Updates and Alerts

STATE LEGISLATIVE SESSION KICKS OFF:

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW FROM WEEK ONE (Jan. 13-17)

State lawmakers reconvened at the Capitol in Topeka on January 13 to kick off the 2025 state legislative session. The Lenexa Chamber will be there throughout the session to advocate on behalf of our members on legislation critical to business!

The state budget, property taxation and other tax policy, workforce development, regulatory reform, education, restricting foreign ownership/leasing in the state, and how supreme court justices are selected are among the issues expected to receive significant discussion. Bills and hearings addressing some of these issues have already gotten underway including a Senate Taxation hearing on SCR 1603, a proposed state constitutional amendment that would limit annual property valuation growth to no more than 3% except in certain circumstances.  (See the Chamber’s general perspective on key issues here.)

On Wednesday, January 15, Governor Laura Kelly looked back on accomplishments and laid out her vision and policy priorities in her annual State of the State Address, including water, tax policy, education, childcare, child hunger, and Medicaid expansion. Read a transcript of her Address here and the Republican response to her remarks here.

Also, the Governor’s State Budget Director Adam Proffitt presented to legislators the Governor’s proposed state budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which in the new legislatively-lead budgeting process will see lawmakers now taking more as a recommendation as opposed to prior years when it served as the base from which they worked. Director Proffitt said the Governor’s proposal emphasized:

  • Healthy ending balances – SGF and Stabilization Fund
  • Focus on high impact policy areas
    • Education
    • Water
    • Maintaining Waiver Funding
    • Community Support Waiver
    • Medicaid Expansion

See the Director’s more detailed 31-page slideshow presentation to lawmakers here.

Coming next week:

Taxation

On Wednesday the House Taxation Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on HB 2011, decreasing the statewide K-12 education property tax levy from 20 mills to 18.5 mills, with additional adjustments in the future essentially tied to valuation growth.  This proposal is one approach House lawmakers are considering to provide property tax relief, with the intention of backfilling the reduction in property tax school funding from the State General Fund (which is primarily comprised of state income and sales tax revenues.) In the past, school districts have expressed concern about the proposal, focused on whether lawmakers will maintain the commitment to backfill the funding reduction.

Commerce

On Tuesday-Thursday, the House and Senate Commerce committees will meet jointly to hear updates on the roll-out of the newly-modernized unemployment compensation computer system, the Department of Commerce, and recent commerce-related audits by the legislature’s internal auditing agency.

Questions? Contact asherard@lenexa.org.

 

STATE LAWMAKERS VISIT THE CHAMBER

On Friday, January 17, several Lenexa-area lawmakers brought the State Capitol to the Chamber, joining a packed house of Legislative Affairs, Board of Directors, and Economic Development Council members to provide their insights on the new 2025 state legislative session and answer attendees’ questions about business issues and the legislative process.

Special thanks to House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard, D-Lenexa, Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, Representative Laura Williams, R-Lenexa, and Representative Jo Ella Hoye, R-Lenexa, for sharing their time and experience, and to our 2025 Legislative Affairs Chair Dave Kepper of Security Bank of KC for keeping the meeting on track!

 

CHAMBER BOARD APPROVES 2025 STATE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

The Lenexa Chamber Board of Directors has approved a legislative platform to guide our advocacy in the upcoming 2025 state legislative session.  The platform addresses a spectrum of issues important to the business community including tax policy, key business costs and regulations, K-12 and higher education, health care, transportation, economic development, and others.

Click here to view the Chamber’s 2025 State Legislative Agenda.

Questions or feedback?  Call Ashley Sherard, CEO, at 913-888-1414 or email asherard@lenexa.org.

 

LENEXA-AREA LEGISLATOR GUIDE

Kansas Senate

Kansas House of Representatives

Interested in a bill and want to learn more?

  • Explore the legislature’s website kslegislature.org to find House and Senate calendars, links to proposed bills, and committee information including live meeting audio links and posted testimony.
  • Watch House and Senate sessions and many committee meetings via the Kansas Legislature’s YouTube channel.
  • Access archived committee meeting audio recordings here.
  • Follow legislative action simultaneously detailed on Twitter using the hashtag #ksleg.
  • Call the State Library’s toll-free legislative hotline at (800) 432-3924. Calls and questions are confidential.
  • Ask questions such as how to read the calendar, what’s existing law and what would change in a proposed bill, etc, by contacting Ashley Sherard at asherard@lenexa.org or (913) 888-1414.