These 14 GOP bills could become KS law despite vetoes from Gov. Laura Kelly. Here’s how
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has vetoed 15 non-budget bills this year alone, more than any other governor in 29 years.
Some Republican lawmakers have criticized the Democratic governor for these actions, claiming that the vetoes show she is aligning with the “extreme” side of her party and not governing as moderate. Meanwhile Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers of the Legislature and have already voted to override one veto.
Here’s a quick look at how the veto process works, how the Legislature can override them and a look at all of the bills the governor has vetoed this year.
What is a veto?
If the governor strongly disagrees with a bill when it gets to her desk, instead of signing it into law or letting it become law without her signature, she has the opportunity to veto the bill.
Issuing a veto prevents a bill from becoming law and sends it back to the Legislature, with a message that explains what the governor disagrees with in the legislation.
Gov. Kelly can also veto provisions within a proposed state budget.
When can the governor veto a bill?
The governor can veto a bill once it’s already passed through both houses in the Legislature, meaning the bill first needs to be introduced in either the Senate or House, then discussed and deliberated in hearings, and ultimately voted on.
Once the chamber where the bill was introduced votes on the bill, it will then go to the second chamber (so if the bill starts in the Senate, it will then go to the House). In the second chamber, lawmakers will also discuss the bill and possibly add amendments. Once the second chamber has reviewed and passed the bill, it will go to the governor’s office, where she will finally be able to either sign the bill into law, let it pass or veto it.
For more context, here’s a flow chart from the state library of Kansas of how a bill turns into a law.
Can the Kansas Legislature override a veto?
Yes. If enough lawmakers are still in favor of the bill after it’s vetoed, they can vote to override the veto and insist that the bill become law without the governor’s approval.
When can the Legislature overturn a veto?
The Legislature can overturn the governor’s veto if two-thirds of both the state Senate and the House vote for the override.
There are 125 total members in the House of Representatives and 40 in the Senate, so a two-thirds majority would be 84 votes in the House and at least 27 votes in the Senate.
Republicans hold a supermajority in both the Kansas House with 85 members, and in the Kansas Senate with 28 members, which means the party has enough members in each chamber to override a veto from Gov. Kelly along party lines.
What happens after a veto override?
If enough lawmakers vote to override a veto, then the bill will become state law and will be filed with the secretary of state.
What bills has Gov. Kelly vetoed so far this year?
As of Tuesday, Kelly has vetoed 15 Republican-backed bills on a variety of topics.
So far, the Legislature has overturned one veto, which means that transgender athletes will be banned from participating in girls’ and womens’ sports starting in July.
Here are all of the vetoes organized alphabetically according to topic:
Abortion
A bill that would have made it harder for abortion providers to obtain liability insurance
A bill that would have required medical workers to provide care to infants “born alive” during an abortion or face criminal prosecution
A bill that would have redefined abortion in Kansas law and required providers to tell patients they can reverse the effects of an abortion pill, a claim heavily disputed by medical experts
Education
A parental rights bill that would have allowed parents to excuse their children from assignments they didn’t agree with
A bill that would require schools with a gun safety program to use NRA materials
Elections
A bill that would require advance voting ballots to be delivered to officials on Election Day, eliminating the current three-day grace period for the arrival of mail-in ballots
Immigration:
A bill that would have created a new crime of human smuggling aimed at prosecuting people transporting those without legal immigration status
Public benefits
A bill that would have increased work requirements for older adults accessing food stamps
A bill seeking to expand access to child care through relaxed regulations
Taxes
A tax plan that included a flat income tax, the accelerated elimination of the food sales tax and lowered taxes on social security income
Transgender rights
A “women’s bill of rights” that would have banned transgender and nonbinary Kansans from single-sex spaces that do not match their sex assigned at birth
A bill that would have blocked Kansas physicians and other licensed medical professionals from providing hormone therapy or gender transition surgery to minors
A bill that would have required students on overnight field trips to be separated by sex assigned at birth
A bill that would have required county prisons to separate people based on sex assigned at birth
A bill that would have barred transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports — The state Legislature already overturned this veto.
Lawmakers reconvene Wednesday to begin the annual wrap-up session and consider whether to override Kelly’s vetoes.
Katie Bernard, Jenna Barackman and Jonathan Shorman contributed to this story.
