Committee advances multiple amendments to Star Bond Financing Act; members debate visitor thresholds, data rules and developer guarantees

The Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development spent substantial time on Substitute for Senate Bill 197, a set of amendments to the Star Bond Financing Act that would change project eligibility, transparency requirements and financing procedures for star bond districts.

Representative Christie Williams, who brought a large amendment package, summarized the proposal as adding guardrails, placing a sunset on certain vertical-construction authority, and limiting one project per county. Williams said the amendment creates separate rules for large metropolitan mall projects and other communities, and would require, broadly, that projects attract significant out‑of‑area visitation — at least 30% of visitors from a distance of 100 miles and at least 20% from outside Kansas — with a carved-out standard for specified rural projects.

Committee staff described multiple technical changes in the amendment. Those included removing eminent‑domain authority for star bond projects, extending the Star Bond Financing Act’s expiration to July 1, 2028, adding redevelopment-of-a-mall as eligible, raising transparency and reporting requirements for visitor data, and prohibiting direct State General Fund money from being used to pay star bonds. The staff member also summarized a provision that would require…