Senate Passes Pharmacy Benefits Manager Overhaul, Defeats Local Wage Control Bill
PBM regulation clears chamber 32-8 while construction wage measure fails decisively at 12-26
The Kansas Senate passed the Kansas Consumer Prescription Protection and Accountability Act on Wednesday, sending SB 360 to the House on a 32-8 vote after amending the bill on the floor. The measure regulates pharmacy benefits managers, the intermediaries between drug manufacturers, insurers and pharmacies that have drawn increasing scrutiny from lawmakers in both parties over their role in rising prescription drug costs.
The bipartisan support for PBM regulation stood in contrast to the fate of SB 436, which concerned local government construction projects and wage controls. That bill was the only measure to fail on the Senate floor Wednesday, going down 12-26 with two senators voting present. The lopsided defeat suggests that even in a Republican-controlled chamber, efforts to preempt local control over construction wages lack sufficient support, with members from both parties joining to kill the bill.