Topeka
March 24, 2024
The budget process continues to move forward. This coming Monday, March 25, we will call our first conference committee to get an overview and compare the differences in the House and Senate budget. Hopefully, we will have an opportunity to call additional conferences on Monday.
This upcoming week will be spent on the Chamber floors debating the final bills for this session. All the committees with exception of a couple of exempt committees, which includes Appropriations and Ways and Means, Tax Committee and Federal and State committee will not meet again this year.
The Senate had an informational hearing on Medicaid Expansion last week. The House also had a hearing, and a motion was made to pass the Governors Medicaid Expansion bill out of committee which failed. The meeting was very civil and both sides had opportunities to present their case for and against expansion.
The Senate passed HB 2783 which would prohibit any state agency, city, or county from regulating or restricting the use or sale of motor vehicles based on the energy source used by the vehicle for propulsion or for powering other functions. This bill was necessary to ensure that this troubling trend occurring in other states which restricts the use of fossil fuels does not occur in Kansas.
HB 2562 passed out of the Senate and will create the Protect Vulnerable Adults from Financial Exploitation Act, which would, among other things, require a broker-dealer or investment adviser to promptly report to designated protective agencies instances in which the financial exploitation of an eligible adult may have occurred or has or is being attempted. The bill would also allow a broker-dealer or investment adviser to delay a transaction with or disbursement from an account of an eligible adult, including account beneficiaries, when financial exploitation is expected. In addition, the bill would amend the Kansas Uniform Securities Act (KUSA) to include within provisions governing grounds for discipline a knowing failure to make a report required under the Protect Vulnerable Adults from Financial Exploitation Act.
SB 371 passed the Senate and will expand current provisions to permit the issuance of a silver alert for a missing person who is 18 years of age or older and has an intellectual disability and in other specific circumstances.
SB 493 would amend law concerning ignition interlock devices to require manufacturers of such devices to pay fees to the Kansas Highway Patrol for administration, oversight, and monitoring of the IID program. The bill would also establish the IID Fee Program Fund.
I am honored and grateful to represent the 40th Senate District in Kansas. Please do not hesitate to contact me by email: [email protected] or call me with your concerns. My office number is 785-296-7399 or my cell number is 785-899-4700. If you are in Topeka stop by my office, room 545-S.