Committee hears bill to bar federal funds for voter registration and assistance

Senate Federal and State Affairs heard Senate Bill 5, which would amend K.S.A. 25-2436 to prohibit election officials from accepting or spending federal government funds for elections and election-related activities, including voter registration and voter assistance, unless the use is expressly authorized by the legislature.

The bill’s sponsor-review explanation came from Jason Long of the Office of the Revisor of Statutes, who told the committee the change would add monies provided by “any branch, agency, department, office, or bureau of the federal government” to current prohibitions on private contributions to election officials and would extend the ban to election-related activities. Long said the bill preserves existing exemptions for uses specifically authorized by appropriation and leaves the penalty unchanged as a level 9 nonperson felony. He said the changes would take effect July 1 if enacted.

The measure drew support from Madeline Melissa of Opportunity Solutions, who thanked the committee and told members the bill would ensure legislative oversight of federal resources touching elections. Melissa cited Executive Order 14019 and said it had directed federal participation in registration and mobilization; she also said that action was rescinded on Jan. 20 and that similar state-level measures have passed recently in other states. Clay Barker, general counsel for the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office, said his office was neutral because most federal funds the office receives arrive under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and are reappropriated through the legislature. Barker described how CARES Act money had been used for pandemic-era election needs such as shields, hand sanitizer and drop boxes and said those expenditures were reviewed by the legislature.

Committee members asked whether the bill’s language would reach all elections and what was meant by “voter assistance.” Jason Long said the statute’s reach is any election conducted by election officials and that the phrases “voter registration” and “voter assistance” are illustrative, not exclusive, and could be read to include a range of election-related activities unless the legislature has expressly authorized the spending. Members also asked whether federal grants used for election security or law enforcement functions would be affected; Long and Barker said funds specifically appropriated for election security and reappropriated through the legislature would not be barred, but that the bill is intended to prevent non‑election federal funds from being repurposed for registration or similar activity without legislative approval.

Senators asked staff to research two related items: what authority state agencies had to mail voter registration or ballot‑related materials under a governor’s memorandum of understanding, and how much was spent by state agencies on such mailings. A staff member volunteered to collect those records and related federal-expenditure information for the committee’s review.

The hearing record included five in-person proponents, several written proponents and three written opponents on file; the committee closed the hearing with no formal action taken on the bill that day.

The committee packet and submitted testimony are available on the committee S drive, according to the chair.