Kansas Senate clerk announces passage of House Bill 2054; committee reports advance several measures, five senate bills introduced

The Kansas Senate session on Tuesday included the clerk’s announcement that House Bill 2054, “an act concerning elections,” has passed; committee reports recommending passage or amendment of additional bills; and the introduction of five Senate bills, one of which was referred to the Judiciary Committee.

The clerk announced, “Announcing passage of house bill 20 54. House bill 20 54, an act concerning elections.” The announcement was made during the formal reading of messages and reports and the transcript does not include a roll-call vote tally for House Bill 2054.

The clerk also read multiple committee reports recommending further action. “Mister President, the Committee on Transportation recommends House Bill 20 29 be amended and the bill be passed as amended. Mister President, the Committee on Financial Institutions and Insurance recommends House Bill 20 42 be amended and the bill be passed as amended. Mr. President, the committee on federal and state affairs recommends senate bill 2 31 be passed,” the clerk read aloud. The Committee on Public Health and Welfare recommended that House Bill 20 27 be passed. The transcript records the committee recommendations but does not provide Senate floor vote tallies or further debate on those recommendations during the excerpted session.

Senate leadership and members also used the floor to announce scheduling and procedural matters. Senator Thompson, from Johnson, told colleagues that the publicly posted agenda for the Committee on Federal and State Affairs did not match the agenda the committee submitted, and warned listeners that “there is a meeting for fed and state on Thursday for senate bill, 1 96.”

The clerk read the introductions for five Senate bills: Senate Bill 285, Senate Bill 286, Senate Bill 287 (described as an act that would prohibit law enforcement agencies or officers from assisting or participating in certain immigration enforcement activities in places of worship, schools, and hospitals), Senate Bill 288, and Senate Bill 289. The Senate referred Senate Bill 288 to the Judiciary Committee for consideration.

Majority Leader Senator Blasey noted procedural plans for the next day, saying the Senate would be on general orders and that senators would caucus after adjournment. The session adjourned on a motion by the senator from Sedgwick, who moved that the Senate adjourn until 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5, 2025; the presiding officer called for the customary voice vote and said, “Motion carries. We're adjourned.” The transcript does not include a recorded roll-call tally for that adjournment motion.

Why it matters: House Bill 2054 concerns elections, and the committee reports read on the floor advance bills on government ethics, offender registration, public utilities and other subjects toward further consideration. The introductions and the referral of a bill to the Judiciary Committee set the next steps in the legislative process for those measures.

Votes at a glance: The transcript excerpt contains a clerk announcement that House Bill 2054 has passed; no roll-call vote tally is recorded in the provided transcript. Several committee reports recommending passage or passage-as-amended for bills (listed above) were read; those recommendations were reported to the Senate but the excerpt does not show subsequent floor votes allocating final passage tallies.

The Senate adjourned and scheduled additional business for Wednesday, March 5, 2025, at 2:30 p.m.