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Legislative research staff summarize interim reports on housing, foreign trade and regulatory sandboxes
Summary
Kansas Legislative Research Department staff reviewed two 2024 interim special-committee reports — on forwarding housing and on foreign trade and regulatory sandboxes — and highlighted recommendations for housing incentives, foreign-trade outreach and a statutory regulatory-sandbox framework.
Mike Ditch, of the Kansas Legislative Research Department, briefed the joint House and Senate Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development on two interim special-committee reports from 2024: the Forwarding Housing special committee and the Foreign Trade and Regulatory Sandbox special committee.
The Forwarding Housing report emphasized homeownership opportunities for houses priced under $200,000, affordable rental availability and the connection between housing availability and workforce and economic development. The report called for further study of how housing incentives and tax credits can be used concurrently, consideration of fast-track permitting, and review of language in HB 2832 (2024) regarding transferability of the Kansas Housing Investor Tax Credit.
On foreign trade, Ditch summarized presentations from the Kansas Small Business Development Center, IBG Global, the Greater Wichita Partnership and Kansas agencies. The foreign-trade recommendations included increased education and outreach to Kansas businesses about export opportunities, enhanced coordination among state business-development entities, and identifying industries and target markets for foreign trade. The committee also recommended that legislative leadership be briefed on any identified threats to Kansas from foreign adversaries related to trade or foreign influence.
Regarding regulatory sandboxes, the interim committee reviewed how sandboxes operate in other states and heard from the Delibertas Institute, Americans for Prosperity, the Kansas Office of the Attorney General and Utah’s Office of Regulatory Relief. The report recommended requesting a formal opinion from the Kansas attorney general on the constitutionality of a regulatory-sandbox program, that any Kansas sandbox be generally applicable (not industry-specific), and that legislation provide administering agencies authority to consult relevant experts when evaluating applicants. The interim committee recommended the 2025 Legislature pursue sandbox-enabling legislation incorporating those recommendations.
Ditch directed committee members to the full PDF report for additional topics, testimony and minutes and stood for questions; none followed in the meeting record.
The presentation consolidated study findings and concrete policy recommendations for the 2025 session; committee members were directed to the full reports for detail and supporting testimony.
