference committee report on HB 2513 became the omnibus state budget after conferees gutted the original claims bill and replaced it entirely. The final budget included only a 1% across-the-board salary increase for roughly 35,000 executive branch and Kansas Board of Regents university employees — despite Governor Kelly recommending 2.5% and a 2025 market salary study showing state workers falling further behind. Meanwhile, legislators had already awarded themselves an automatic 4% raise indexed to average wage growth and given their own professional staff 10% increases. Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes called the 1% offer a slap in the face. The budget also imposed 1.5% cuts across 24 state agencies while projecting depletion of 1.1 billion in reserves over three years. A NAY vote supported demanding meaningful investment in the state workforce that keeps Kansas running.
MAR
26
2026
The conference committee report on HB 2513 became the omnibus state budget after conferees gutted the original claims bill and replaced it entirely. The final budget included only a 1% across-the-board salary increase for roughly 35,000 executive branch and Kansas Board of Regents university employees — despite Governor Kelly recommending 2.5% and a 2025 market salary study showing state workers falling further behind. Meanwhile, legislators had already awarded themselves an automatic 4% raise indexed to average wage growth and given their own professional staff 10% increases. Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes called the 1% offer a slap in the face. The budget also imposed 1.5% cuts across 24 state agencies while projecting depletion of 1.1 billion in reserves over three years. A NAY vote supported demanding meaningful investment in the state workforce that keeps Kansas running.
MAR
26
2026
This bill eliminates mandatory fire sprinkler systems in new townhouse construction of four units or fewer and prohibits cities and counties from requiring them locally. It directly reduces work hours for UA sprinkler fitters who install these systems, removing a key source of building trades employment in residential construction. The bill also strips local governments of the authority to set their own fire safety standards — the same preemption approach used to block local wage protections.
MAR
23
2026
This bill creates a voluntary "portable benefit plan" for independent contractors but includes a critical provision that prevents benefit contributions from ever being used as evidence that a worker is actually an employee. That legal shield lets gig companies like Uber and DoorDash make token benefit contributions while permanently blocking workers from using those contributions to prove they deserve full employee protections — including wages, workers' comp, unemployment insurance, and the right to organize. The benefit framework itself has no minimum contribution requirements and no mandate for companies to participate.
MAR
19
2026
SB 521 gives employers a 75% tax credit for paying child care expenses for their workers, setting up on-site child care programs, or pooling resources with other employers to expand community child care availability. Affordable child care is one of the biggest barriers working families face, and this credit changes the economics at the bargaining table by making it significantly cheaper for employers to offer child care as a workplace benefit. Labor supports this bill because employer-provided child care is a real compensation issue for union members with families, and the collaborative investment provision opens new doors for smaller employers to participate.
MAR
12
2026
This massive rewrite of Kansas unemployment insurance law touched dozens of provisions governing who qualifies for benefits, how long they last, and what counts as "suitable work." While early versions contained real wins for workers — including protections against midnight budget cuts to UI and guarantees that union-negotiated supplemental unemployment pay wouldn't reduce state benefits — the final version that came out of conference committee drew unanimous opposition from Democrats, signaling that critical worker protections were gutted or that harmful restrictions on eligibility and benefits were added. Labor opposes the bill as passed because the final product failed to protect the provisions that mattered most to working families who depend on unemployment insurance during layoffs.
MAR
10
2026
HB 2468 doubles the tax credit cap for private school voucher scholarships from $10 million to $20 million and opts Kansas into a new federal tax credit, steering more public dollars toward private schools. This amendment would have required private schools receiving these taxpayer-funded scholarships to meet basic accountability standards. Labor supports the amendment because expanding vouchers without oversight drains funding from public schools where union members teach and work, weakening both the schools and the educators who serve Kansas kids.
MAR
05
2026
SB 394 creates a "poison pill" that automatically eliminates no-excuse mail voting if any court strikes down the state's signature verification rules. If triggered, only voters who are sick, disabled, or out of the county on Election Day could vote by mail — leaving out shift workers, nurses, and hourly employees who simply can't get to the polls during work hours. The bill also forces all legal challenges to election laws into a single courthouse in Topeka, making it harder and more expensive for voters anywhere else in the state to fight back.
MAR
05
2026
SB 363 raises the age limit for SNAP work requirements from 49 to 64, forcing older displaced workers to meet strict work hour mandates or lose food assistance. It also requires quarterly Medicaid eligibility paperwork — a burden that causes eligible working families to lose health coverage through administrative red tape — and eliminates existing exemptions for veterans, homeless individuals, and former foster youth. The bill also bars the governor from issuing emergency waivers during recessions or plant closures, removing a critical safety net for workers when they need it most.
MAR
05
2026
SB 452 makes it a crime to come within 25 feet of a first responder — including federal immigration agents — after being told to back away, even during lawful picketing where police are present. It also shields state and local officials from civil lawsuits when they help enforce federal executive orders, including immigration raids at workplaces. Together, these provisions threaten workers' ability to picket freely and create a chilling effect on organizing at meatpacking plants, farms, and construction sites where immigrant coworkers could face enforcement actions.
MAR
03
2026
This amendment to the five-year state budget penalizes school districts financially when staff "encourage, facilitate, or enable" student walkouts — language broad enough to punish a teacher for simply not blocking a door. Public school employees face an impossible choice between exercising professional judgment and exposing their district to funding cuts that hit salaries, staffing levels, and working conditions. The amendment attacks the principle of collective action itself: penalizing institutions for failing to suppress organized protest sets a precedent that could extend to worker actions.
FEB
26
2026
This biennial state budget set spending levels for all state agencies but included zero pay raises for the roughly 40,000 Kansas state employees, despite a market salary study showing workers falling further behind. The budget also directed conference committee negotiations on a pay plan but failed to guarantee any outcome, while containing provisions that weakened job security for university workers. A NAY vote supported sending the budget back for meaningful investment in the state workforce.
FEB
26
2026
This bill lets just 10% of registered voters in a community block local governments and school districts from raising property tax revenue — even when increases are needed to fund negotiated wage agreements. Protest petition forms would be mailed directly to every property owner at taxpayer expense, giving anti-tax groups a powerful new tool to squeeze the budgets that pay public employees. There is no protection for existing union contracts, meaning a successful petition could make it impossible for employers to fund already-negotiated raises for teachers, firefighters, and other public workers.
FEB
25
2026
This amendment to the state budget would have directed $40.6 million to special education, drawing first from unspent federal ARPA funds already allocated to Kansas. State law requires 92% reimbursement of special education costs, but Kansas has funded only 70-75% for years — a shortfall that forces school districts to increase caseloads, cut support staff positions, and suppress wages for the thousands of teachers, paraprofessionals, and therapists who deliver these services. The amendment represented less than four-tenths of one percent of the state general fund budget.
FEB
25
2026
SCR 1616 proposes amending the Kansas Constitution to cap annual increases in assessed property values at 3%, rolling the baseline back to 2022 levels. Despite being marketed as property tax relief, the cap does not limit actual tax bills — local governments retain full authority to raise mill levies to meet budget needs, simply shifting the burden onto new homeowners, new construction, and commercial property. The result is squeezed revenue for cities, counties, and school districts whose budgets fund the wages, benefits, and jobs of thousands of union-represented teachers, firefighters, road crews, and public safety workers. The cap also penalizes new construction by taxing it at full market value while capping existing properties, directly undermining housing affordability and construction trades employment — contradicting the Senate's own vote the same week to encourage new home building. The Senate adopted the resolution 30-10 on Emergency Final Action.
FEB
19
2026
This bill creates a new exception to Kansas law that previously banned prison-made homes from competing with construction workers and manufactured home builders. While contractors must pay regional average wages, that money goes to the state — not the incarcerated workers doing the job — giving contractors a workforce that can't quit, organize, or file safety complaints. The bill undermines building trades workers by allowing a private company to use prison labor for home construction at the Hutchinson correctional facility, setting a dangerous precedent that could expand beyond this pilot program.
FEB
19
2026
This bill requires cities and counties to get the Attorney General's approval before hiring lawyers on contingency to sue corporations — for example, over pollution, unsafe products, or other harms to communities. By giving the AG veto power over these contracts, it makes it harder for local governments to hold corporations accountable when they harm workers and their families. Labor opposes this bill because it strips communities of an essential legal tool to fight back against corporate wrongdoing.
FEB
19
2026
This bill requires the Department of Insurance to produce cost reports on health coverage bills — but the reports only count premium increases, not the savings workers get from better coverage. Even worse, the underlying data submitted by insurance companies is kept secret from the public, making the reports impossible to verify or challenge. The result is a tool that can be used session after session to kill coverage mandates that protect working families' health benefits.
FEB
19
2026
This bill requires that any lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Kansas election law must be filed in Shawnee County district court, rather than in a voter's home district. By funneling all election-related cases to a single courthouse in Topeka, the bill makes it harder and more expensive for everyday Kansans — including working families — to challenge laws that restrict voting access. Workers depend on accessible elections to protect their economic interests, and this bill creates new barriers to holding lawmakers accountable when they pass unconstitutional election restrictions.
FEB
19
2026
This bill eliminates mandatory fire sprinkler installation in new townhouse construction of four units or fewer and bars cities and counties from requiring sprinklers on their own. It directly reduces work hours for UA sprinkler fitters who install these systems, while removing a key fire safety protection for Kansas families. The bill also sets a troubling precedent by using state law to override local building and safety standards — the same preemption strategy that has been used to block local wage protections.
FEB
19
2026
HB 2503 repeals the Kansas Mail Ballot Election Act, eliminating the option for local governments to conduct special elections — like school bonds, annexations, and water district questions — by mail. These are the very elections that determine funding for public services and infrastructure where union members work. Ending mail ballots for these elections creates real barriers for workers on rotating shifts, overnight schedules, or 12-hour days who can't easily get to a polling place on a Tuesday.
FEB
19
2026
This bill creates statewide electrician licensing with an 8,000-hour experience requirement for journeyman electricians — a standard that matches union apprenticeship programs — and explicitly recognizes completion of a U.S. Department of Labor registered apprenticeship as a qualification for licensure. It replaces the old patchwork of city and county licensing with a single portable state license, ensuring consistent quality standards and making it easier for skilled electricians to work across Kansas. A YEA vote supports strong training standards that protect both workers and consumers.
FEB
18
2026
HB 2504 prohibits cities and counties from passing local laws that protect renters who use housing vouchers or have criminal or eviction histories. The bill strips local governments of the power to require landlords to give these tenants a fair chance at housing — undermining the same fair-chance principles labor has fought for in hiring. This hurts working families trying to find stable housing, especially low-wage workers and those rebuilding their lives after incarceration.
FEB
18
2026
This bill restricts restroom and locker room access in all public buildings based on sex assigned at birth, imposing fines and criminal misdemeanor charges on workers who don't comply. It directly affects transgender public employees — including teachers, state workers, and municipal employees — by threatening them with arrest for using workplace restrooms. The law also forces changes to driver's licenses and birth certificates, disrupting identity documents workers need for employment verification, and redefines "gender" across all Kansas law in ways that could weaken workplace discrimination protections.
FEB
18
2026
SB 375 imposes new legal burdens on proxy advisory firms — the companies that union pension funds and retirement plans hire to research and recommend how to vote their shares on corporate issues like executive pay, workplace safety, and governance. By requiring a narrow type of "written financial analysis" for any recommendation that goes against company management, the bill makes it harder and more expensive for these advisors to recommend votes on labor, environmental, and governance proposals that workers' retirement funds depend on. This is part of a national campaign to weaken the tools unions use to hold corporations accountable as shareholders.
FEB
18
2026
SB 413 prohibits attorneys from suggesting a specific dollar amount for pain and suffering damages in civil cases — but only for the injured party's lawyer. Defense attorneys face no such restriction. This one-sided rule hurts workers who sue over workplace injuries, discrimination, or harassment by making it harder for juries to put a fair dollar figure on their suffering, while employers can freely argue damages should be minimal.
FEB
18
2026
This bill requires the Secretary of State to check voter registration rolls against a federal immigration database (SAVE) twice a year and remove voters flagged as potential non-citizens. Voter purge programs like this have a well-documented history of incorrectly flagging eligible citizens — particularly naturalized citizens, working-class voters, and communities of color — leading to wrongful removal from the rolls. Labor opposes this bill because it creates unnecessary barriers to voting for the very working families and union members who depend on their voice at the ballot box.
FEB
18
2026
SB 462 shields corporations from public nuisance lawsuits by prohibiting claims based on the design, manufacturing, or marketing of legal products — the same legal theory communities used to hold opioid manufacturers accountable. The bill also bars private class actions for public nuisances, hands sole authority over multi-county cases to the Attorney General, and retroactively applies to cases already pending in court. For workers and their families harmed by corporate pollution, chemical exposure like PFAS, or future public health crises, this bill shuts the courthouse door.
FEB
18
2026
This bill creates a voluntary "portable benefits" framework for independent contractors working for gig companies like Uber and DoorDash, but its real impact is a legal shield buried in the fine print: companies that make even token contributions to a worker's benefit account can't have those contributions used as evidence that the worker is actually an employee. That matters because when workers are misclassified as independent contractors, they lose access to minimum wage protections, overtime, workers' comp, unemployment insurance, and the right to organize. By severing this key legal link, the bill makes it harder for misclassified workers to prove they deserve full employee rights and benefits.
FEB
18
2026
This bill repeals the state law that blocked Kansas cities and counties from setting wage and benefit standards on publicly funded construction projects. Since Kansas eliminated its state prevailing wage law in 1987, local governments have been the only possible safeguard against a race to the bottom on public construction wages — and this bill restores that authority. It also raises the threshold for competitive public bidding on county construction contracts from $25,000 to $100,000.
FEB
18
2026
This bill doubles the maximum time juveniles can be held in detention (from 45 to 90 days), increases penalties for young offenders, and requires the state to contract with private residential facilities for juvenile beds. The mandatory private contracting provision routes state dollars to private operators with no requirements for fair wages, adequate staffing levels, or worker protections — undermining public-sector corrections workers who provide these services today. It sets a troubling precedent for privatizing juvenile justice functions without any labor standards attached to the contracts.
FEB
18
2026
HB 2453 cuts off in-person advance voting before election week, moves the voter registration deadline to 25 days before the election, and requires mail ballot applications 14 days earlier. These restrictions hit shift workers, hourly employees, and newly organized members hardest — the very people who rely on weekend voting and late registration because their work schedules don't allow flexibility. The bill also compresses the window unions use for worksite voter registration drives ahead of elections.
FEB
18
2026
SB 463 rewrites Kansas negligent security law to make it far harder for workers to hold employers accountable when they fail to protect against foreseeable workplace violence. Under current law, employers have a duty to address safety risks a reasonable person would anticipate; this bill replaces that standard with a near-impossible requirement that the employer had actual documented knowledge of a substantially similar incident at the same location within the past year — rewarding employers who simply don't keep records. The bill also lets employers escape liability by hiring any security contractor regardless of quality, and forces juries to spread blame to police departments and other parties to dilute what injured workers can recover.
FEB
18
2026
This bill makes it a criminal misdemeanor for public employees to use any government resources — including work time — to communicate about constitutional amendments or ballot questions. It removes an existing legal safe harbor that allowed public workers to respond to citizen inquiries and share neutral information, leaving school communications staff, city clerks, and agency employees exposed to prosecution for routine job duties. The bill also imposes new restrictions on how local governments can inform voters about bond issues, making it harder for school districts and cities to explain construction bond proposals — threatening the publicly funded building projects that put trades workers on the job.
FEB
18
2026
This bill gives special legal protections to anti-abortion pregnancy centers, including an explicit provision allowing them to fire or refuse to hire workers who don't agree with the center's mission. It also blocks cities and counties from regulating these centers' staffing or operations, preempting local authority. Labor opposes because the bill carves out a legal right to discriminate against workers based on personal beliefs and strips local governments of their ability to set workplace standards.
FEB
18
2026
This bill requires the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to create rules by 2028 allowing communities to treat wastewater for use as drinking water. Expanding water reuse infrastructure means construction jobs and long-term water security for Kansas communities, particularly in western Kansas where water shortages threaten local economies and the workers who depend on them. The bill also includes affordability safeguards so smaller communities aren't priced out of compliance.
FEB
18
2026
This bill forces state agencies to collect detailed personal information — including alien registration numbers, Social Security digits, and home addresses — of noncitizen public benefit recipients and report it quarterly to the Secretary of State. It will discourage immigrant workers in meatpacking, agriculture, and construction from filing workers' comp and unemployment claims they've legally earned, making them more vulnerable to exploitation on the job. It also burdens public-sector state employees with an unfunded surveillance mandate and no data security protections.
FEB
18
2026
SB 391 prohibits Kansas cities and counties from passing local laws that protect tenants who use housing vouchers or other rental assistance. It also bars local governments from restricting landlords' use of criminal history, credit scores, and eviction records when screening tenants — blocking fair chance housing policies that help working people with records stay housed after getting back to work. This bill uses the same state preemption playbook that has already been used to strip local minimum wage authority from Kansas communities.
FEB
17
2026
This bill requires all restrooms and locker rooms in public buildings to be designated by biological sex at birth, with criminal penalties for violations — including for workers simply using the restroom at their own workplace. It also forces the state to invalidate and reissue driver's licenses and birth certificates, creating potential gaps in the identity documents workers need for employment verification. The bill redefines "gender" across all Kansas law in ways that could weaken employment discrimination protections for years to come.
FEB
16
2026
This bill requires Kansas agencies to hand over SNAP and Medicaid recipient data to federal agencies "without conditions or limitations" within 30 days of any request — stripping the state's ability to negotiate privacy protections or data security safeguards. Hundreds of thousands of working Kansans in low-wage jobs rely on these programs, including workers in meatpacking, food service, healthcare, and construction. Removing all state-level privacy protections creates a chilling effect that discourages eligible working families from accessing the benefits they've earned.
FEB
16
2026
This conference committee report subjects all new occupational licensing requirements to legislative approval and automatically sunsets every existing agency-adopted licensing requirement by July 2030 unless the legislature affirmatively renews each one. Workers who invested years and thousands of dollars earning credentials in trades, cosmetology, and other licensed occupations face the real prospect that their licensing standards simply vanish through legislative inaction or gridlock. The bill strategically exempts the six most politically powerful health licensing boards — nursing, pharmacy, dental, healing arts — while leaving less politically connected working-class occupations exposed.
FEB
12
2026
This bill requires "NONCITIZEN" to be printed on the driver's licenses of lawfully present green card holders, visa workers, and other immigrants. Because driver's licenses are used for employment verification and everyday workplace identification, this marks immigrant workers — many of whom are union members in Kansas meatpacking and agriculture — in ways that make them more vulnerable to employer intimidation and less likely to report safety violations, wage theft, or participate in organizing.
FEB
12
2026
This bill doubles the tax credit cap for donations to private school scholarship programs from $10 million to $20 million and opts Kansas into a new federal tax credit that lets wealthy individual donors stack additional subsidies on top. By diverting more public dollars to private schools that lack union protections and collective bargaining, this bill threatens funding, jobs, and bargaining power for public school employees — including teachers and support staff who are union members.
FEB
11
2026
Rep. Boatman's amendment would have kept the Kansas private school scholarship tax credit cap at $10 million and removed the automatic escalator that allows the cap to grow to $30 million without further legislative action. Kansas public schools employ tens of thousands of union-represented teachers, paraprofessionals, custodians, and support staff whose wages and working conditions depend on adequate state funding — and the state already faces a $228 million special education funding shortfall. Every dollar diverted through expanded tax credits is revenue the State General Fund does not collect, increasing pressure on the public school budgets that fund union jobs. The amendment was rejected 35-82, clearing the way for the bill to double the cap and add the automatic escalator on final passage the following day.
FEB
11
2026
SB 387 requires school districts to annually verify household income for every at-risk student — an unfunded mandate the Kansas Department of Education warned violates federal regulations and risks $250 million in annual federal school nutrition funding. The bill also blocks schools from participating in the federal Community Eligibility Provision for free meals without first obtaining legislative permission, inserting a political veto into a federal anti-poverty program. Working families with irregular hours or modest wages face the highest documentation barriers, and children who lose at-risk status don't become less poor — their schools just lose the supplemental funding that supports paraprofessional positions, counselors, and support staff. Thirty-nine organizations testified against the bill and only three in favor; even eight Republican senators voted no, citing the burden on resource-stressed rural districts. The Senate passed the bill 22-18 on Emergency Final Action.
FEB
10
2026
This bill requires any website used for voter registration to either have a .gov domain or get pre-approval from the Secretary of State, with violations carrying criminal misdemeanor charges. Unions and community organizations that run voter registration drives could be shut out of online registration if the Secretary of State denies or delays approval — and the bill includes no timeline, appeal process, or objective standards for those decisions. The result is a new layer of government gatekeeping over civic engagement tools that labor and allied organizations rely on to register working people to vote.
FEB
05
2026
SB 254 bars undocumented immigrants from state and local public benefits, voids Kansas's in-state tuition law, and creates a presumption that noncitizens charged with any crime are a flight risk who can be held without bond. The bill chills workplace safety complaints and wage theft reporting by immigrant workers in meatpacking and construction — making job sites less safe for all workers — while imposing unfunded verification duties on state and county employees who administer benefits programs. A NAY vote protects workers' ability to report unsafe conditions and prevents an unfunded mandate on public employees.
JAN
29
2026
This bill says that if a pesticide carries an EPA-approved federal label, that's good enough to shield the manufacturer from state lawsuits over failure to warn about health risks. In practice, it takes away the main legal tool that farmworkers, groundskeepers, and other workers exposed to pesticides on the job have used to hold chemical companies accountable when they get sick. The bill goes beyond what federal law requires and eliminates state tort claims that have been workers' last resort — especially for agricultural workers who already have the fewest workplace protections.
JAN
28
2026
SB 254 bars undocumented immigrants from receiving state and local public benefits, voids Kansas's existing in-state tuition law, and creates a legal presumption that noncitizens charged with any crime are a flight risk — making pretrial detention more likely. For workers in meatpacking, construction, and other industries, the flight-risk provision discourages reporting unsafe working conditions, filing workers' comp claims, and speaking up about wage theft — putting all workers on those job sites at greater risk. The bill also imposes new federal verification duties on state and county employees who administer public benefits, adding workload with no additional resources.
JAN
28
2026
SB 244 restricts restroom access in public buildings based on biological sex at birth, imposing criminal penalties — including misdemeanor charges — on workers who violate the policy. It also forces reissuance of driver's licenses and birth certificates, disrupting identity documents that workers need for employment verification. This amendment would have addressed the bill's harshest provisions, but it failed. Labor supported the amendment because the underlying bill creates a hostile work environment for public employees, exposes union members to criminal penalties for using workplace facilities, and redefines "gender" across Kansas law in ways that could weaken employment discrimination protections.
JAN
28
2026
This bill makes it a crime for transgender public employees to use restrooms matching their gender identity at their own workplaces, with escalating fines and misdemeanor charges. It also forcibly invalidates driver's licenses and birth certificates, disrupting the identity documents workers need for employment verification. The law creates a private lawsuit mechanism that allows coworkers to sue transgender employees for using workplace facilities, and redefines "gender" across all Kansas statutes in ways that could weaken employment discrimination protections for years to come.
JAN
28
2026
This bill requires restrooms and locker rooms in all public buildings to be segregated by biological sex at birth, with criminal penalties for repeated violations — meaning transgender public employees like teachers, state workers, and city employees face misdemeanor charges for using the restroom at work. It also invalidates driver's licenses and birth certificates that don't match sex assigned at birth, disrupting identity documents workers need for employment verification. The bill redefines "gender" across all Kansas statutes in ways that could weaken employment discrimination protections for years to come.
JAN
22
2026
SCR 1604 asks Congress to call a convention to amend the U.S. Constitution with the goal of limiting federal government power. Federal authority is the legal foundation for the National Labor Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, OSHA, and other bedrock worker protections — a constitutional convention could open the door to weakening or eliminating any of them. Labor opposes this resolution because the risk to working families' rights is too great.
APR
11
2025
SB 82's conference committee report — gutted from a rural hospitals bill on the session's final day with no public hearing — would have capped local government property tax revenue growth at 3% annually and required an extraordinary 80% supermajority of any governing body to exceed it, meaning a single dissenter on a five-member county commission could block revenue needed to fund negotiated wage agreements, fill vacant positions, or keep pace with health insurance costs that routinely rise 6-10% per year. The bill's ASTRA Fund went further, stripping state funding from any jurisdiction that even held a vote on exceeding the cap — penalizing the act of democratic deliberation itself. Because personnel costs represent 60-80% of city and county budgets, this cap directly threatened the wages, benefits, and jobs of thousands of union-represented firefighters, law enforcement officers, public works crews, and county employees across Kansas. The House adopted the report 74-48, though the bill died when the Senate adjourned without voting on it.
APR
11
2025
HB 2289 phases out Kansas's affordable housing tax credit by eliminating credits for 4% federal tax credit projects immediately, capping annual awards, and sunsetting the entire program after 2028. This credit drives affordable housing construction across Kansas, supporting good-paying construction jobs and creating homes working families can afford. Ending the program means fewer projects getting built, fewer jobs for building trades workers, and less affordable housing in communities that desperately need it.
APR
10
2025
This bill requires legislative approval before any state agency can seek federal waivers to expand Medicaid eligibility or make changes to services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It creates a major barrier to federal funding that could raise wages for Kansas's roughly 10,000 direct support professionals — chronically underpaid workers who provide daily care to some of our most vulnerable neighbors. By adding political hurdles to routine federal waiver requests, this law makes it harder for the state to bring home federal dollars that support healthcare jobs and working families' access to care.
APR
10
2025
This bill requires legislative approval before any state agency can seek federal waivers to expand public assistance programs like Medicaid or make changes to services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It creates a new bureaucratic barrier that can block federal funding for healthcare coverage and delay rate increases for the roughly 10,000 direct support professionals who care for Kansans with disabilities — workers already among the lowest-paid in the state. By adding a legislative veto over routine program improvements, this law makes it harder to expand healthcare access for uninsured working families and harder to raise wages for direct care workers.
APR
10
2025
SB 14 establishes a continuous state budget, meaning if the legislature doesn't pass a new budget, last year's spending levels automatically roll forward — eliminating the governor's ability to use a budget impasse to push for state worker pay raises, KPERS pension contributions, and funding for worker-serving programs. The bill also gives the Secretary of Administration power to automatically cut state funding for Medicaid, workforce development, and social services whenever federal dollars are reduced, bypassing the legislative process where working families have a voice. Labor opposes this bill because it locks in the status quo of underfunded state services and removes a critical tool for negotiating better outcomes for Kansas workers.
APR
10
2025
SB 14 creates a "continuous budget" that keeps last year's spending levels in place if the legislature doesn't pass a new budget, eliminating the governor's ability to use a budget impasse to push for better pay, benefits, and funding for workers' programs. Even more concerning, it gives the Secretary of Administration power to automatically cut state funding for Medicaid, workforce programs, and social services whenever federal dollars are reduced — bypassing the legislature where working families have a voice. Labor opposed the veto override because this bill shifts budget power away from the democratic process and puts public sector jobs and critical services at risk of cuts by unelected administrators.
APR
10
2025
HB 2291 creates a "regulatory sandbox" program that allows businesses to apply to have state rules and regulations suspended — including potentially workplace safety and wage protections enforced by the Kansas Department of Labor. The program is overseen by a business-dominated advisory committee with no labor representation, applications are kept secret from the public, and if an agency fails to respond within 30 days, rules are automatically waived. Labor opposed this bill because it undermines the regulations that protect working people on the job, with no transparency or worker voice in the process.
APR
10
2025
This bill creates a new program in the Attorney General's office that allows businesses to apply to have state regulations waived or suspended for up to three years. Workplace safety rules, wage protections, and other labor regulations are not excluded from the program, and there is no seat for workers or unions on the advisory committee that reviews applications. If an understaffed agency like the Kansas Department of Labor fails to respond to an application within 30 days, the rules are automatically treated as waived — a built-in trap that puts working people at risk.
APR
10
2025
SB 269 locks Kansas into an automatic system that ratchets down income tax rates whenever revenues exceed a formula-based threshold. While the bill includes some fiscal guardrails, every triggered rate cut permanently reduces the revenue available to fund public schools, state agencies, and KPERS retirement contributions that working families depend on. The bill also immediately raised effective tax rates on lower-income Kansans by collapsing three tax brackets into two, hitting workers earning under $30,000 the hardest.
APR
10
2025
SB 269 creates an automatic trigger that ratchets down Kansas income tax rates whenever state revenues exceed a baseline, putting the state on a path toward a flat tax. While framed as fiscally responsible, once rates drop they never go back up — meaning less money available over time for public schools, state agencies, KPERS retirement contributions, and the services working families depend on. Kansas lived through this story before during the Brownback-era tax experiment, which led to budget crises, funding cuts, and public-sector wage freezes.
APR
10
2025
This bill gives the Attorney General's inspector general sweeping new powers — including subpoenas, search warrants, and criminal jurisdiction — to investigate families who receive food assistance (SNAP), cash assistance (TANF), and Medicaid. Many union members in lower-wage jobs rely on these programs to make ends meet, and healthcare and social service workers at Medicaid-participating facilities could be compelled to turn over records or testify against their own employers. Labor opposes this bill because it builds a coercive enforcement apparatus targeting working families who depend on the safety net, while doing little to hold large contractors accountable.
APR
10
2025
This bill gives the Inspector General sweeping new powers — including subpoenas, search warrants, and criminal jurisdiction — to investigate families who receive food assistance (SNAP), cash assistance (TANF), and Medicaid. Many working families rely on these programs to make ends meet when wages fall short, and this law creates a hostile, punitive environment around accessing benefits they've earned. It also allows the IG to compel healthcare and social service workers to turn over records and testify in fraud investigations of their own employers. The Governor vetoed this bill, and this vote was to override that veto.
APR
10
2025
This bill directs the state to seek a federal waiver to ban the purchase of candy and soft drinks with SNAP food assistance benefits. Many working families rely on food assistance to make ends meet, and this measure would limit their choices while adding enforcement burdens on grocery store workers. Labor opposes this bill because it undermines the dignity and autonomy of working families without addressing the root causes of food insecurity.
APR
10
2025
This bill removes the authority of local health officers to prohibit public gatherings during infectious disease outbreaks, downgrading that power to a non-binding recommendation. For nurses, meat-processing workers, corrections officers, and other frontline employees, this eliminates a critical legal backstop — when a health officer could only "recommend" against gatherings, workers who stay home to protect themselves have no legal protection from being fired. The veto override vote stripped away public health enforcement tools that essential workers depend on during emergencies.
APR
10
2025
This bill removes the authority of local health officers to prohibit public gatherings during infectious disease outbreaks, replacing it with the power to merely "recommend against" them. Without enforceable closure orders, essential workers — nurses, teachers, corrections officers, and food processing employees — lose a critical legal backstop that protected them when employers ignored public health guidance during disease emergencies. The bill also adds new barriers to state-level disease response and gives legislative leaders the power to override health orders, politicizing future outbreak decisions.
APR
10
2025
SB 5 prohibits state and local election officials from accepting federal funds for elections, voter registration, or voter assistance unless the legislature specifically approves each expenditure — and makes violations a felony. Cutting off federal election funding could force counties to run elections with fewer resources, leading to longer lines, fewer polling places, and reduced voter outreach that disproportionately affects working people. When it's harder to vote, working families lose their voice in the political process.
APR
10
2025
This vote forced a single up-or-down decision on overriding all of the Governor's line-item vetoes on the state budget at once — denying senators the chance to deliberate on each provision individually. The overridden vetoes included eliminating 12-month continuous Medicaid eligibility for low-wage workers, mandating an AI-driven budget audit program with no collective bargaining protections for affected state employees, requiring elimination of all DEI positions across state government, and imposing across-the-board agency budget cuts that directly pressure state employee wages and staffing.
APR
10
2025
HB 2311 prohibits the Kansas Department for Children and Families from considering a prospective foster or adoptive parent's beliefs about sexual orientation or gender identity when making placement decisions, even when a child's wellbeing may be at stake. The bill overrides the professional judgment of DCF caseworkers and exposes the agency to lawsuits, creating new legal liability for the department and its workers. Labor opposes this bill because it undermines the ability of public sector employees to do their jobs and prioritize the best interests of children in state care.
APR
10
2025
This bill prohibits the Kansas Department for Children and Families from enforcing placement or licensing policies that conflict with a person's religious or moral beliefs about sexual orientation or gender identity. It creates a new right to sue DCF — including for actions taken by contractors — exposing the agency and its workforce to increased legal liability. This undermines the professional judgment of child welfare workers and creates legal risk for public employees carrying out their duties.
APR
10
2025
HB 2062 removes longstanding legal protections that shielded workers' 401(k)s, IRAs, and other retirement accounts from being seized to pay child support arrearages. The bill allows courts to order the total liquidation of a worker's retirement savings — with the worker absorbing early withdrawal penalties and taxes — when a judge determines the worker is "voluntarily underemployed," a term the bill never defines. That vague trigger could potentially reach workers who go on strike, take FMLA leave, or accept a union-negotiated buyout, putting hard-won retirement security at risk.
APR
10
2025
This bill removes longstanding legal protections for 401(k)s, IRAs, and other retirement accounts from child support claims, and allows courts to order full liquidation of those accounts — with workers paying early withdrawal penalties and taxes on top. The bill's vague "voluntary underemployment" trigger, which activates the retirement seizure power, is never defined and could potentially reach workers who go on strike, take FMLA leave, or accept a union-negotiated buyout. Workers who spent years building retirement security through collectively bargained benefits could see those accounts drained, losing far more in penalties and taxes than the support obligation satisfied.
MAR
27
2025
This bill prohibits Kansas courts and administrative hearing officers from deferring to state agency expertise when interpreting laws and regulations. That means when the Department of Labor, Workers' Compensation Board, or Public Employee Relations Board rules in a worker's favor, employers can now relitigate those decisions from scratch in court — with no weight given to the agency's interpretation. The result is a playing field tilted toward employers who can afford lengthy court battles to overturn worker-protective rulings on wages, unemployment benefits, workplace safety, and public sector bargaining rights.
MAR
27
2025
Nine senators voted to force SB 216 — the Kansas Paid Sick Time Act — out of committee and onto the floor for debate. The bill would guarantee every private-sector worker in Kansas earns paid sick leave, a core labor standard that Kansas currently lacks entirely. Thirty senators voted to keep it buried in committee, refusing to allow even a floor vote on a policy that directly affects the health and economic security of working families.
MAR
27
2025
SB 269 creates an automatic trigger that ratchets down Kansas income tax rates whenever revenue exceeds a certain threshold — with no mechanism to restore rates if budgets fall short. While framed as fiscally responsible, every automatic tax cut means less money available for public schools, state agencies, KPERS retirement contributions, and the services working families depend on. Kansas lived through this story before during the Brownback era, when structural revenue losses led to public sector wage freezes, layoffs, and underfunded schools.
MAR
27
2025
This bill requires Kansas school districts to show a computer-generated animation or ultrasound of fetal development in any course covering human growth, development, or sexuality — with no input from teachers or education professionals on how it fits into existing curriculum. Labor opposes this bill because it overrides the professional judgment of educators, dictating specific classroom content by legislative mandate rather than trusting trained teachers and local school boards to make sound curriculum decisions. This kind of top-down mandate undermines educators' working conditions and professional autonomy.
MAR
27
2025
This bill doubles the amount individuals and political committees can contribute to candidates at every level — from $500 to $1,000 for state House races, and from $2,000 to $4,000 for statewide offices. It also eliminates caps on contributions to party committees entirely. Raising contribution limits amplifies the influence of wealthy donors and corporate interests, diluting the political voice of working families and unions who rely on grassroots organizing and small-dollar fundraising to compete.
MAR
27
2025
Nine senators voted to force SCR 1609 — a proposed constitutional amendment to repeal Kansas\'s right-to-work provision — out of committee and onto the floor. Kansas is one of the few states where right-to-work is enshrined in the constitution itself, requiring a two-thirds supermajority plus a statewide vote to change. Thirty senators voted to prevent the people of Kansas from even having the chance to vote on this question.
MAR
27
2025
This bill expands the Kansas Promise Scholarship — which helps working families afford career and technical education — to include a new category of institutions that drops the nonprofit requirement. While the funding increase is welcome, this change could divert millions in public workforce training dollars to for-profit career schools with track records of poor job placement and predatory recruitment targeting the same working-class families the program is designed to help. Labor opposes this bill because public investment in workforce development should flow to institutions with proven outcomes for workers, not to those whose business model depends on exploiting them.
MAR
27
2025
Nine senators voted to force SB 218 — a minimum wage increase — out of committee for a floor vote. Kansas has been stuck at the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour since 2009, one of the lowest in the nation. Thirty senators voted to keep the bill buried in committee, blocking any debate on raising wages for the lowest-paid workers in the state.
MAR
26
2025
HB 2160 creates the Kansas Municipal Employee Whistleblower Act, making it illegal for supervisors to fire, demote, suspend, or retaliate against city, county, and school district employees who report unlawful or dangerous conduct. Workers can report problems to any person or agency — including their union, the press, or law enforcement — without first going through their boss. This law directly protects AFSCME, IAFF, IBEW, and Teamsters members working in public service, giving them a legal right to speak up about corruption, safety hazards, and misuse of public funds without fear of losing their jobs.
MAR
26
2025
HB 2160 creates the Kansas Municipal Employee Whistleblower Act, making it illegal for supervisors to fire, demote, suspend, or retaliate against city, county, and school district employees who report unlawful or dangerous conduct. Workers can report problems to any agency, organization, or person — including the press or their union — without first going through their boss. This law covers tens of thousands of public-sector workers represented by AFL-CIO unions and gives them the right to sue for damages and attorney fees if they face retaliation for speaking up.
MAR
20
2025
HB 2160 creates the Kansas Municipal Employee Whistleblower Act, making it illegal for supervisors to fire, demote, suspend, or retaliate against city, county, and school district employees who report unlawful or dangerous conduct. Workers can report problems to any outside agency, the press, or their union without going through their boss first — and can sue for damages and attorney fees if they face retaliation. This law directly protects AFSCME, IAFF, IBEW, KNEA, and Teamsters members working in public service across Kansas.
MAR
20
2025
SB 241 rewrites Kansas law to make employer non-solicitation agreements "conclusively presumed enforceable" against workers — with no income floor — flipping the burden so employees must hire a lawyer and go to court to challenge restrictions on where they can work. The bill also strips judges of the power to throw out overreaching agreements, instead requiring courts to save them by trimming them down, removing any incentive for employers to write fair contracts. The broad language covering anyone who "interferes with the employment relationship" could even be used to threaten former employees who help their old coworkers organize a union.
MAR
20
2025
This massive rewrite of Kansas unemployment insurance law touched dozens of provisions governing who qualifies for benefits, how long they last, and what counts as "suitable work." While early versions contained real wins for workers — including protections against midnight budget cuts to UI and guarantees that union-negotiated supplemental unemployment pay wouldn't reduce state benefits — the final version that came out of conference committee gutted critical worker protections and added harmful restrictions on eligibility and benefits. Labor opposes the bill as passed because the final product failed to protect the provisions that mattered most to working families who depend on unemployment insurance during layoffs.
MAR
19
2025
This bill makes the previous year's state budget automatically continue if the legislature doesn't pass a new one, eliminating the governor's ability to use budget deadlines to push for state employee pay raises and full KPERS pension contributions. It also gives an unelected appointee — the Secretary of Administration — the power to automatically cut state funding for Medicaid, workforce programs, and social services whenever federal dollars are reduced, bypassing the legislature where working families have a voice. Labor opposes this bill because it shifts budget power away from the tools that have historically protected state workers and the programs Kansas families depend on.
MAR
17
2025
This bill bars state agencies from requiring college degrees for most government jobs and promotions, replacing them with experience-based criteria. While skills-based hiring sounds good on paper, state employee unions raised serious concerns that removing degree requirements without safeguards could lead to wage compression, downgrading of job classifications, and lower pay for experienced workers. The bill also lacks any enforcement mechanism, leaving state workers with no way to hold agencies accountable if they misapply the law.
MAR
10
2025
This bill requires drivers to slow down and, when possible, move over a lane when passing any stopped vehicle displaying hazard lights, flares, or warning cones. Current Kansas law only requires this for emergency vehicles — SB 8 extends that protection to utility workers, truck drivers, road crews, and anyone else stopped on the shoulder. This is a common-sense safety measure that directly protects Teamsters, IBEW lineworkers, Operating Engineers, and other union members who regularly work alongside traffic.
MAR
06
2025
This constitutional amendment would abolish Kansas's merit-based system for selecting Supreme Court justices and replace it with partisan elections, while also allowing justices to raise campaign money and participate in party politics. The Kansas Supreme Court is the final word on workers' comp appeals, public employee bargaining rights, and wage enforcement — and partisan elections would open the door for corporate donors to spend unlimited money electing judges friendly to their interests. Labor opposes this measure because the court that decides whether injured workers get compensated and whether public employees can bargain should not be beholden to the biggest campaign contributors.
FEB
20
2025
This bill transfers the state employee health benefits program to the Insurance Department — a reasonable reorganization on its face. But buried in the fine print, it deletes injured workers' right to have their attorney notified when workers' comp payments are made electronically, repeals ten statutes governing employer contributions for state employees' children's health coverage, and hands permanent control of the state employee health care commission to the elected Commissioner of Insurance rather than a governor's appointee accountable to state workers. These hidden rollbacks were never debated as standalone bills and directly harm the roughly 40,000 state employees and their families who depend on these programs.
FEB
20
2025
This bill creates the Kansas Municipal Employee Whistleblower Act, making it illegal for supervisors to fire, demote, suspend, or retaliate against city, county, and school district employees who report unlawful or dangerous conduct. Workers can report problems to anyone — the media, a state agency, or their union — without first going through their boss. This is a direct win for AFSCME, IAFF, IBEW, and Teamsters members in public employment, giving them real legal protections when they speak up about corruption, safety hazards, or misuse of public money.
FEB
20
2025
HB 2086 improves the retirement dividend formula for every Kansas public employee hired since 2015 — including teachers, state workers, and local government employees. It lowers the investment return threshold from 6% to 5% and increases workers' share of excess returns from 75% to 80%, effectively more than doubling the annual dividend credit in typical years. This is a straightforward improvement to the deferred wages our members earn, and it passed the House 116-5 with broad bipartisan support.
FEB
20
2025
This constitutional amendment would let the legislature revoke any state regulation — including workplace safety rules, workers' comp standards, and wage enforcement procedures — through a simple concurrent resolution that the governor cannot veto. A catch-all provision allowing revocation whenever the legislature decides a rule is "not beneficial to the public good" gives lawmakers unlimited power to gut protections with no executive branch check. Because it amends the constitution, this change would be permanent and could not be reversed by a future governor or legislature without another statewide vote.
FEB
19
2025
SB 76 dictates the exact words every school employee — including custodians, bus drivers, and cafeteria workers — must use when addressing students, and creates a new parent-triggered complaint process to discipline workers who don't comply. This complaint pipeline bypasses union grievance procedures and collectively bargained due process protections, letting school boards investigate and punish employees with no right to representation, no evidentiary standard, and no appeal. Labor opposes this bill because the government should not be mandating workplace speech for public employees or creating discipline systems that go around the contracts workers fought to win.
FEB
19
2025
SB 222 prohibits courts and administrative hearing officers from relying on state agency expertise when interpreting the law — even inside workers' comp hearings, unemployment appeals, and wage claim proceedings where most working people's cases are actually decided. This means employers with deep pockets can re-litigate settled questions from scratch at every level, dragging out cases and discouraging workers from pursuing their claims. Kansas would go further than any other state or even the federal standard by reaching inside the administrative process itself, weakening enforcement of every labor protection on the books.
FEB
19
2025
SB 161 requires a full act of the legislature before any state agency can adjust Medicaid reimbursement rates for disability services or expand public assistance programs. For Kansas's roughly 30,000 direct support professionals — care workers already earning poverty-level wages of $13-15/hour — this hands a historically hostile legislature veto power over the only realistic path to pay increases. Labor opposes this bill because it freezes the administrative flexibility that agencies need to raise care worker wages and capture available federal matching dollars.
FEB
18
2025
The Legislature overrode the Governor's veto of SB 63, which bans gender transition care for minors. Buried in the bill are provisions that directly harm healthcare workers: automatic license revocation with no professional board discretion, a ban on malpractice insurance covering affected providers, and vague restrictions on what state employees can say on the job. These provisions strip due process from licensed workers and leave nurses, doctors, and state employees in SEIU, AFSCME, and KSNA bargaining units personally exposed to career-ending liability. A NAY vote sustained the Governor's veto and protected workers' rights.
FEB
18
2025
This bill bans gender transition care for minors, but buried in its enforcement provisions are direct attacks on workers: it strips healthcare workers of malpractice insurance coverage, mandates automatic license revocation with no professional board discretion, and restricts what state employees can say on the job. The legislature voted to override the Governor's veto, exposing nurses, doctors, and state workers in SEIU and AFSCME bargaining units to career-ending liability with no due process protections. A NAY vote sustained the Governor's veto and protected workers.
FEB
06
2025
SB 14 would put the state budget on autopilot, automatically continuing last year's spending levels if the Legislature doesn't act. This eliminates the annual pressure on lawmakers to negotiate and fund public services, making it easier to freeze wages, staffing, and programs that working families depend on. By removing the urgency to pass a budget, it weakens the leverage public employee unions have during the appropriations process and hands sweeping reallocation power to unelected administrators.
FEB
06
2025
SB 8 requires drivers to slow down and move over when passing any stopped vehicle displaying hazard lights, flares, or safety cones — not just emergency vehicles. This is a workplace safety issue for tow truck operators, utility workers, truckers, and anyone whose job puts them on the side of the road. Labor supports this commonsense protection that helps keep working Kansans safe on the job.
JAN
31
2025
SB 63 bans gender transition care for minors, but buried in the bill are provisions that directly hit healthcare workers: automatic license revocation with no professional board discretion, a ban on malpractice insurance covering affected providers, and strict personal liability lasting a decade. It also restricts what state employees — including social workers and hospital staff — can say on the job using vague, undefined terms. Labor opposes this bill because it strips workers of due process protections, eliminates insurance coverage, and exposes union members in hospitals, clinics, and state agencies to career-ending punishment without the safeguards that professional licensing boards are supposed to provide.
JAN
29
2025
This resolution urges Governor Kelly to fully cooperate with the Trump administration's federal immigration enforcement policies. When immigrant workers fear deportation, unscrupulous employers gain leverage to pay below-market wages, ignore safety rules, and retaliate against anyone who speaks up — dragging down standards for all workers. Labor opposes this resolution because a climate of fear in the workplace hurts every working person, not just immigrants.
JAN
29
2025
SB 63 automatically revokes the license of any healthcare worker found in violation — with no review by their professional board and no second chance. It also bars malpractice insurance from covering these workers and restricts what state employees can say on the job using vague, undefined terms. These provisions set a dangerous precedent: the legislature can override professional licensing boards to end a worker's career with zero due process, a template that could be applied to any licensed profession in the future.