Top 5 Kansas news stories
February 26 2026
Kansas Senate Passes Constitutional Amendment to Cap Property Valuation Increases
ROTOR Act Falls One Vote Short as Mann Breaks With Kansas Delegation
3.5-Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Central Kansas Near Assaria
Kansas House Rejects Democratic Bids to Boost Special Education, School Lunch Funding
Students Lead Hesston Memorial 10 Years After Excel Industries Shooting
Kansas Senate Passes Constitutional Amendment to Cap Property Valuation Increases, Sending Measure to Uncertain House
TOPEKA — The Kansas Senate on Wednesday approved a proposed constitutional amendment to cap annual assessed property value increases at 3%, passing SCR 1616 on a 30-10 vote that met the required two-thirds supermajority. The resolution, which would roll back appraised values to 2022 levels and limit annual growth thereafter, now heads to the House, where Speaker Dan Hawkins has indicated he may lack the 84 votes needed for passage. The House has pursued a separate statutory approach through HB 2745, which it passed 87-22 on Wednesday after stripping a $60 million appropriation that would have rewarded local governments for keeping tax increases below 3%. The competing strategies reflect a fundamental disagreement between the chambers: the Senate's amendment would bypass Gov. Laura Kelly's veto pen by going directly to voters in an Aug. 4 special election, while the House's statutory bill remains subject to a gubernatorial veto. Critics, including the Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Association of School Boards, and the Kansas Livestock Association, warn the cap could shift the tax burden to agricultural and commercial property owners without actually reducing tax bills, since local taxing entities would retain the ability to raise mill levies. In a separate move, the Senate voted 39-1 to pass SB 402, expanding homestead property tax refunds and the SAFESR tax credit for seniors and disabled veterans.
Greg Loving
ROTOR Act Falls One Vote Short in House as Mann Casts Lone Kansas Dissent on Aviation Safety Bill
WASHINGTON — The House on Tuesday failed to pass the ROTOR Act, a bipartisan aviation safety bill crafted in response to the 2025 midair collision over the Potomac River that killed 67 people, including passengers aboard a Wichita-bound American Airlines flight. The bill fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for passage under expedited House rules, with a final tally of 264-133, as 132 Republicans voted against it. Republican U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann of the 1st District was the only member of the six-person Kansas delegation to vote against the measure; in a statement, Mann said he supports aviation safety reforms but expressed concerns the bill was drafted before the NTSB's final recommendations were released and did not move through the normal committee process. The legislation, which passed the Senate unanimously in December, would have required all aircraft near busy airports to install ADS-B In location tracking technology — a system the NTSB has recommended since 2008 and which investigators said could have provided the Flight 5342 crew up to 59 seconds of warning before the collision. The Department of Defense withdrew its support in an eleventh-hour reversal, citing unspecified budgetary and operational security concerns. Kansas Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall and Reps. Sharice Davids, Ron Estes, and Derek Schmidt all voted in favor of the bill.
Kansas Reflector
3.5-Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Central Kansas, Shaking Homes Near Assaria
ASSARIA — A 3.5-magnitude earthquake struck central Kansas on Wednesday afternoon, centered about 3.1 miles east of Assaria in rural Saline County at 2:14 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake occurred at a depth of approximately 5.7 miles and was felt across Saline County and in neighboring communities including Salina, Lindsborg, and as far south as Wichita and as far east as Yates Center. Residents near the epicenter described the tremor as sounding like a loud clap of thunder, with some reporting that it shook their cars and homes, though no damage or injuries were reported. The USGS received at least 16 reports of shaking from the public. Kansas experiences occasional seismic activity along pre-existing geological weaknesses, though events above magnitude 3.0 are relatively uncommon.
Daily Mail
Kansas House Rejects Democratic Amendments to Increase Special Education, School Lunch Funding
TOPEKA — The Kansas House on Wednesday rejected a series of Democratic amendments to Substitute HB 2434 that sought to increase funding for school meals and special education services. Rep. Jo Ella Hoye, D-Lenexa, offered an amendment to allocate specific funding for school lunches, arguing that food insecurity remains a barrier to student learning; it failed 44-71 along largely partisan lines. Rep. Jarrod Ousley, D-Merriam, introduced two separate amendments to transfer funds for special education — the first seeking more than $40 million, which failed 48-69, and a scaled-back $14.6 million proposal that was also rejected 52-64. Republican leadership has maintained that such funding decisions should be addressed within the broader K-12 budget framework rather than through amendments to individual bills.
Greg Loving
Students Lead Hesston Memorial Service Marking 10th Anniversary of Excel Industries Shooting
HESSTON — Dozens of people gathered at the Hesston memorial site Wednesday to mark the 10th anniversary of the 2016 Excel Industries shooting, in which employee Cedric Ford killed three coworkers and wounded more than a dozen others before being shot by police. The memorial service was led in part by local students who spent weeks researching the shooting and produced a commemorative video documenting both the timeline of events and the community's recovery in the decade since. Among the first to arrive was Edna Decker, who was the first person shot during Ford's rampage when he attempted to steal her car before driving to the factory. The shooting on Feb. 25, 2016, sent shockwaves through the small Harvey County community of roughly 3,800 people and prompted statewide debate over workplace violence and firearms policy. Attendees said the event underscored that the trauma remains present for many in the community even a decade later.
KWCH
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