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03 Apr

Posted at 14:28h in Regulatory
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On Tuesday, April 2, the Biden-Harris Administration announced its rule to generally require a second crewmember on all trains. In finalizing this rule, FRA reviewed and considered over 13,500 written comments received during the 146-day comment period—in addition to the testimony from a one-day public hearing. “Common sense tells us that large freight trains, some of which can be over three miles long, should have at least two crew members on board - and now there’s a federal regulation in place to ensure trains are safely staffed,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete...

29 Mar

Posted at 23:52h in Advocacy
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With Friday, March 28 being the last day for activity on most bills, the 2024 Kansas legislature has only one week of regular session remaining. The Legislature is in recess over the Easter weekend and will reconvene on Monday, April 1 for one final week of action. After-which, the Legislature will break until April 29 when they will reconvene to consider any bills vetoed by Governor Laura Kelly. Leadership in both the House and Senate have stated their intention for final adjournment on April 30. Next week, the Legislature will focus on finalizing the...

22 Mar

Posted at 23:22h in Advocacy
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The 2024 Kansas legislative session is quickly winding down. Friday, March 22 is the last day for most committees to meet and consider bills this session. On Monday, March 25, the House and Senate will begin marathon sessions of floor debate on various bills, punctuated with joint conference committees between the chambers to discuss final language on specific bills. As this year is the second year of our state’s two-year legislative biennium, any bill which does not become law this year will no longer be a live bill. Governor Laura Kelly’s core focus...

15 Mar

Posted at 22:06h in Advocacy
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This week, the Kansas Senate debated and passed, on a vote of 24-15, a $25 billion budget bill for the upcoming fiscal year. Notably, both the House and Senate budget bills would provide about $80 million to increase Medicaid outpatient reimbursement rates. Additionally, this week, the Senate debated and passed numerous tax relief bills, including a new comprehensive tax bill. The large tax bill would reduce personal income taxes by creating a single rate for individual income taxes, exempting Social Security from income tax, significantly increasing the personal exemption amount, and...

08 Mar

Posted at 22:47h in Advocacy
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During the ninth week of the 2024 legislative session, Senate Republicans introduced a new comprehensive tax bill and have already set it for hearing next week. Likewise, House leadership is discussing another attempt at comprehensive tax legislation, and it looks like they might use Governor Laura Kelly’s tax bill as the vehicle. The extent of any such tax package is likely to be scaled back a bit as this week it was announced that the state had missed its revenue projections for the fifth consecutive month. Also, this week, the Senate...

02 Mar

Posted at 00:49h in Advocacy
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Following Turnaround Week in the Kansas legislature, the second half of the legislative session began with a slow start. Last week, the Republican tax cut plan died when Governor Laura Kelly vetoed it and the House failed to override the veto. In similar fashion, the governor's tax cut proposal is effectively dead, as the Senate gutted its version of the bill and House Republicans redirected the House version to a committee that never meets. Next steps toward any large tax relief package this session are uncertain at best, which may impact...

01 Mar

Posted at 17:20h in Regulatory
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On March 1, 2024, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized amendments to the Risk Management Program aimed at protecting at-risk communities from chemical accidents with emphasis on those located near facilities in industry sectors with high accident rates. The “Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention Rule” includes EPA’s most protective safety provisions for chemical facilities in history, requiring stronger measures for prevention, preparedness, and public transparency. The rule protects the health and safety of all communities by requiring industry to prevent accidental releases of dangerous chemicals that could otherwise cause...

24 Feb

Posted at 00:59h in Advocacy
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This is Turnaround Week of the Kansas legislature, where most bills (with some exceptions) must be passed by their chamber of origin in order to remain alive for further consideration. In a flurry of floor debate on Wednesday and Thursday, the House and Senate voted on dozens of bills. In addition, the legislature finally attempted an override this week of Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of House Bill 2284, the legislature’s tax bill that includes a single-rate personal income tax. The House failed, by three votes, to override the veto. While the...

16 Feb

Posted at 21:36h in Advocacy
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The Legislature, again this week, failed to take up an override vote on Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of the tax bill House Bill 2284. That vote to override will need to come by the end of next week or the governor’s veto of the bill will be sustained. Committees this week approved and advanced bills before multiple days of floor debate begin next week as we near the legislative ‘turnaround’. In both chambers, various bills have now been introduced that would limit foreign investment in real property in the state. As...

10 Feb

Posted at 00:33h in Advocacy
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The Republican-majority legislature failed, this week, to take up an override vote on Governor Kelly’s veto of the tax bill, House Bill 2284. That vote is expected to come early next week. Whether, or in what form, tax relief is passed this year is still an unanswered question. This week, committees continued hearings on unemployment insurance legislation, workers compensation max benefits, various tax bills, and other issues. One issue gaining momentum in Kansas, and other states, is the issue of limiting foreign investment in real property in the state. A handful...

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