RYCKMAN RECAP, Ron Ryckman, 38th District Senator
The old idiom “calm before the storm” could well have been applied to last week’s proceedings, as the anticipated halfway point or “turnaround turbulence” very much characterized Week 6 of the 2026 Legislative Session. The Senate only met for three days, but came close to setting some kind of record by voting on fully 50 bills on just one of those alone.
To keep it in perspective, we had debated or “worked” half of them the previous day; still, being called upon to quickly process that much information on a wide range of subjects is a challenge for even the most astute and learned among us, whoever they are.
Thankfully, we have highly competent professional staff, informed interest groups, knowledgeable hearing witnesses, and concerned constituents to assist us along the way. One thing you can always be sure of is that your senator is never acting completely alone on anything.
The week actually started out relatively quietly, with our voting on five Banking Board and Finance Authority confirmations and a routine consent calendar item, labeled that because it is considered totally non-controversial.
Quite the opposite then presented itself with a call to override the Governor’s veto of the so-called “bathroom bill,” H Sub SB 244. The house of origin always votes first, so the Senate took up the measure and voted for it to become law notwithstanding the Chief Executive’s rejection, 31-9 (27 required).
The House followed soon thereafter with its own two-thirds or better margin of 87-37, with 84 being the minimum, so the matter is now state law.
I’m always amazed at how differently things are perceived depending on attitudes and beliefs, with the opponents calling SB 244 “anti-trans” and the proponents referring to it as “protecting women’s privacy.” Oh well, no different from “pro-life” versus “pro-choice,” I suppose.
It is a little imponderable to try to do a digest of the 50 bills we passed in the Senate, so I will just defer to your individual interests and have you use your computers to go to www.kslegislature.org and pull up the Senate Journal for Day 27, Wednesday, Feb. 17, for coverage of at least the subject matter and explanation of votes for each.
You can then get a little deeper into any particular one by highlighting “Bills and Laws” and entering the preferred number.
I do want to say just a word about one of them, though, SB 360, because of the high volume of email and phone-call inquiries about the measure, curiously pretty evenly divided for and against. Those opposed called it a “pill tax” and “price control” whereas those in favor a “fair competition and market-based reimbursement.”
Disparate viewpoints and misinformation are nothing new, but I and a majority of others ultimately came down on the side of helping our rural pharmacies stay open by passing the measure unamended, 32-8, thus sending it to the House for further consideration.
Understandably, bills are not put on the calendar for action under “general orders” unless there is a reasonable expectation they have the necessary support to be adopted.
Indeed, after going through the hearing process and committee vetting, then being reported out favorably for approval — and even discussed in caucus for identification of any concerns, it is rare for one to “go down” on final action. That happened this week, however, on a seemingly routine proposal providing for local government control over wages, compensation, and benefits on construction projects. After an amendment was added without objection as being basically “technical” in nature, it was determined — to the contrary — to make a major change in the thrust of the measure — to the point of its being unacceptable.
These mistakes don’t happen often, but serve as a reminder of why it is sometimes good to have a little time between discussion and voting.
Debate had already concluded on SB 436, so the only option was to reject it on final passage, which we did 12-26. ‘The original version will now almost certainly be incorporated into a later related-subject-matter companion.
What there can be no debate about is the incredible takeaways both I and my visiting seventh and eight grade students and their parents from Salem Valley Christian School in Copeland had from their visit to the Capitol this week. Besides being recognized and honored in the VIP Gallery on the Senate Floor and witnessing multiple roll-call votes, we had more than an hour of personal time together during a private lunch in a room off the Rotunda. They just couldn’t have been more respectful, appreciative, and engaging — and for that I feel so blessed. A comparable experience was enjoyed at my Hodgeman County Farm Bureau Town Hall in Jetmore this morning, something for which I was so ready after a stressful drive through Ashland and Englewood to view the wildfire damage yesterday.
Being able to bring all the destruction to the attention of our State Fire Marshal for anticipated relief is just one more reason I am so grateful to be the “voice” of Southwest Kansans; thank you again for that great privilege.
