Kansas House lawmakers advanced a wide-ranging bill Tuesday that includes Republican plans to ban trans children from getting gender-affirming medical care amid outcry from worried parents.
The House Federal and State Affairs Committee heard testimony on a bill creating a felony of coercion for persuading someone to terminate a pregnancy against their will and a bill designed to funnel $5.8 million into efforts to pressure women not to terminate a pregnancy.
A district court has sided with Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach on a temporary block to keep Kansas residents from changing the gender listed on their drivers’ licenses.
A bill supported by Sedgwick County and the city of Wichita is requesting $40 million from the state for homeless shelter infrastructure, and it also requires localities to enforce ordinances on camping and vagrancy.
House Democrats questioned the integrity of two Republicans legislators who brandished their credentials as physicians while promoting harmful misinformation about transgender children during debate Thursday on legislation that would prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming care.
Though Kansans and Missourians are still reeling from a February mass shooting that left dozens injured and one dead, a Kansas lawmaker is pushing to change gun regulations in the state so that the “feds” can’t interfere with gun owners like himself.
A Kansas House committee plans to move ahead Wednesday with a bill exposing universities and colleges to $100,000 administrative penalties and lawsuits for compelling students or employees to pledge allegiance to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Kansas is one of the few states left in the region that protects abortion rights. Unable to change state constitutional protections, some lawmakers are now doing their best to discourage abortion through a slew of legislation instead.
The Kansas House’s budget committee delivered bipartisan condemnation Monday of unusual $3 million payouts to Emporia State, Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State universities intended to stabilize operating budgets during a period of enrollment decline and rising costs.
Kansas House Rep. Brenda Landwehr kicked the first person out of Thursday’s hearing on anti-transgender legislation for cradling a protest sign in the room.
