Kelly vetoes Kansas bathroom bill, but Legislature has votes to override
Democratic governor calls measure 'poorly drafted,' issues veto late Friday as GOP supermajority weighs next steps
TOPEKA, Kan. — Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed legislation that would have restricted bathroom access in government buildings based on biological sex and barred transgender Kansans from changing the gender marker on their driver's licenses. Kelly, a Democrat governing one of the most Republican states in the country, issued her rejection of House Substitute for Senate Bill 244 late Friday afternoon, calling it "poorly drafted" and marking her first veto of the 2026 legislative session.
In her veto message, Kelly argued the bill's consequences would extend well beyond its stated aim of regulating transgender people's access to restrooms. She cited scenarios in which family members would be barred from visiting loved ones in nursing homes, hospital rooms and college dormitories if they were of the opposite sex. "I believe the Legislature should stay out of the business of telling Kansans how to go to the bathroom and instead stay focused on how to make life more affordable for Kansans," Kelly said.
The measure passed the House 87-36 and the Senate 30-9 on Jan. 28 — margins that exceed the two-thirds threshold required to override a gubernatorial veto. Republicans advanced the bill using a procedural maneuver known as "gut and go," in which the House Judiciary Committee stripped the original contents of the Senate bill and replaced them with provisions from a separate House measure, bypassing a full public hearing on the bathroom restrictions. More than 200 people had submitted testimony opposing the driver's license provisions at the only committee hearing held on the bill.
The veto sets up what could be a swift override vote when lawmakers return, given the GOP supermajorities in both chambers. Kansas Republicans have escalated efforts to restrict transgender rights in recent sessions, including the 2023 passage of Senate Bill 180, which defined sex in state law based on biology at birth. House Speaker Dan Hawkins said SB 244 "simply recognizes biological reality," while the ACLU of Kansas said the bill would subject all Kansans "to scrutiny and gender policing by strangers."
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