Committee approves sending constitutional amendment on legislative oversight of regulations to ballot

The Committee on Judiciary voted 9–7 to send House Concurrent Resolution 5,008, as amended, out favorably for passage to the full House. HCR 5,008 would place a proposed amendment to Article 2 of the Kansas Constitution on the ballot that, if later adopted by voters, would permit the legislature to revise or revoke administrative rules and regulations by concurrent resolution.

Jason Thompson of the Reviser's Office told the committee, "This is the concurrent resolution that would put a proposition to amend article 2 of the constitution on the ballot." Thompson said the measure would go on the August 2026 ballot if the legislature meets the two-thirds threshold required to submit a constitutional amendment.

The amended language adopted in committee was offered by Representative Lewis. Lewis said the change "simply says the essence of it is that the people's duly elected or appointed representatives and senators may revise or revoke administrative rules and regulations or any portion thereof by adoption of a concurrent resolution." The Lewis amendment removed detailed criteria from the text and narrowed the operative language to that single authorization.

Opponents raised procedural and policy concerns. Representative Carmichael and others argued existing mechanisms, including attorney general review and statutory repeal, already provide checks on agency rulemaking. Carmichael said the Department of Labor matter often cited as justification had been resolved under current procedures: "The system worked exactly as it was designed," he said, describing attorney general revocations and agency decisions not to proceed.

Representative Vaughn cautioned that removing substantive criteria would leave revocation to "the will of the legislature," creating political uncertainty and reducing judicially reviewable standards. Representative Schreiber said frequent legislative alterations of agency rules could disrupt the internal consistency of regulatory code and complicate compliance for regulated parties.

Committee discussion also addressed ballot timing and cost. A member noted the resolution would appear at the same time as the primary (a special election held with the primary) and that a fiscal note to estimate printing and administration costs was not yet available.

The committee adopted the Lewis amendment (motion to adopt moved by Representative Lewis and seconded by Representative Barth) and then voted to pass HCR 5,008 as amended favorably for passage (motion moved by Representative Williams and seconded by Representative Lewis). The committee recorded the final tally as 9 in favor and 7 opposed. Representative Carmichael asked to have his no vote recorded; Representative Martinez also asked to have her no vote recorded.

The measure will proceed to the full House for further action; placing the amendment on the ballot would still require two-thirds approval in both chambers and then a majority vote of Kansas voters to become effective.