GUEST COLUMN, Shannon Francis, 125th District Representative
It was a busy week at the Capitol but made much better by the number of people from home who were representing our community.
Tanya Colvin, Cory Barnett, and Tessy Barnett met with me about the best ways to lower property taxes without creating unintended consequences. I appreciate their thoughtfulness, and the real life experience they brought to the discussion.
Rozelle Webb and Angie Toscano with the Liberal Chamber of Commerce met to discuss concerns for Liberal and Seward County and the Chamber’s goals. Angie is this year’s Chamber President. Senator Ryckman and I will have a Legislative Forum sponsored by the Chamber at 10 am, Saturday, February 15 at the Liberal Chamber of Commerce at 4 Rock Island Road. This is just one of the many services the Chamber provides to our community.
Mosaic of Liberal serves our Intellectual and Developmentally Disabled (IDD) population. Janeth Treviso, Vickie Harshberger and Jacie Butler visited with me about implementation issues with new Federal and State Regulations affecting their ability to provide services.
It was nice visiting with Cairo Svaty. He is a very impressive young man. Our youth are the future of our community.
Legislature
Most of the action taking place in the House so far has been votes on bills of a technical or corrective nature. There is, however, quite a bit of interesting work taking place in committee. At this point it’s hard to know exactly what bills will look like when they reach the floor. Many widely publicized bills never get a hearing but generate good news coverage. One bill in the Transportation Committee that received a favorable hearing was HB 2121. This bill would increase the annual vehicle registration fees of electric and hybrid passenger vehicles and trucks and distribute the fees to the state highway fund and the special city and county highway fund. It’s important that the funding of our transportation system be equally supported by traditionally fueled vehicles and those using new technologies and electricity. This bill would level the playing field a bit and increase funding to our local cities and counties for use on road maintenance.
Citizens-Only voting amendment (HCR 5004) passed the House with bipartisan support
Last Tuesday, the House ran the Citizens-Only Voting Constitutional Amendment (HCR 5004) across the floor. After much debate, it easily passed on a voice vote and then headed to final action the next day.
Section 1 Article 5 of the Kansas Constitution states, "Every citizen of the United States who has attained the age of 18 years and who resides in the voting area in which he or she seeks to vote shall be deemed a qualified elector." While it may seem there's no issue here, there have been multiple states in our country, such as California, Maryland, and Vermont, where courts have allowed municipalities to have non-citizens vote in local elections.
Last Wednesday, the House passed the Citizens-Only Voting Amendment (HCR 5004) on final action with bipartisan support — a vote of 90-28. This is not a partisan issue. This amendment aims to clarify that only United States citizens are eligible to vote. HCR 5004 will now go to the Senate for approval. Upon Senate approval, it will be placed on the November 2026 general election for the approval of the voters.
