Key Votes

SB 462 blocks injured workers from filing negligence claims if they were involved in any "wrongful conduct" — a definition broad enough to sweep in undocumented workers in meatpacking and construction who are hurt on the job. It also bars cities and counties from filing public nuisance lawsuits against polluters without permission from the Attorney General, blocking the legal strategy firefighter unions use nationally to fight PFAS contamination from toxic firefighting foam. The legislature voted to override the Governor's veto, enacting retroactive protections for corporations that apply even to lawsuits already in court.

This bill blocks workers from recovering damages in negligence cases if they were engaged in any "wrongful conduct" — a definition broad enough to sweep in undocumented workers injured on the job in meatpacking, construction, and agriculture. It also shields product manufacturers from public nuisance lawsuits and gives the Attorney General sole control over multi-county claims like PFAS contamination cases that firefighter locals are pursuing nationally. The law applies retroactively to pending cases, killing active lawsuits against polluters and other bad actors as of July 1, 2026.

This bill requires county jail staff to carry out federal immigration detention duties — including paperwork, notifications, and custody holds for ICE — with no funding for training, staffing, or compensation. It also allows individual sheriffs to enter federal enforcement agreements without approval from the county commission, bypassing the governing body that employs and is accountable for jail workers. A NAY vote on the veto override would have upheld the Governor's veto and protected county employees from these unfunded mandates.

This bill makes it a criminal misdemeanor to operate a voter registration website that doesn't have a .gov domain or personal approval from the Secretary of State — directly threatening the online voter registration tools unions use to sign up members. It also creates a new government database tracking noncitizen public assistance recipients, which could discourage immigrant workers in meatpacking and other union industries from accessing benefits they're entitled to. The legislature voted to override the Governor's veto, locking these restrictions into law.

This bill makes it a criminal misdemeanor to operate a voter registration website without a .gov domain or personal approval from the Secretary of State — directly threatening the online voter registration drives that unions and civic organizations routinely run for their members. It also requires state agencies to report personal information of noncitizen public assistance recipients to the Secretary of State, creating a chilling effect on benefit access for immigrant workers in meatpacking, food processing, and other union-represented industries. The Legislature voted to override the Governor's veto and enact the bill into law.

This bill makes it a criminal misdemeanor to operate a voter registration website without a .gov domain or personal approval from the Secretary of State. Unions and civic organizations that help members register to vote through their own websites or third-party platforms like Vote.org would face criminal penalties. The bill also creates a government database of noncitizen public assistance recipients and requires cross-checking voter rolls against a federal database known for flagging naturalized citizens by mistake.

SB 452 makes it a crime to come within 25 feet of a first responder — including federal immigration agents — after being told to back away, even during lawful picketing where police are present. It also shields state and local officials from civil lawsuits when they help enforce federal executive orders, including immigration raids at workplaces. Together, these provisions threaten workers' ability to picket freely and create a chilling effect on organizing at meatpacking plants, farms, and construction sites where immigrant coworkers could face enforcement actions.

This bill forces state agencies to collect detailed personal information — including alien registration numbers, Social Security digits, and home addresses — of noncitizen public benefit recipients and report it quarterly to the Secretary of State. It will discourage immigrant workers in meatpacking, agriculture, and construction from filing workers' comp and unemployment claims they've legally earned, making them more vulnerable to exploitation on the job. It also burdens public-sector state employees with an unfunded surveillance mandate and no data security protections.

This bill requires the Secretary of State to check voter registration rolls against a federal immigration database (SAVE) twice a year and remove voters flagged as potential non-citizens. Voter purge programs like this have a well-documented history of incorrectly flagging eligible citizens — particularly naturalized citizens, working-class voters, and communities of color — leading to wrongful removal from the rolls. Labor opposes this bill because it creates unnecessary barriers to voting for the very working families and union members who depend on their voice at the ballot box.

SB 463 rewrites Kansas negligent security law to make it far harder for workers to hold employers accountable when they fail to protect against foreseeable workplace violence. Under current law, employers have a duty to address safety risks a reasonable person would anticipate; this bill replaces that standard with a near-impossible requirement that the employer had actual documented knowledge of a substantially similar incident at the same location within the past year — rewarding employers who simply don't keep records. The bill also lets employers escape liability by hiring any security contractor regardless of quality, and forces juries to spread blame to police departments and other parties to dilute what injured workers can recover.

SB 462 shields corporations from public nuisance lawsuits by prohibiting claims based on the design, manufacturing, or marketing of legal products — the same legal theory communities used to hold opioid manufacturers accountable. The bill also bars private class actions for public nuisances, hands sole authority over multi-county cases to the Attorney General, and retroactively applies to cases already pending in court. For workers and their families harmed by corporate pollution, chemical exposure like PFAS, or future public health crises, this bill shuts the courthouse door.

This bill requires Kansas agencies to hand over SNAP and Medicaid recipient data to federal agencies "without conditions or limitations" within 30 days of any request — stripping the state's ability to negotiate privacy protections or data security safeguards. Hundreds of thousands of working Kansans in low-wage jobs rely on these programs, including workers in meatpacking, food service, healthcare, and construction. Removing all state-level privacy protections creates a chilling effect that discourages eligible working families from accessing the benefits they've earned.

This bill requires "NONCITIZEN" to be printed on the driver's licenses of lawfully present green card holders, visa workers, and other immigrants. Because driver's licenses are used for employment verification and everyday workplace identification, this marks immigrant workers — many of whom are union members in Kansas meatpacking and agriculture — in ways that make them more vulnerable to employer intimidation and less likely to report safety violations, wage theft, or participate in organizing.

SB 387 requires school districts to annually verify household income for every at-risk student — an unfunded mandate the Kansas Department of Education warned violates federal regulations and risks $250 million in annual federal school nutrition funding. The bill also blocks schools from participating in the federal Community Eligibility Provision for free meals without first obtaining legislative permission, inserting a political veto into a federal anti-poverty program. Working families with irregular hours or modest wages face the highest documentation barriers, and children who lose at-risk status don't become less poor — their schools just lose the supplemental funding that supports paraprofessional positions, counselors, and support staff. Thirty-nine organizations testified against the bill and only three in favor; even eight Republican senators voted no, citing the burden on resource-stressed rural districts. The Senate passed the bill 22-18 on Emergency Final Action.

SB 254 bars undocumented immigrants from state and local public benefits, voids Kansas's in-state tuition law, and creates a presumption that noncitizens charged with any crime are a flight risk who can be held without bond. The bill chills workplace safety complaints and wage theft reporting by immigrant workers in meatpacking and construction — making job sites less safe for all workers — while imposing unfunded verification duties on state and county employees who administer benefits programs. A NAY vote protects workers' ability to report unsafe conditions and prevents an unfunded mandate on public employees.

This bill says that if a pesticide carries an EPA-approved federal label, that's good enough to shield the manufacturer from state lawsuits over failure to warn about health risks. In practice, it takes away the main legal tool that farmworkers, groundskeepers, and other workers exposed to pesticides on the job have used to hold chemical companies accountable when they get sick. The bill goes beyond what federal law requires and eliminates state tort claims that have been workers' last resort — especially for agricultural workers who already have the fewest workplace protections.

SB 254 bars undocumented immigrants from receiving state and local public benefits, voids Kansas's existing in-state tuition law, and creates a legal presumption that noncitizens charged with any crime are a flight risk — making pretrial detention more likely. For workers in meatpacking, construction, and other industries, the flight-risk provision discourages reporting unsafe working conditions, filing workers' comp claims, and speaking up about wage theft — putting all workers on those job sites at greater risk. The bill also imposes new federal verification duties on state and county employees who administer public benefits, adding workload with no additional resources.