TOPEKA \u2014 The Republican-led Kansas Legislature accelerated the pace of the session in 2026, with bills speeding through, debate ending abruptly on the chamber floors and little or no time allowed for constituents to submit diverse opinions for hearings.<\/span><\/p>\n Power plays<\/strong><\/p>\n How Kansas legislative leaders advance their agenda by exploiting process. Read the series<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In the end, lawmakers left town a month sooner than usual.<\/p>\n Micah Kubic, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, said procedural steps taken this year weren\u2019t always about issues or bill substance, and there was no need to move quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn many of these instances, they have the votes to support the things they want to do,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re doing it hastily just to be able to be out of there in X days. It is an active choice to decide to approach the process, and it is not ordained by the rule, by the law, by the Constitution or by God. It is simply the way they have chosen to approach the question.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Republican leaders imposed a breakneck schedule that would allow them to hit the campaign trail sooner. Senate President Ty Masterson is seeking the GOP nomination for governor, while House Speaker Dan Hawkins wants the party\u2019s nomination for state insurance commissioner.<\/p>\n Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat who is running for governor, saw an additional motive for Republican leaders to speed through the session.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou have a lot of new legislators who don\u2019t have time to really study the bills as much as they probably would like to, and so they\u2019re more dependent on leadership for direction,\u201d Holscher said. \u201cMy guess is that people make decisions on bills and then find out some of the implications and some of the effects when it\u2019s too late.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Democrats and some advocates warn that the fast pace leads to shoddy legislation and budget problems. Others, such as Kansas Family Voice president Brittany Jones, say it can be helpful to limit debate.<\/span><\/p>\n Jones said the session\u2019s speed also means legislators are using taxpayer dollars well and are more productive.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen it used very effectively to help things move along in the process, while still allowing for debate,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have to balance those things, the filibustering, where we\u2019re sitting in there for hours and hours and nobody\u2019s opinion\u2019s getting changed. That\u2019s not productive for the people of Kansas. It\u2019s not productive for the legislators.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, said legislation <\/span>this session compared with five years ago is of lower quality because it is drafted quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis rushed process means that the revisors \u2014 who are the lawyers for the Legislature, who actually draft the bills, who put the words on the paper \u2014 they are working day and night under tremendous pressure, and they are not able to turn out their best quality work,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Bills sometimes are internally contradictory, he said, meaning one paragraph disagrees with another.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe had a bill like that in judiciary just a week or two ago,\u201d he said during a March interview, \u201cand when I raised the topic \u2026 the response from Republican leadership in the committee was, well, we\u2019ll let the courts figure that out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Rep. Alexis Simmons, D-Topeka, said \u201cno one wants to blindly vote on something.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe legislative process was intentionally designed to be tedious, to be cumbersome. It is not supposed to be a quick process. You\u2019re not supposed to introduce a huge piece of legislation with just a few days to vet it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Avery Holland, of Wichita, appears at a Feb. 6, 2026, legislative hearing at the Statehouse as part of a demonstration for trans rights. (Photo by Sherman Smith\/Kansas Reflector)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Tactics to rush the process popped up more frequently and on higher-profile bills in 2026, Kubic said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn the past, there were fewer of these, and they tended to be on things that mattered intensely to some people, but did not have the same level of public attention that, for example, the trans rights bill did this year,\u201d he said, referring to <\/span>the bill that forces<\/span> people to use the bathroom of their assigned sex at birth in public buildings and rolls back gender marker changes on state documents.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTestimony and the hearing process is what forces folks to be exposed to different perspectives, and they may take them or not,\u201d he added. \u201cThey are designed to give people a chance to be heard, but also they are designed to make it more convenient for legislators to do their work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Rabbi Moti Rieber, executive director of Kansas Interfaith Action, said the differences this year have been marked. He said the \u201cgut-and-go\u201d strategy of putting one bill into the shell of another is being used more frequently and earlier in the session.<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s how it\u2019s supposed to work: Lawmakers hold a hearing on a bill in one chamber before passing it to the other. The second chamber holds a hearing and may make some changes before returning it to the first chamber.<\/p>\n But sometimes lawmakers will take a bill that only cleared one chamber and insert other, unrelated bills into it before taking a final vote. That\u2019s called a \u201cgut and go,\u201d and the bill is referred to as a \u201cshell.\u201d<\/p>\n In the past, Rieber said, the gut and go primarily was used at the end of the session.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNow they put it in the shell right away to preclude the possibility of there being organized opposition, or even any opposition,\u201d Rieber said.<\/span><\/p>\n In other words, lawmakers can avoid public hearings.<\/p>\n Former Rep. Tom Phillips, a Manhattan Republican, said he saw some of these activities during his eight years serving in Topeka. He left in 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n Committee chairs would sometimes shorten the timeframe for public input, rushing deadlines for testimony submissions, for instance, he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere are times when there is a desire to move things forward, but early in the session, you\u2019ve got plenty of time to allow for public input, and you should do legislation in the daylight,\u201d Phillips said.<\/span><\/p>\n It frustrated Phillips when people waited to testify during a hearing and were cut short.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf the room is full of people, let them have a voice,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, seen during a March 26, 2026, House session, says there is no exchange of ideas when processes are bypassed. (Photo by Sherman Smith\/Kansas Reflector)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Republicans who are concerned about activist courts should worry about poorly crafted legislation that creates ambiguities, Carmichael said.<\/p>\n The anti-transgender bill is an example of how the Republican supermajority distorted the process, Carmichael said. A lawsuit has been filed to try to block the measure.<\/p>\n Republicans took action on the bill without announcing their plans, then used the gut and go to ensure there would never be a public hearing. House Republicans used a rule against \u201cimpugning motives\u201d to silence Democrats during debate and another rule to terminate debate altogether.<\/p>\n It should be a warning sign when one side uses its majority to deflect debate and consideration of other opinions, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat means you\u2019re not participating in a deliberative legislative process where you exchange ideas, and then you make up your mind,\u201d Carmichael said. \u201cWhy have a discussion? Why even listen to your constituents? Just cut off debate, pass your bills and head to lunch. That\u2019s exactly what Republican leadership has done this year.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones, with Kansas Family Voice, said people may not always like the processes, but they are legitimate.<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been times where the process has been used against me and I didn\u2019t like it, but I did recognize that that was a valid process,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Gov. Laura Kelly said the committee hearings and floor debates may be tedious, but that\u2019s how \u201cissues can get worked out.\u201d The processes allow for compromise and consensus to build toward a final product, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cAll that was just sort of thrown to the wind this year, and Kansans are gonna hurt from it,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cYou know, I\u2019m hoping that they\u2019ll come back next year and clean some of this up.\u201d<\/p>\n The Democratic governor is in her final year in office.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Gov. Laura Kelly answers a reporter\u2019s questions during a Feb. 24, 2026, interview in her office at the Statehouse in Topeka. She complained that the effect of the GOP budget won\u2019t be known until weeks after the session ends. (Photo by Sherman Smith\/Kansas Reflector)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The governor said the speedy session hurt the Legislature\u2019s ability to make good decisions about the state\u2019s budget.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOnce again, the Legislature completely ignored my statutorily required budget proposal that would have put our state back on track to a structural balance between revenues and expenditure,\u201d Kelly said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cInstead,\u201d she added, \u201clegislative leadership rushed through this session, drafting and passing the budget before April consensus revenue estimates are announced in just 12 days. While a full understanding of the fiscal impact of this budget won\u2019t be known until April 20, a few of its failures are obvious.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Kansas Legislative Research Department director Shirley Morrow said her office didn\u2019t have time to produce an \u201comnibus memo,\u201d which in past years helped guide legislators through budget decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n Before last year, the Legislature typically finished the regular session in early April and took a three-week break before returning for the veto session in May. During that break, research staff would review legislation that had passed and calculate the expected impact on state finances. Additionally, research staff is involved in formalizing a \u201cconsensus revenue estimate\u201d in late April.<\/span><\/p>\n That information would be detailed in the omnibus memo, Morrow said, and lawmakers could decide to appropriate more funding or cut spending.<\/span><\/p>\n Morrow said research staff would meet with lawmakers a day before the veto session began to review the omnibus memo.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not done anymore because we don\u2019t have time, and it\u2019s not part of the schedule,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n This year, there were just eight business days between the Legislature adjourning in the early hours of March 28 and its April 9 return.<\/span><\/p>\n Morrow said agencies will have to absorb any unforeseen costs of legislation through existing resources.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been different trying to communicate all the things that we\u2019ve done in the past that we aren\u2019t doing now, just because of the time constraints in the last two years,\u201d Morrow said. \u201cBut consensus revenue is ongoing. It\u2019s going to happen. What\u2019s not going to happen, just like last year, is we will have a consensus caseloads, but there\u2019s no bill to adopt consensus caseloads, because that was always in the omnibus memo too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n That could affect budgets for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Kansas Department for Children and Families, and public schools, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Rep. Alexis Simmons, D-Topeka, standing during a Jan. 12, 2026, session of the House, says the legislative process is supposed to be tedious. (Photo by Sherman Smith\/Kansas Reflector)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Reed Holwegner, whose Substack <\/span>The Mechanic of Statecraft<\/span> is a \u201cdigital book\u201d about lawmaking and the development of public policy, spent about 13 years working in the Kansas Legislative Research Department. That\u2019s where staff write and revise bills for legislators.<\/span><\/p>\n He said legislative processes evolve and most aren\u2019t set in statute or regulation.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, it is the sole responsibility of legislators to decide how they wish to conduct their business,\u201d he said. \u201cThis may surprise people, but you don\u2019t necessarily need a standing committee even to hear and work on a bill.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Each committee sets its own rules, and those can limit public participation.<\/span><\/p>\n Holwegner agreed that less consideration given to legislation increases the chance that problems won\u2019t be addressed.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe risk of fast-tracking legislation is that it is easy to cause the problems of tomorrow, today,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Moving quickly allows more unintended consequences, Holwegner said, while traditional processes give legislators time to digest public testimony.<\/span><\/p>\n Conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch addressed the issue in a recent court opinion that rolled back President Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs. The justice argued that the policy should have gone through the legislative process.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMost major decisions affecting the rights and responsibilities of the American people (including the duty to pay taxes and tariffs) are funneled through the legislative process for a reason,\u201d Gorsuch wrote. \u201cYes, legislating can be hard and take time. And, yes, it can be tempting to bypass Congress when some pressing problem arises. But the deliberative nature of the legislative process was the whole point of its design.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
Unusual year<\/h4>\n
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Long-term effects<\/h4>\n
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Budget impact<\/h4>\n
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Slow and steady<\/h4>\n