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Legislative update: Wichita staff flag Sunflower Summers funding, property tax and other bills ahead of legislative turnaround
Summary
Marley, the city’s legislative staffer, told the Wichita City Council on Feb. 14 that turnaround for the 2025 legislative session was imminent and highlighted bills affecting local programs and taxes.
Marley, the city’s legislative staffer, briefed the Wichita City Council on Feb. 14 about several state bills and the fast-approaching committee turnaround.
"Thursday is the turnaround deadline for the 2025 session," Marley said, adding the budget bill remained the major item in play and that the House Appropriations Committee had proposed an additional across-the-board cut. Marley said the Sunflower Summers program was funded at $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2026 in the current bills under consideration and that funding remains tenuous as the measures move through the Senate.
Marley described several other bills and committee actions discussed at the session: a measure (identified in the briefing as House Bill 2365) establishing the South Central Kansas Mental Health Hospital; a constitutional amendment and companion proposals concerning residential property tax treatment and a potential 3% cap in the Senate; an ownership/preemption bill for raccoons that would restrict municipal regulations (the league advised cities to oppose); an eviction-related bill that had hearings and city involvement on testimony; and a film tax credit proposal that emerged from the Senate Commerce Committee with a $5,000,000 cap on the program and a $1,000,000 cap on the sales-tax exemption per taxpayer.
Council members asked follow-up questions about specific bills. Marley said the Kansas Bankers Association, Kansas Bar and local stakeholders were engaged on several pieces of legislation and that the city had provided comments to the League of Kansas Municipalities when appropriate. Marley also noted that one bill as published applies broadly to cities but that lawmakers were expected to file amendments to limit application to individual municipalities in at least one instance (the inspection bill referenced for Topeka).
No council votes were taken at the workshop on state legislation; Marley said staff would continue monitoring bills through turnaround and would provide updates to individual council members on request.
