Loud Light Kansas Politics Recap: Proctor’s Plan, anti-abortion bills, medical marijuana update
The Pitch has partnered with a local political awareness organization called Loud Light. Their goal is to engage and empower individuals from underrepresented populations to build community power. And impact decision-makers. Each week of the year that the Kansas statehouse is in session, they release a short video recapping what the legislature is up to.
Knowing the nitty-gritty of what’s happening with your representatives is the only way to stay involved with the way local government affects your life. You can donate to support Loud Light’s work by clicking here.
Here is this week’s video and transcription:
Hey this is Paris with Loud Light. Here’s what happened this week in the Kansas Legislature.
Marla Luckert Retirement and August 2022 Constitutional Amendment
This week Kansas Supreme Court Justice Marla Luckert announced her retirement. Later this year, Kansans will vote on a constitutional amendment in August 2026 that would change how Kansas Supreme Court Justices are nominated in Kansas. The constitutional amendment would abolish the nonpartisan independence of the judicial branch, allowing political parties to control every branch of government. The amendment allows billionaires such as Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, to throw millions into buying Kansas Supreme Court Justice seats.
State Support of the Anti-Abortion Movement (HB 2635 & SB315)
Despite the overwhelming majority of Kansans making it clear that they support reproductive freedom during the constitutional amendment vote in the 2022 election, every session, lawmakers bring bills to restrict abortion access and provide taxpayer dollars for the anti-abortion movement. This year, there are three key bills that further the anti-abortion agenda. Few locations in Kansas provide abortion, but over 50 known as “crisis pregnancy centers” work to prevent it. The “Fake Clinic Protection” Bill: Creates legal protections for unregulated anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) while excluding legitimate healthcare providers who provide or refer patients to abortion services. This bill would also ban local governments from enacting regulations on these fake medical clinics, meaning Kansans would have no ability to seek local protections from their deceptive practices. The Senate budget passed this week continues to send taxpayer dollars to the State Treasurer’s office who funnels it to unregulated crisis pregnancy centers through the Kansas Pregnancy Network. Part of the Kansas Pregnancy Network’s leadership includes former US Representative Tim Huelskamp, who is connected to texts sent the day before Election Day during the 2022 abortion amendment vote that attempted to mislead voters into voting yes.
The Kansas Legislature Silencing the Public (SB315)
When passing the nation’s harshest anti-trans legislation, leadership skipped the entire public committee process on the bathroom bounty portion of the bill by using a “gut-n-go” procedure. Shortly after on another bill that would take away in-state tuition rates for Kansas immigrants going to college, House Speaker Daniel Hawkins completely skipped a committee hearing and moved the bill straight to the floor, denying any Kansan who isn’t a lawmaker the chance to speak. Now, after a wave of high school protests and walkouts in Kansas, legislative leadership has passed a budget amendment penalizing any school with students using their First Amendment right, and requires Kansas teenagers to get a permission slip to attend a protest. By putting the policy as an amendment on the budget, lawmakers also denied any public committee process, meaning not a single Kansan, student, teacher, or school staff member was given a chance to speak on the policy.
Legislative Leadership on Marijuana
Kansas is one of the few states that have no form of legal cannabis. Although a majority of Kansans support legalization and a pilot program being passed in 2021, Senate President Ty Masterson still will not allow any marijuana policy through. Multiple bills have been introduced in the Legislature attempting to pass some form of legalization but it is very unlikely they will make it very far. When asked about legalization, House Speaker Daniel Hawkins deferred to what Senate President Ty Masterson wants, stating, “We will not take up marijuana in the House. The Senate can take it up, pass it, send it to us, and we’ll pass it. But I’m not gonna take it up if the Senate won’t. The Senate needs to address it,” Hawkins said.
The End of Mail Voting? (SB394)
The Senate has passed a bill that would end mail voting for all Kansans if the courts find that the constitutional rights of disabled voters are being violated. This week, before the Senate could even pass the bill, Rep. Pat Proctor held an “informational hearing” in an attempt to rush the bill’s progress on the House side. Although Rep. Pat Proctor has told constituents at town halls that he was not planning to do anything to end mail-in or early voting, other videos that have surfaced show another version of Proctor’s Plan, which is to “chip away” at early voting.
