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Senate overrides some line-item vetoes, sustains others; student-walkout provision overridden
Summary
During a marathon veto-session floor day the Senate voted on numerous line-item vetoes in House Bill 25-13: several overrides passed (including section 88m, regulating organized student walkouts), many overrides failed to reach two-thirds, and other line items were sustained; debate included concerns about fiscal auditors' access and the legislative operating budget.
The Kansas Senate used the veto-session floor day to consider a series of line-item vetoes contained in House Bill 25-13, taking up individual provisions and voting to override some while sustaining others.
Clerk readings and motions produced multiple separate votes. Senator Murphy moved to pass notwithstanding the governor's veto on section 88m, a proviso addressing organized student walkouts and requiring parental consent and certain attendance and disciplinary procedures; Murphy described the provision as a matter of district responsibility and discipline. Opponents argued the provision risked infringing free-speech rights and could impose heavy administrative burdens on districts. After extended debate the Senate voted to override the governor's veto on section 88m; the clerk recorded a vote meeting the two-thirds threshold.
Other attempts to override vetoes failed. Senator Sherman moved to restore funding transfers for a nurses' fair-treatment and recovery fund (sections 15b and 15c), proposing a $500,000 transfer from the nursing-fee fund; that override failed (10 in favor, 28 opposed). Senators raised procedural concerns that using the fees would bypass established claims adjudication processes.
A proposal (54y) to provide legislative fiscal auditors "unlimited access" to accounting systems drew cybersecurity and privacy objections on the floor, with senators warning that the language could expose personal financial data and contravene cybersecurity standards; the override for that provision failed to obtain two-thirds.
Throughout the debate, the legislative operating budget and a reported legislator/staff pay differential (reported 4.4% increase for legislators and a 10% increase for legislative branch employees vs. a 1% state-employee raise) produced heated exchanges. Minority leaders and others warned that sustaining vetoes could defund the legislative branch and leave clerks and staff without pay; majority leaders said the matter could be fixed in conference if needed. Several line-items were ultimately overridden while others remained sustained as recorded by the clerk.
The session produced a mix of outcomes: some targeted line items were adopted notwithstanding the governor's veto, others were sustained, and several generated requests for agency guidance or administrative follow-up on implementation and cybersecurity safeguards.
Next steps include administrative guidance for school districts on Section 88m (if the override becomes effective), departmental coordination on any restored appropriations and potential conference-level work on the legislative operating budget details.
