Congressional redistricting to favor GOP may throw annual session into turmoil

TOPEKA — The Kansas Legislature’s Republican supermajority convenes Monday for the final session with Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly amid uncertainty about potential redrawing of the state’s congressional map to disenfranchise voters who repeatedly sent U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids to Congress.

Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, and House Speaker Dan Hawkins, D-Wichita, tried to pull off the mid-decade gerrymandering feat in November, but too many House Republicans refused to authorize a special session of the Legislature. Masterson and Hawkins were willing to go along with the gambit requested by President Donald Trump to help Republicans preserve a majority in the U.S. House. Both of these top legislative leaders say redistricting remained high on their priority list.

Davids, initially elected to the U.S. House in 2018, offered a personal assessment on that possibility: “Kansans have been crystal clear. They don’t want politicians stacking the deck to cling to power. I hope all lawmakers in Topeka are listening.”

Masterson likely could corral enough GOP votes to pass a redistricting bill in the Senate and override a veto by Kelly. Hawkins, who punished GOP colleagues who declined to endorse a special session on redistricting, says he hadn’t secured the votes to complete an override of Kelly. He would need to find 84 Republican votes in the 125-member House because Democrats have expressed no interest in helping with redistricting.

“I learned a long time ago that when you get thrown by the bull, you dust yourself off and you climb back on,” Hawkins said. “Now, we prepare for Jan. 12. When it gets here, House Republicans will be ready to ride.”

Flood of speeches

The House and Senate are scheduled to convene at 2 p.m. Monday for what would typically be a 90-calendar-day session ending in April. Legislators may find sufficient urgency to finish most of their work by the end of March, given the desire for full-time campaigning by those seeking statewide office.

Masterson is seeking the GOP nomination for governor, while Hawkins is running for insurance commissioner. Among Democrats in the Legislature, Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes is also a candidate for insurance commissioner. Sen. Ethan Corson and Sen. Cindy Holscher, both of Johnson County, are campaigning for governor.

Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Rosen is scheduled to deliver the annual State of the Judiciary speech to a joint session of the Legislature at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. It will be his first after being sworn in last week as chief justice.

At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the same House chamber, Kelly is to deliver her eighth and final State of the State speech to the Legislature. It will be broadcast on public television and be available by livestream on YouTube.

The governor is expected to emphasize her legislative priorities and report on the status of Kansas. Her formal budget recommendations are scheduled to be presented Wednesday to the House and Senate budget committees. The Legislature has been working on its own spending blueprint.

Hawkins, who is expected to offer the Republican rebuttal to the governor’s State of the State speech Tuesday night, said he was interested in the Legislature limiting the ability of local units of government to jack up property appraisals and increase property taxes. He also has expressed interesting in dealing with ongoing concerrns with universities, including “discriminatory” diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the curriculum.

Cellphones, lawsuit caps

Before adjourning, the 125 House members and 40 senators as well as the governor have a constitutional responsibility to approve a state budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.

The list of topics routinely debated each year touch on education, health care, elections, transportation, child care, immigration, economic development, abortion, water, foster care, public safety and the courts.

Before the gavel fell, two-thirds of the Kansas Senate endorsed a bipartisan bill that would require public and private schools statewide to establish policies restricting use of cellphones in school. The measure would mandate disciplinary action for violators.

“Phone-free schools give students space to think, build authentic human relationships and protect student mental health from constant digital pressure,” said Sen. Chase Blasi, a Republican from Andale.

Valentina Blanchard, an analyst with Kansas Health Institute, said a Kansas task force studied the student cellphone issue in 2024, but legislators seemed content at that time to allow individuals school districts decide whether to create policies.

“This is a pretty hot topic right now,” she said. “Thirty-one states plus D.C. have passed some sort of statewide policy related to what that needs to look like.”

Dan Murray, director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses in Kansas, said the Legislature ought to restore a financial ceiling on non-economic damages in personal injury lawsuits. In 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled caps in Kansas violated a person’s right to a jury trial and were unconstitutional.

“When a small business owner is hit with a frivolous lawsuit, they often have to divert time and resources away from running their business,” Murray said. “Capping non-economic damages would go a long way in providing commonsense guardrails within our judicial system.”

Rep. Pat Proctor, a Leavenworth Republican running for secretary of state, asked constituents in an online survey what they wanted done in the 2026 session. He checked interest in moving all elections to even years, requiring political campaigns to disclose when relying on artificial intelligence in campaign advertisements, and placing a ban on city and school district spending to influence the political process.

“I’m preparing a battle plan for my final year as chairman of the House Elections Committee,” he said.

Democratic Rep. John Carmichael said he was disappointed there were no public forums in the Wichita area for voters to share views on policy issues ahead of the annual session.

“Our only pre-session forum was a private cocktail reception at the new Gilly’s hosted by the county’s contract lobbyist, which I did not attend. The words ‘bought and paid for’ come to mind,” he said.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.

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