House Advances Student Cellphone Restrictions in Schools

Google Announces Second Data Center at $10 Billion Campus in Kansas City

Kansas Legislature Tackles Sprawling Policy Agenda as Session Pace Quickens

Senate Passes Bill Requiring Kansas to Share Public Assistance Data with Federal Agencies

Kansas GOP Candidate for Governor Says State Needs a True Conservative

Kansas House Advances Mandatory Cellphone Ban During School Hours

The Kansas House advanced H Sub for Sub SB 281 on Monday, moving to ban student cellphones during school hours after a lengthy debate that included several adopted amendments. Rep. Jill Ward, R-Topeka, secured language making the prohibition mandatory rather than optional for school district boards of education and governing authorities of accredited nonpublic schools. Additional amendments allow students to use personal devices during designated open-lunch periods when they leave school grounds and clarify that schools may still use email platforms or similar communication tools controlled and monitored by the district. Amendments offered by Reps. Jerry Stogsdill, Carolyn Caiharr and Suzanne Wikle were rejected. The bill is part of a national wave of school device restrictions driven largely by Republican legislators responding to concerns about student mental health and classroom distraction, and Kansas joins more than a dozen states that have enacted or considered similar legislation. The bill, which initially passed the Senate unanimously, now moves to final action.

House Advances Student Cellphone Restrictions in Schools

Bill moves forward after amendment battles in Committee of the Whole

citizen journalGreg Loving

Google Launches $10 Billion Data Center Campus in Kansas City, Triggering Major Utility and Workforce Investments

Google has announced a second data center at its Project Mica campus, a nearly 500-acre site near the northeast corner of Interstate 435 and U.S. Highway 169 in Clay County expected to include five hyperscale data center buildings totaling roughly 1.56 million square feet of computing space. The Port Authority of Kansas City has authorized up to $10 billion in taxable revenue bonds to support the project, which includes long-term property tax exemptions, sales tax exemptions for construction materials and other incentives. Google has committed $1.5 million to the Smithville School District and $250,000 to the Northland Career Center as part of workforce development initiatives. Evergy, the region's utility provider, established a new Large Load Power Tariff requiring data centers to sign long-term contracts with significant early cancellation penalties, pay all direct costs for service to their facilities and pay a premium rate higher than existing large customer rates to help fund new investments in generation and transmission. Evergy says the revenue from data centers will help pay for grid improvements, offset other costs and ultimately put downward pressure on rates for existing residential and commercial customers over the long term.

Evergy Economic Development

Kansas Legislature Pushes Dozens of Bills on Taxes, Education and Elections as Turnaround Deadline Hits

The Kansas Legislature reached its halfway point this week during turnaround week, with standing committees in both chambers churning through a heavy workload that saw the House report out recommendations on more than 40 bills and the Senate advance measures on topics ranging from special education funding to homestead property tax refunds to unemployment insurance reform. Notable actions included the House Committee on Elections recommending passage of HB 2453, which would modify advance voting ballot application deadlines, and HB 2491, concerning voter registration at public assistance agencies. The House Appropriations Committee recommended a substitute version of HB 2434, a multi-year appropriations bill covering fiscal years ending June 30, 2026, through 2029. On the Senate side, the Education Committee recommended passage of an amended SB 382 containing extensive special education provisions and changes to virtual school assessments, while the Assessment and Taxation Committee advanced SB 402 with amendments to homestead property tax refund provisions and SB 303 authorizing county sales tax options for Leavenworth, Lincoln and Sheridan counties. The Government Efficiency Committee moved SB 450 with an amendment adding protections for state employees who investigate or audit state agencies. The breadth of the agenda spanning elections, education, taxation, criminal justice and energy policy ensures the coming weeks of floor debate will test the cohesion of the Republican supermajorities in both chambers.

Kansas Legislature Tackles Sprawling Policy Agenda as Session Pace Quickens

Committees advance dozens of bills on topics from property taxes to special education

citizen journalGreg Loving

Kansas Senate Votes 28-9 to Require State Agencies to Share Public Assistance Data with Federal Government

The Kansas Senate voted 28-9 Monday to pass S Sub HB 2004, which would require the secretaries of the Kansas Department for Children and Families and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to execute data-sharing agreements with federal agencies upon request. The bill was advanced to final action on an emergency motion, underscoring the urgency Republican leadership placed on the measure. While the text concerns data-sharing instruments with federal agencies, the practical effect would make it easier for federal authorities to access information about who is receiving public assistance in Kansas. The vote largely fell along party lines, with opponents likely concerned about the chilling effect such data-sharing could have on legal immigrants accessing benefits they are entitled to receive. The measure, which originated in the House, now returns to that chamber to consider the Senate's substitute version. Three senators were absent and not voting.

Senate Passes Bill Requiring Kansas to Share Public Assistance Data With Federal Agencies

S Sub HB 2004 advances 28-9 amid questions about immigrant benefit eligibility

citizen journalGreg Loving

Charlotte O'Hara Enters Crowded Kansas Governor's Race, Pledging Unfiltered Conservative Agenda

Charlotte O'Hara, a former member of the Johnson County Commission and the Kansas House, took the unusual step of publishing a collection of opinion articles to help Kansas voters understand what kind of leader she would be if elected governor, with broadsides including topics such as redistricting, the Chiefs' stadium star bonds, property taxes, election integrity and bitcoin mining in rural Kansas. O'Hara said on the Kansas Reflector podcast that she is not a candidate dedicated to hiding her true policy ambitions and that she has a foundational philosophy, positioning herself as a dark horse in the Aug. 4 Republican primary. Her GOP rivals include former Gov. Jeff Colyer, Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt, Senate President Ty Masterson, Secretary of State Scott Schwab, Johnson County businessman Philip Sarnecki and former Wichita School Board member Joy Eakins. In the Democratic Party's primary, the race is between Johnson County state Sens. Cindy Holscher and Ethan Corson.

Kansas Reflector kansasreflector.com

Sources

1. Evergy Economic Development — Google Announces Second Data Center at $10 Billion Campus in Kansas City
2. Kansas Reflector — Kansas GOP Candidate for Governor Says State Needs a True Conservative

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