Key Votes

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.

This bill creates a voluntary "portable benefit plan" for independent contractors but includes a critical provision that prevents benefit contributions from ever being used as evidence that a worker is actually an employee. That legal shield lets gig companies like Uber and DoorDash make token benefit contributions while permanently blocking workers from using those contributions to prove they deserve full employee protections — including wages, workers' comp, unemployment insurance, and the right to organize. The benefit framework itself has no minimum contribution requirements and no mandate for companies to participate.

This massive rewrite of Kansas unemployment insurance law touched dozens of provisions governing who qualifies for benefits, how long they last, and what counts as "suitable work." While early versions contained real wins for workers — including protections against midnight budget cuts to UI and guarantees that union-negotiated supplemental unemployment pay wouldn't reduce state benefits — the final version that came out of conference committee drew unanimous opposition from Democrats, signaling that critical worker protections were gutted or that harmful restrictions on eligibility and benefits were added. Labor opposes the bill as passed because the final product failed to protect the provisions that mattered most to working families who depend on unemployment insurance during layoffs.

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 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 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.

This bill creates a voluntary "portable benefits" framework for independent contractors working for gig companies like Uber and DoorDash, but its real impact is a legal shield buried in the fine print: companies that make even token contributions to a worker's benefit account can't have those contributions used as evidence that the worker is actually an employee. That matters because when workers are misclassified as independent contractors, they lose access to minimum wage protections, overtime, workers' comp, unemployment insurance, and the right to organize. By severing this key legal link, the bill makes it harder for misclassified workers to prove they deserve full employee rights and benefits.

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.

This bill requires any website used for voter registration to either have a .gov domain or get pre-approval from the Secretary of State, with violations carrying criminal misdemeanor charges. Unions and community organizations that run voter registration drives could be shut out of online registration if the Secretary of State denies or delays approval — and the bill includes no timeline, appeal process, or objective standards for those decisions. The result is a new layer of government gatekeeping over civic engagement tools that labor and allied organizations rely on to register working people to vote.

Nine senators voted to force SCR 1609 — a proposed constitutional amendment to repeal Kansas\'s right-to-work provision — out of committee and onto the floor. Kansas is one of the few states where right-to-work is enshrined in the constitution itself, requiring a two-thirds supermajority plus a statewide vote to change. Thirty senators voted to prevent the people of Kansas from even having the chance to vote on this question.

This massive rewrite of Kansas unemployment insurance law touched dozens of provisions governing who qualifies for benefits, how long they last, and what counts as "suitable work." While early versions contained real wins for workers — including protections against midnight budget cuts to UI and guarantees that union-negotiated supplemental unemployment pay wouldn't reduce state benefits — the final version that came out of conference committee gutted critical worker protections and added harmful restrictions on eligibility and benefits. Labor opposes the bill as passed because the final product failed to protect the provisions that mattered most to working families who depend on unemployment insurance during layoffs.

SB 241 rewrites Kansas law to make employer non-solicitation agreements "conclusively presumed enforceable" against workers — with no income floor — flipping the burden so employees must hire a lawyer and go to court to challenge restrictions on where they can work. The bill also strips judges of the power to throw out overreaching agreements, instead requiring courts to save them by trimming them down, removing any incentive for employers to write fair contracts. The broad language covering anyone who "interferes with the employment relationship" could even be used to threaten former employees who help their old coworkers organize a union.