Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly racks up double-digit vetoes, including bills on abortion, school choice

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed 21 bills this week, but they could still be overridden as the legislative session winds down for the year.

 The Legislature that passed the bills will have the chance to override the vetoes on Thursday and Friday, but to do that both the House and Senate would need to achieve a two-thirds, or supermajority, vote – 27 votes in the Senate and 84 votes in the House.  Here are eight bills being tracked by The Heartlander: 

Education freedom tax credit 

House Bill 2468, also known as the 

 Freedom Tax Credit, would 

 Kansas to participate in the new federal school choice program, which offers federal tax credits on donations towards scholarships for private school tuition, broadening the schooling options available for families.  In her veto, Kelly argued funding special education should be prioritized instead of private school programs.  Prior to being sent to Kelly’s desk, the Legislature passed the bill with a vote of 27-12 in a supermajority vote in the Senate, and 76-44 in the House. The House might have a difficult time coming up with the 84 votes needed to override the veto, while the Senate already has the 27 votes needed.   “This was a missed opportunity to expand educational options and empower parents to choose what is best for their children,” Kansas Family Voice wrote on 

Pro-life bills 

House Bills 2727 and 2729 

 with supermajority votes of 31-9 in the Senate and 87-37 in the House, though Kelly vetoed both.   HB 2727 would change the Woman’s Right to Know Act, which lists the required information a woman must be given before receiving an abortion. The bill would also allow women claiming medical malpractice, including in abortion cases, to skip the screening panel that’s currently required, effectively making lawsuits faster and less expensive for victims. It also provides language for monetary damages.  HB 2729 would require healthcare providers to give abortion-seeking women a form that explains the risks and side effects of mifepristone, a popular abortion drug that recent research has shown to be dangerous.  Kelly says the bill “requires the state to put false medical information out that has no scientific basis and only serves to mislead women.”  However, the document would simply give alternative options to abortion and notify the mother that the abortion could result in “risk of premature birth in future pregnancies, risk of breast cancer and risks to the woman’s reproductive health,” which are corroborated by recent 

.   The Pregnancy Center Autonomy and Rights of Expression Act (CARES Act), or HB 2635, is a similar pro-life bill that protects pregnancy centers from being forced to offer or recommend abortions. Kelly vetoed the CARES Act on March 27, which was swiftly 

 on the same day, making it law.  Given the number of votes for HB 2727 and 2729, the vetoes are likely to be overridden. 

Public benefits awarded to illegal aliens 

Senate Bill 254 would disallow illegal aliens from receiving state and local public benefits in Kansas. Kelly vetoed the bill and claimed, “America’s immigration system is broken, but this is not the way to fix it.”   Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach warned the state could be next in line for a federal lawsuit over the issue back in 

. Current state law awards in-state tuition benefits for illegal aliens but unlawfully withholds them from U.S. citizens who meet the same criteria.  The current law requires postsecondary education institutions to award illegal immigrants in-state tuition if they attended a Kansas high school for at least three years. However, out-of-state U.S. citizens can’t enjoy the same benefits even if they also attended a Kansas high school for that amount of time.  “For more than 20 years, Kansas has been violating federal law with impunity,” Kobach 

.   A version of SB 254 was 

 last year but died in committee. The Legislature could override Kelly’s veto but would have to make up some votes in both the Senate, which voted 22-18 for the bill, and the House, which voted 78-46. 

Other Bills 

House Bill 2719 was unanimously approved in both the Senate and the House, yet vetoed by Kelly. This bill modifies the Rules and Regulations Filing Act to streamline the process for state agencies to make rules. Technical edits and other specific rules would receive priority status, allowing the rule-making process to be quicker and smoother.   “This legislation will increase the state’s competitiveness against other states because Kansas’ current administrative rule process takes up to 12 months on average, whereas other states take an average of about four months,” Wendy Doyle, President and CEO of United Women’s Empowerment, wrote in her testimony for the bill.   The Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill with a 40-0 vote, as did the House with a vote of 122-0. Kelly’s veto will most likely be overridden.   Three other bills – SB 30, HB 2603, and SB 375 – were all vetoed by Kelly earlier this week, but all of them obtained supermajority votes and will likely be overridden.