Kansas House Passes State Budget, Property Tax Relief in Busy Session

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas House of Representatives passed a slate of major legislation Friday, approving a multi-year state budget, a property tax relief package, and a bill overhauling a key economic development program. The votes set the stage for contentious negotiations with the Senate on the state’s most pressing fiscal issues.

Lawmakers passed Sub HB 2434, a state appropriations bill for fiscal years 2026 through 2029, on a relatively narrow 68-53 vote. The division on the budget bill highlights the ongoing partisan and ideological splits over the size and scope of state government spending. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it will face further scrutiny and likely changes.

The chamber found broader, though not universal, agreement on HB 2745, an act concerning property taxation, which passed 76-45. The bill aims to reform protest petition rules and create a new property tax relief fund, addressing a top concern for many Kansans facing rising property valuations.

Across the rotunda, the Senate is pursuing a different approach: a proposed constitutional amendment that would cap annual growth in taxable assessed values at 3% and reset the starting point for many properties using 2022 valuations for tax year 2027, with exceptions for things like new construction and major improvements. Senate Concurrent Resolution 1616 cleared the Senate 30-10 on Wednesday and would need a two-thirds vote in the House before it could go to Kansas voters; skeptics argue a valuation cap alone may not guarantee lower tax bills if local governments respond by adjusting mill levies. 

The divergent strategies — the House focused on protest petition reform and a relief fund, and the Senate favoring a hard cap on valuations — could make property tax negotiations among the most difficult as the two chambers work toward a compromise. The 2025 session ended without significant property tax relief despite bipartisan campaign promises, adding political pressure on lawmakers to deliver results this year.

In a key vote on economic policy, the House also approved H Sub for Sub SB 197, a substitute bill modifying the state's Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bond financing program, by a vote of 82-38. The extensive revisions to the original Senate bill suggest House members had their own distinct vision for how the development incentive should be used in the future.

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