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Panel adopts substitute, then votes 8-4 to advance Senate Bill 10-23 after debate over library language and liquor provision
Summary
The House Committee on Local Government adopted a distributed substitute to Senate Bill 10-23 and subsequently voted 8-4 to recommend the House committee substitute for the Senate substitute do pass. Debate centered on language added to address small liquor bottle sales in Kansas City and whether that provision preempts local control.
Chairman Herman Hinman moved adoption of a distributed substitute to the Senate committee substitute for Senate Bill 10-23 and walked members through the changes. He said one of the original library bills was removed after retitling to "political subdivisions," and the substitute includes a provision intended to address small liquor bottles and beer sales in Kansas City. The substitute also added several measures described as noncontroversial: House Bill 1825 (salary commissions), HB 1987 (declaration of candidacy for municipal elections), HB 1728 (city-county library boards affecting St. Charles County), and HB 2397 (dissolution of a public water supply corporation). The chair said language was condensed to avoid multiple special carve-outs and that Representative Voss had requested pulling Cape Girardeau County’s library taxing portion.
Representative Walsh Moore said much of the substitute was "no nonsense library bills" but objected to adding water and liquor-sale provisions to a library tax bill. She argued the state provision preempts local control and described that inclusion as a "massive overreaction" to a local Kansas City problem. Chairman Hinman responded that a local ordinance could have resolved the Kansas City issue and noted the retail fairness concern, saying a convenience store across the street may be barred from selling a product that a nearby liquor store can sell.
Representative Wolfen expressed appreciation for the language changes and for the effort to avoid special carve-outs but said he could not support the final substitute because of other changes. Representative Reedy raised a drafting concern with the salary commission language, saying an amendment in another bill removed sheriffs and prosecutors but left "assistant prosecuting attorneys" as members; he said the likely intent was to preserve "part-time prosecutors" for smaller counties and offered to propose a floor amendment to correct the phrasing.
The committee adopted the distributed substitute by voice vote. Chairman Hinman then moved that the House committee substitute for the Senate committee substitute for SB 10-23 be voted do pass. The clerk called the roll. The transcript records votes for several members and the chair announced the final tally as 8 ayes and 4 noes; the motion carried.
The transcript records individual yes and no votes for several members (for example, Chairman Hinman, Representatives McGaugh, Reedy, Violet, Boss and Amato were recorded as voting yes; Representatives Walsh Moore, Smith, Wellenkamp and West were recorded as voting no). The clerk’s announced tally was the authoritative result in the transcript; not every member’s vote was individually recorded in the available text.
With no further business, the committee adjourned.
