Other Bills With Action During Week 10
Senate Substitute (Sub.) for House Bill (HB) 2004, as recommended by the Senate Committee on Government Efficiency and passed by the Senate Committee of the Whole, would require, upon written request, that the Secretary for DCF provide data to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Secretary of KDHE provide data to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) without conditions or limitations. The bill would require both Secretaries to fully respond to the respective federal agencies in a timely manner by executing a memorandum of understanding, data use agreement or other form of written data-sharing instrument as necessary to provide the information required. Such data would be required to be shared with the respective federal agency within 30 days of the Secretary receiving a written request. On March 17, the Conference Committee agreed to disagree and recommended that a new conference committee be appointed.
HB 2250, as passed by the Senate Committee of the Whole, would add administering an emergency opioid antagonist as a protected act immune from criminal prosecution if the person to whom aid was rendered reasonably appeared to need medical assistance or requested medical assistance from law enforcement or emergency medical services as a result of the use of a controlled substance. The bill also would define “emergency opioid antagonist” to mean an intranasal form of a drug that inhibits the effects of opioids and is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of opioid overdose; and permit the administration of an emergency opioid antagonist up to 10 years past the product’s expiration date and add civil liability protection for first responders. The House nonconcurred with the Senate amendments, a conference committee was requested, and the Senate motion to accede was adopted on March 17.
HB 2368, as amended and passed by the House Committee on Health and Human Services, would enact the Anesthesiologist Assistant Licensure Act and provide for the powers, duties and functions of the State Board of Healing Arts in carrying out the act. The bill would provide for anesthesiologist assistant (AA) licensure, define the scope of practice for AAs, require AAs to practice under a supervising anesthesiologist, and create a council to advise the Board in carrying out the provisions of the Act. Motion to re-refer the bill to the House Committee on Health and Human Services was adopted on March 17. Note: A motion to recommend favorably for passage by the House Committee of the Whole previously failed on Feb. 17.
HB 2412, as amended by the Senate Committee on Judiciary, would increase the penalties for the crimes of endangering a child and aggravated endangering a child when such child is less than six years of age. The bill was passed by the Senate Committee of the Whole on March 18 on a vote of 40-0, but the House nonconcurred with the Senate amendments and a conference committee was requested and appointed on March 19.
HB 2478 requires an applicant for an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) or certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) license to be fingerprinted for state and national criminal history record checks. The bill was signed by the Governor on March 20.
HB 2533, as amended and passed by the Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare, would enact the Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact. The bill was passed by the Senate Committee of the Whole on March 17 on a vote of 38-2. The House nonconcurred with the Senate amendments, a conference committee was requested and appointed, and the Senate motion to accede was adopted on March 18.
HB 2534, as amended by the Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare, would enact the Respiratory Care Interstate Compact. As of Feb. 5, 2026, the Compact has been enacted in five states: Alabama, Iowa, Montana, Washington and Wisconsin. The Compact is being considered in 11 states, including Kansas, and will become active once it is enacted by seven states. The bill was passed by the Senate Committee of the Whole on March 19 on a vote of 39-1.
HB 2537, as amended by the House Committee of the Whole, would create “Caleb’s Law,” which would amend the definition of the crime of sexual extortion to include additional conduct; create the crimes of aggravated sexual extortion causing great bodily harm and aggravated sexual extortion causing death; and require the Attorney General to prepare and provide certain educational materials and information concerning sexual extortion. If the offender is over age 18, and the victim is less than age 18, or the victim is a dependent adult, the offense would be a severity level 6 person felony. The bill was passed by the Senate Committee of the Whole on March 19 on a vote of 40-0.
HB 2562 would add physical therapists, licensed to practice under the Physical Therapy Practice Act, to the list of authorized practitioners who can certify to the Kansas Department of Revenue, Division of Vehicles, that an individual has a disability. The bill was passed by the Senate Committee of the Whole on March 19 on a vote of 40-0.
HB 2587, as amended by the Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare, would authorize a licensed private psychiatric hospital to maintain a stock supply of emergency medication kits for pharmaceutical emergencies. The bill would define “emergency medication kit” to mean a stock supply of such drugs as are required to meet the immediate therapeutic needs of patients when the drug is not available from another source in sufficient time to prevent harm and define “licensed private psychiatric hospital” to mean an institution, excluding state institutions such as the state hospitals, that is primarily engaged in providing services, by and under the supervision of qualified individuals, for the diagnosis and treatment of mentally ill individuals that is licensed pursuant to state law. The bill was passed by the Senate Committee of the Whole on March 19 on a vote of 40-0.
HB 2601, as passed by the House Committee of the Whole, would establish a Child Abuse and Neglect Registry maintained by the Secretary of DCF and require administrative hearings, including the opportunity for appeal, before placing an individual on the Registry. The bill also would limit use of information on the Registry and permit the Secretary to maintain other registries or records to meet federal requirements. The Senate Committee on Judiciary amended the bill on Monday, March 16, to require that an individual have access to the records from DCF pertaining to the report of the alleged instance of abuse or neglect prior to any hearing or waiver of the right to a hearing. The Senate Committee of the Whole then amended the bill to:
- Clarify a person could be placed on the Registry only after proper notice and an opportunity for a hearing;
- Raise the standard of proof for a substantiated report of child abuse or neglect to “clear and convincing” evidence;
- Require the presiding officer to provide a copy of the order placing an individual on the Registry to such individual with information regarding the appeal process;
- Require the Secretary to provide notice to such individual when a request for expungement is granted or denied and include information regarding the appeal process; and
- Allow such individual to appeal a denial of an expungement within 30 days.
The bill was then passed, as amended, on March 19 on a vote of 40-0.
HB 2635 would create the Pregnancy Center Autonomy and Rights of Expression Act. It would make several findings related to pregnancy centers and the services provided at such centers and would prohibit regulations, policies, procedures or other measures that would prohibit a pregnancy center from taking certain actions or requiring that a pregnancy center take specific actions. The bill, as passed by the Senate Committee of the Whole on March 12, was enrolled and presented to the Governor on March 17.
HB 2639, as amended by the House Committee of the Whole, would change the name of juvenile crisis intervention centers to juvenile stabilization centers throughout the Revised Kansas Code for the Care of Children (CINC Code) and the Revised Kansas Juvenile Justice Code (Juvenile Code) and would modify the intake criteria for, and the treatment and services provided by, such centers. The bill also would transfer money from the Evidence-Based Programs Account (EBPA) in the State General Fund to DCF to provide juvenile stabilization services. The bill was amended by the Senate Committee on Judiciary on Monday, March 16, to modify the definition of “cross-over youth” to mean a young person, 10 years of age or older, who is at risk of being adjudicated or is already adjudicated as a child in need of care due in whole or in part to:
- Conduct or involvement in the juvenile justice system;
- Allegations that could result in involvement in the juvenile justice system; or
- Any level of concurrent involvement with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
The bill was then passed by the Senate Committee of the Whole on March 19 on a vote of 40-0.
HB 2702 would amend the Kansas Healing Arts Act regarding practice protocols to provide for collaboration between a physician assistant or associate (PA) and a physician and to amend the Physician Assistant Licensure Act. The bill also would authorize the use of a criminal history record check and the collection of fingerprints for an applicant for PA licensure by the State Board of Healing Arts. The bill was passed by the Senate Committee of the Whole on March 18 on a vote of 40-0.
HB 2727 would allow plaintiffs to elect to limit recovery in claims brought for violations of the informed consent provisions of the Women’s-Right-to-Know Act and would not allow parties to the suit to request the convening of a medical malpractice screening panel. The bill was passed by the Senate Committee of the Whole on March 19 on a vote of 31-9.
HB 2729 would amend informed consent provisions of the Woman’s-Right-to-Know Act concerning required information and required notice signs for both abortion procedures and medication abortion. The bill would specify that the information required to be provided by abortion providers under the Act shall be on a form provided by KDHE and that such form may be provided in hardcopy format on white paper or electronically transmitted to the woman. Additionally, the bill would require that the informed consent and medication abortion reversal notice signs required by the Act state that such notice is from KDHE. The bill was passed by the Senate Committee of the Whole on March 19 on a vote of 31-9.
Sub. for HB 2731, as passed by the House Committee of the Whole, would require the Secretary for DCF and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to exchange documents related to cash assistance, child care assistance and food assistance fraud investigations. The bill would require the Secretary and the OIG to cooperate in the facilitation of detection, investigation and prosecution of public assistance by exchanging information, including:
- Documents and information related to cash assistance, child care assistance and food assistance applicants or recipients;
- Documents and information related to cash assistance, child care assistance, and food assistance eligibility determinations;
- Electronic benefit card (EBT) transaction data or documents; and
- Any other materials received, compiled or created by the agency related to an audit, inquiry or investigation of cash assistance, child care assistance and food assistance applicant, recipient, authorized retailer or any other individual suspected of, or being investigated for, fraud in the food assistance program.
The bill would require information to be exchanged at the request of either the Secretary or the OIG and completed in a reasonable time frame that could not exceed 30 days from the day of the request being received.
The Senate Committee of the Whole amended the bill to include provisions requiring DCF and KDHE to carry out data system coordination for the purpose of automatically issuing Summer EBT benefits to eligible children who are currently enrolled in the Kansas Medical Assistance Program and to be effective upon publication in the Kansas Register and passed the bill on March 19 on a vote of 37-3.
HB 2761 would establish the Speech-Language Pathology Assistant Licensure Act and establish the powers, duties and functions of the Secretary for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) in carrying out the Act. The bill would provide for speech-language pathology assistant (SLPA) licensure, define the scope of practice, specify required qualifications, and require SLPAs to practice under a supervising speech-language pathologist. The bill would require the Secretary to issue a SLPA license to an individual who meets the educational and training requirements of the Act and any other reasonable qualifications that may be adopted by the Secretary in rules and regulations. Such license would expire after two years. The bill was passed by the Senate Committee of the Whole on March 17 on a vote of 38-2.
SB 263, as amended by the Senate Committee of the Whole, would create the Student Safe at School Act to require the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) to create best practice guidelines for active shooter drills and establish standards and requirements for violence prevention training conducted by elementary and secondary schools. The bill also would prohibit schools from conducting active shooter simulations, unless authorized by the Act, and amend the requirement that the State Fire Marshal adopt rules and regulations concerning crisis drills at public and private schools.
The House Committee on Education amended the bill to:
- Reconcile amendments made by the Senate Committee of the Whole by moving a provision that would preserve a parent’s ability to opt a student out of participation in an active shooter drill;
- Remove the prohibition on active shooter drills for students in grades kindergarten through five and amend the definition of “active shooter drill” to include:
- For grades kindergarten through five, instruction through tabletop exercises and identification of appropriate places for students to locate during an emergency; and
- For grades 6 through 12, the information described above and the practice of active shooter drills;
- Add a definition of “tabletop exercise”;
- Restore provisions that would require the school to notify each parent at least 24 hours prior to an active shooter drill and would outline alternative safety education for students who do not participate in active shooter drills;
- Include tactical training in the 24-hour notification requirement;
- Remove provisions requiring annual violence prevention training for grades 6-12 and requiring opportunities for students to contribute to school safety and violence-prevention planning;
- Change the prohibition on active shooter simulations to only apply to school property where students in kindergarten through grade 8 regularly attend and to permit active shooter simulations on school property if only students in grades 9-12 regularly attend.
The Committee then recommended House Substitute for SB 263 be passed incorporating its amendments on March 18.
SB 327, as amended by the Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare, would change the meeting time of the Robert G. (Bob) Bethell Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services and KanCare Oversight to meet once in each quarter while retaining the requirement for the meetings to be two consecutive days in the third and fourth quarters. Note: Current law specifies one-day meetings are to occur in January and April when the Legislature is in regular session. The bill was stricken from the House Calendar on March 20.
SB 334, as passed by the Senate Committee of the Whole, would provide education levels for instructors at nursing schools as a requirement for state approval. The bill would require, in addition to other requirements in continuing law, that faculty at a school seeking approval from the Kansas State Board of Nursing as a school for professional nurses or as a school for practical nurses possess a nursing degree awarded by a state or nationally accredited school of nursing approved by the Board that is at least one level more advanced than the degree awarded by the program in which they are teaching. The bill would prohibit the Board from requiring additional or more advanced credentials for such faculty. The bill would allow the Board to grant an exemption for this requirement to a school facing hardships in hiring faculty. The bill was passed by the House Committee of the Whole on March 18 on a vote of 81-43.
SB 339, as amended by the Senate Committee of the Whole, would establish minimum requirements for recess in public schools and include such time in the calculations of a school’s school term for purposes of statutory compliance beginning in the 2027-2028 school year. The bill also would direct the State Board of Education to establish a Kansas State Fitness Test. The House Committee on Education amended the bill to:
- Specify that the minimum daily, organized recess requirement is for elementary grades as designated by the school district and that elementary grades would not include any grade higher than grade 5;
- Clarify that the State Board would be required to establish the Fitness Test after the standards for the Presidential Physical Fitness Test are published;
- Require the Fitness Test to be annually administered beginning in school year 2026-2027; and
- Change the name of the Fitness Test to the Kansas State Physical Fitness Test.
The Committee then passed the bill, as amended, favorably out of committee on March 17.
House Sub. for SB 366, as recommended by the House Committee on Transportation, would prohibit use of a mobile telephone in a school zone when a reduced speed limit is enforced or in a road construction zone while workers are present (school or work zone) and signs are posted at the beginning of the road construction zone alerting drivers to such workers. Holding a mobile telephone would constitute a rebuttable presumption of a violation of that prohibition. The prohibition would not apply to:
- A law enforcement officer or emergency service personnel acting within the course and scope of their employment;
- A person operating a motor vehicle that is halted where the vehicle can safety and lawfully remain stationary; or
- A mobile telephone that is being used with a hands-free device.
The bill would not prohibit using a mobile telephone in a school or work zone to:
- Report current or ongoing illegal activity to a law enforcement agency;
- Prevent imminent injury to a person or property;
- Summon medical or other emergency assistance; or
- Relay information between a transit or for-hire operator and the operator’s dispatcher if the device is permanently affixed to the motor vehicle.
The bill would prohibit a law enforcement officer from taking certain actions without the consent of the person:
- Confiscate a mobile telephone device for the purpose of determining compliance with the prohibition;
- Confiscate and retain a mobile telephone as evidence pending trial for a violation of these provisions; or
- Extract or otherwise download information for a violation of this section unless:
- The officer has probable cause to believe the mobile telephone has been used in the commission of a crime;
- The information is extracted or otherwise downloaded under a valid search warrant; or
- Otherwise authorized by law.
The House Committee of the Whole passed the substitute bill on March 17 on a vote of 116-7, and the Senate Committee of the Whole concurred with the amendments on March 19 on a vote of 31-9.
SB 368, as passed by the House Committee of the Whole, would enact the Health Care Sharing Ministries Tax Deduction Act, providing a subtraction modification for taxpayers for qualified health care sharing expenses and amounts of qualified health care share received by taxpayers. The subtraction modification for health care sharing expenses could not exceed $5,000 for an individual or $10,000 for a married couple filing a joint return. “Qualifying health care sharing expenses” would be those amounts paid for the taxpayer and their spouse or dependent for contributions for medical expenses and administrative fees of the health care sharing ministry. “Qualifying health care share received” would be the amount received as a member of a health care sharing ministry to assist with a medical expense. The bill was enrolled and presented to the Governor on March 16.
House Sub. for SB 390, as passed by the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources, would require, beginning in school year 2027-2028 and each school year after, schools that participate in a food service program, school lunch program or school breakfast program that is part of a reimbursable meal or a free or reduced-price meal to not serve any food that contains the following food additives:
- Brominated vegetable oil (BVO);
- Potassium bromate;
- Propylparaben;
- Azodicarbonamide;
- Titanium dioxide;
- FD&C Red 3;
- FD&C Red 40;
- FD&C Yellow 5;
- FD&C Yellow 6;
- FD&C Blue 1;
- FD&C Blue 2; and
- FD&C Green 3.
The bill would require that during the school facility inspection required by continuing law, the school would certify that the facility does not serve food that contains any food additives that would be prohibited by the bill as part of a reimbursable meal or a free or reduced-price meal. Beginning in school year 2028-2029, the bill would require a school that cannot certify the facility meets the requirements of the bill to:
- Submit a corrective action plan to the Secretary of Agriculture within 30 days of the inspection; and
- Post the official notice of the violation and plan on the school’s website for one year from the date of the inspection or an order from the Secretary, whichever is later.
The bill would require a school that incorrectly certifies a school facility meets the requirements of the bill to submit a plan to the Secretary within 30 days of the inspection, post the official notice and the plan on the school’s website for one year from the date of the inspection or an order from the Secretary, whichever is later, and notify the parent or guardian of each student enrolled in and attending the school of the violation. The bill was stricken from the House Calendar on March 20.
SB 408, as amended by the House Committee on Judiciary, would amend the definition of “child in need of care” in the Revised Kansas Code for Care of Children (CINC Code) to exclude a person less than 18 years old who is engaging in independent activities without adult supervision when a parent allows such child to engage in such activities if:
- Such independent activities are appropriate for the child’s age, maturity and mental abilities; and
- Such lack of supervision does not constitute such grossly negligent conduct that it would endanger the health and safety of the child.
The bill would define “independent activities” to include, but not be limited to, traveling to and from school or nearby locations on foot or bicycle, playing outdoors, remaining home for a reasonable amount of time, or remaining in a vehicle that is not dangerously hot or cold for a reasonable amount of time.
The bill also would amend law in the CINC Code concerning a process of referring military children to services provided by a military family advocacy program and would amend the Kansas Parentage Act concerning voluntary acknowledgement of paternity. The bill was passed by the House Committee of the Whole on March 18 on a vote of 124-0.
SB 448, as passed by the House Committee on Health and Human Services, would authorize the use of expedited partner therapy (EPT) to treat sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The bill would define several terms, including “expedited partner therapy,” which would mean to prescribe, administer, dispense or otherwise provide antimicrobial drugs to a sexual partner of a patient clinically diagnosed by a health care provider as infected with an STD without a physical examination of such sexual partner. The bill was stricken from the House Calendar on March 20.
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