Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

Kansas House Bill HB2037

Introduced
1/21/25  
Refer
1/21/25  
Report Pass
1/29/25  
Engrossed
2/4/25  
Refer
2/5/25  
Report Pass
3/14/25  
Enrolled
3/27/25  

Caption

Increasing the membership of the council on travel and tourism, updating the house legislative committee assignment required for council members appointed from the house, and removing provisions requiring allocation of funds from the matching grant program for the promotion of tourism for private, public and nonprofit entities and limiting the percentage of such funds granted to a single entity.

Summary

HB2037 revises Kansas law governing the council on travel and tourism and the state matching grant program for tourism promotion. The bill expands the council from 17 to 20 voting members, increases the number of governor-appointed members, and updates the House committee references so House members are tied to the commerce, labor and economic development committee rather than agriculture and natural resources. It also adjusts council administration details, including quorum requirements and appointment terms for governor-appointed members. The bill also changes the tourism matching grant program by removing statutory limits that previously capped how much grant money could go to any single public, nonprofit, or private entity. Under the bill, the program still provides grants for tourism promotion and tourist attraction development, with grants limited to no more than 40% of project costs and with applicants barred from using state money to satisfy matching requirements. The bill retains eligibility for public and private applicants and keeps the definition of “tourist attraction,” including exclusions for race tracks and casinos/class III gaming establishments.

Impact

HB2037 amends K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 32-1410 and 32-1420, increasing the size and altering the composition of the council on travel and tourism and changing how House legislative members are designated. It also removes the statutory percentage caps that restricted how much of the matching grant program’s funds could be awarded to a single entity or category of entity, giving the secretary of commerce and the council more flexibility in distributing tourism grant funds. The bill therefore affects the governance of Kansas tourism policy and the allocation of state tourism development dollars to public, nonprofit, and private applicants.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been broadly supported. It passed the House 115-4, the Senate 37-3, and then the House concurred with Senate amendments 119-6, indicating strong bipartisan approval overall. The vote margins suggest the Legislature generally favored the administrative updates and grant-program flexibility contained in the measure.

Contention

The main point of contention appears to have been the removal of limits on how much grant funding can go to a single entity or type of entity. That change could be viewed as increasing discretion in awarding tourism funds and reducing safeguards against concentration of awards, which may explain the small number of dissenting votes. Another possible issue was the expansion of the council and the shift in House committee representation, though the vote history suggests these structural changes were not highly controversial. No committee testimony was provided in the record, so the specific objections of the dissenting members are not documented here.

Companion Bills

No companion bills found.

Previously Filed As

KS HB2001

Authorizing the secretary of commerce to enter into agreements with major professional sports franchises to establish STAR bond projects for a major professional sports complex, providing for additional revenue sources, expanding the powers and discretion of the secretary and making other changes to the STAR bonds financing act to facilitate such projects, limiting the secretary’s authority to approve such projects to one year unless extended by the legislative coordinating council, authorizing the Kansas development finance authority to issue STAR bonds for such projects, transferring funds under certain circumstances from the state gaming revenues fund to the attracting professional sports to Kansas fund for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, and, if approved by the legislative coordinating council, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026.

KS HR6002

Providing for assignment of seats in the House of Representatives for the 2024 special session of the Legislature.

KS SB2

Eliminating the income limit to qualify for the subtraction modification exempting social security benefits, increasing the income tax credit amount for household and dependent care expenses, establishing the veterans' valor property tax relief act providing for an income tax credit or refund for eligible individuals, citing the increased property tax homestead refund claim section as the homeowners' property tax freeze program, decreasing the normal privilege tax rate, increasing the extent of property tax exemption for residential property from the statewide school levy, decreasing the rate of ad valorem tax imposed by a school district; providing for certain transfers to the state school district finance fund, reducing the state rate of tax on sales of food and food ingredients and modifying the percent credited to the state highway fund from revenue collected.

KS SB1

Modifying income tax rates for individuals, exempting all social security benefits from Kansas income tax, increasing the Kansas standard deduction and the Kansas personal exemption, increasing the income tax credit amount for household and dependent care expenses, decreasing the privilege tax normal tax, excluding internal revenue code section 1031 exchange transactions as indicators of fair market value for property tax valuation purposes, increasing the extent of property tax exemption for residential property from the statewide school levy, providing for certain transfers to the state school district finance fund and abolishing the local ad valorem tax reduction fund and the county and city revenue sharing fund.

KS SCR1601

Informing the Governor that the two houses of the Legislature are organized and ready to receive communications.

KS HB2003

Establishing the veterans' valor property tax relief act providing for an income tax credit or refund for eligible individuals, modifying the definition of household income and increasing the appraised value threshold for eligibility of seniors and disabled veterans related to increased property tax claims and citing the section as the homeowners' property tax freeze program, providing property tax exemptions for certain personal property including watercraft, marine equipment, off-road vehicles, motorized bicycles and certain trailers, excluding internal revenue code section 1031 exchange transactions as indicators of fair market value, providing for certain exclusions from the prohibition of paying taxes under protest after a valuation notice appeal and providing four prior years' values on the annual valuation notice.

KS HR6001

Providing for the organization of the House of Representatives for the 2024 special session of the Legislature.

KS SB8

Exempting the sale of firearms, firearms accessories, ammunition, firearm safes and firearm safety devices from the retatilers' sales tax.

KS SB7

Authorizing federally licensed firearm dealers, in addition to county sheriffs, to receive applications for concealed carry licenses and forward such applications to the attorney general, prohibiting sheriffs from assessing any fee related to application services and allowing dealers to assess a fee related to application services not to exceed $20.

KS HB2002

Expanding medical assistance eligibility and enacting the cutting healthcare costs for all Kansans act.

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