Key Votes

Bills identified by the Kansas AFL-CIO as key votes affecting working families.

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Filtered by: LGBTQ Rights [clear]
FEB
18
2026
This bill restricts restroom and locker room access in all public buildings based on sex assigned at birth, imposing fines and criminal misdemeanor charges on workers who don't comply. It directly affects transgender public employees — including teachers, state workers, and municipal employees — by threatening them with arrest for using workplace restrooms. The law also forces changes to driver's licenses and birth certificates, disrupting identity documents workers need for employment verification, and redefines "gender" across all Kansas law in ways that could weaken workplace discrimination protections.
SB 244 · House Veto Override · AFL-CIO Position: oppose · Weight: 5x
FEB
17
2026
This bill requires all restrooms and locker rooms in public buildings to be designated by biological sex at birth, with criminal penalties for violations — including for workers simply using the restroom at their own workplace. It also forces the state to invalidate and reissue driver's licenses and birth certificates, creating potential gaps in the identity documents workers need for employment verification. The bill redefines "gender" across all Kansas law in ways that could weaken employment discrimination protections for years to come.
SB 244 · Senate Veto Override · AFL-CIO Position: oppose · Weight: 6x
JAN
28
2026
This bill requires restrooms and locker rooms in all public buildings to be segregated by biological sex at birth, with criminal penalties for repeated violations — meaning transgender public employees like teachers, state workers, and city employees face misdemeanor charges for using the restroom at work. It also invalidates driver's licenses and birth certificates that don't match sex assigned at birth, disrupting identity documents workers need for employment verification. The bill redefines "gender" across all Kansas statutes in ways that could weaken employment discrimination protections for years to come.
SB 244 · Senate Concurrence · AFL-CIO Position: oppose · Weight: 5x
JAN
28
2026
SB 244 restricts restroom access in public buildings based on biological sex at birth, imposing criminal penalties — including misdemeanor charges — on workers who violate the policy. It also forces reissuance of driver's licenses and birth certificates, disrupting identity documents that workers need for employment verification. This amendment would have addressed the bill's harshest provisions, but it failed. Labor supported the amendment because the underlying bill creates a hostile work environment for public employees, exposes union members to criminal penalties for using workplace facilities, and redefines "gender" across Kansas law in ways that could weaken employment discrimination protections.
SB 244 · House Final Passage · AFL-CIO Position: support · Weight: 5x
JAN
28
2026
This bill makes it a crime for transgender public employees to use restrooms matching their gender identity at their own workplaces, with escalating fines and misdemeanor charges. It also forcibly invalidates driver's licenses and birth certificates, disrupting the identity documents workers need for employment verification. The law creates a private lawsuit mechanism that allows coworkers to sue transgender employees for using workplace facilities, and redefines "gender" across all Kansas statutes in ways that could weaken employment discrimination protections for years to come.
SB 244 · House Emergency Final Action · AFL-CIO Position: oppose · Weight: 5x
FEB
19
2025
SB 76 dictates the exact words every school employee — including custodians, bus drivers, and cafeteria workers — must use when addressing students, and creates a new parent-triggered complaint process to discipline workers who don't comply. This complaint pipeline bypasses union grievance procedures and collectively bargained due process protections, letting school boards investigate and punish employees with no right to representation, no evidentiary standard, and no appeal. Labor opposes this bill because the government should not be mandating workplace speech for public employees or creating discipline systems that go around the contracts workers fought to win.
SB 76 · Senate Emergency Final Action · AFL-CIO Position: oppose · Weight: 7x
FEB
18
2025
The Legislature overrode the Governor's veto of SB 63, which bans gender transition care for minors. Buried in the bill are provisions that directly harm healthcare workers: automatic license revocation with no professional board discretion, a ban on malpractice insurance covering affected providers, and vague restrictions on what state employees can say on the job. These provisions strip due process from licensed workers and leave nurses, doctors, and state employees in SEIU, AFSCME, and KSNA bargaining units personally exposed to career-ending liability. A NAY vote sustained the Governor's veto and protected workers' rights.
SB 63 · Senate Veto Override · AFL-CIO Position: oppose · Weight: 5x
FEB
18
2025
This bill bans gender transition care for minors, but buried in its enforcement provisions are direct attacks on workers: it strips healthcare workers of malpractice insurance coverage, mandates automatic license revocation with no professional board discretion, and restricts what state employees can say on the job. The legislature voted to override the Governor's veto, exposing nurses, doctors, and state workers in SEIU and AFSCME bargaining units to career-ending liability with no due process protections. A NAY vote sustained the Governor's veto and protected workers.
SB 63 · House Veto Override · AFL-CIO Position: oppose · Weight: 5x
JAN
31
2025
SB 63 bans gender transition care for minors, but buried in the bill are provisions that directly hit healthcare workers: automatic license revocation with no professional board discretion, a ban on malpractice insurance covering affected providers, and strict personal liability lasting a decade. It also restricts what state employees — including social workers and hospital staff — can say on the job using vague, undefined terms. Labor opposes this bill because it strips workers of due process protections, eliminates insurance coverage, and exposes union members in hospitals, clinics, and state agencies to career-ending punishment without the safeguards that professional licensing boards are supposed to provide.
SB 63 · House Final Passage · AFL-CIO Position: oppose · Weight: 5x
JAN
29
2025
SB 63 automatically revokes the license of any healthcare worker found in violation — with no review by their professional board and no second chance. It also bars malpractice insurance from covering these workers and restricts what state employees can say on the job using vague, undefined terms. These provisions set a dangerous precedent: the legislature can override professional licensing boards to end a worker's career with zero due process, a template that could be applied to any licensed profession in the future.
SB 63 · Senate Emergency Final Action · AFL-CIO Position: oppose · Weight: 5x