Key Votes

This bill opts Kansas into a federal tax credit program that subsidizes private school scholarships, diverting students — and the public funding that follows them — away from public schools. Public K-12 is the most heavily unionized sector in Kansas, employing thousands of AFL-CIO members as teachers, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, and support staff whose jobs depend on enrollment-driven funding. The bill also permanently bars any state agency from setting worker protections or accountability standards stricter than the federal minimum for participating private schools.

SB 361 opts Kansas into a federal tax credit program that subsidizes private school scholarships, diverting students — and the per-pupil funding that follows them — away from public schools where thousands of union members work as teachers, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, and support staff. The bill also permanently bars any state agency from setting worker protections or accountability standards stronger than the federal minimum for participating private schools. Labor urged legislators to sustain the Governor's veto and protect public school funding and the workers who depend on it.

SB 361 opts Kansas into a federal tax credit program that subsidizes private school scholarships, diverting students and funding away from public schools where thousands of union members work as teachers, paraprofessionals, custodians, and food service workers. The bill also permanently bars any state agency from setting worker protections or accountability standards for participating private schools that go beyond the minimal federal floor. Less funding for public schools means fewer jobs, weaker bargaining power, and lower standards for education workers across Kansas.

This bill creates a new exception to Kansas law that previously banned prison-made homes from competing with construction workers and manufactured home builders. While contractors must pay regional average wages, that money goes to the state — not the incarcerated workers doing the job — giving contractors a workforce that can't quit, organize, or file safety complaints. The bill undermines building trades workers by allowing a private company to use prison labor for home construction at the Hutchinson correctional facility, setting a dangerous precedent that could expand beyond this pilot program.

This bill doubles the maximum time juveniles can be held in detention (from 45 to 90 days), increases penalties for young offenders, and requires the state to contract with private residential facilities for juvenile beds. The mandatory private contracting provision routes state dollars to private operators with no requirements for fair wages, adequate staffing levels, or worker protections — undermining public-sector corrections workers who provide these services today. It sets a troubling precedent for privatizing juvenile justice functions without any labor standards attached to the contracts.

SB 14 creates a "continuous budget" that keeps last year's spending levels in place if the legislature doesn't pass a new budget, eliminating the governor's ability to use a budget impasse to push for better pay, benefits, and funding for workers' programs. Even more concerning, it gives the Secretary of Administration power to automatically cut state funding for Medicaid, workforce programs, and social services whenever federal dollars are reduced — bypassing the legislature where working families have a voice. Labor opposed the veto override because this bill shifts budget power away from the democratic process and puts public sector jobs and critical services at risk of cuts by unelected administrators.

SB 14 establishes a continuous state budget, meaning if the legislature doesn't pass a new budget, last year's spending levels automatically roll forward — eliminating the governor's ability to use a budget impasse to push for state worker pay raises, KPERS pension contributions, and funding for worker-serving programs. The bill also gives the Secretary of Administration power to automatically cut state funding for Medicaid, workforce development, and social services whenever federal dollars are reduced, bypassing the legislative process where working families have a voice. Labor opposes this bill because it locks in the status quo of underfunded state services and removes a critical tool for negotiating better outcomes for Kansas workers.

This bill gives the Inspector General sweeping new powers — including subpoenas, search warrants, and criminal jurisdiction — to investigate families who receive food assistance (SNAP), cash assistance (TANF), and Medicaid. Many working families rely on these programs to make ends meet when wages fall short, and this law creates a hostile, punitive environment around accessing benefits they've earned. It also allows the IG to compel healthcare and social service workers to turn over records and testify in fraud investigations of their own employers. The Governor vetoed this bill, and this vote was to override that veto.

This bill gives the Attorney General's inspector general sweeping new powers — including subpoenas, search warrants, and criminal jurisdiction — to investigate families who receive food assistance (SNAP), cash assistance (TANF), and Medicaid. Many union members in lower-wage jobs rely on these programs to make ends meet, and healthcare and social service workers at Medicaid-participating facilities could be compelled to turn over records or testify against their own employers. Labor opposes this bill because it builds a coercive enforcement apparatus targeting working families who depend on the safety net, while doing little to hold large contractors accountable.

This bill makes the previous year's state budget automatically continue if the legislature doesn't pass a new one, eliminating the governor's ability to use budget deadlines to push for state employee pay raises and full KPERS pension contributions. It also gives an unelected appointee — the Secretary of Administration — the power to automatically cut state funding for Medicaid, workforce programs, and social services whenever federal dollars are reduced, bypassing the legislature where working families have a voice. Labor opposes this bill because it shifts budget power away from the tools that have historically protected state workers and the programs Kansas families depend on.

This bill transfers the state employee health benefits program to the Insurance Department — a reasonable reorganization on its face. But buried in the fine print, it deletes injured workers' right to have their attorney notified when workers' comp payments are made electronically, repeals ten statutes governing employer contributions for state employees' children's health coverage, and hands permanent control of the state employee health care commission to the elected Commissioner of Insurance rather than a governor's appointee accountable to state workers. These hidden rollbacks were never debated as standalone bills and directly harm the roughly 40,000 state employees and their families who depend on these programs.

SB 14 would put the state budget on autopilot, automatically continuing last year's spending levels if the Legislature doesn't act. This eliminates the annual pressure on lawmakers to negotiate and fund public services, making it easier to freeze wages, staffing, and programs that working families depend on. By removing the urgency to pass a budget, it weakens the leverage public employee unions have during the appropriations process and hands sweeping reallocation power to unelected administrators.